American Idol
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'American Idol' betting on Google and Facebook to increase fan interaction
Expect tonight's American Idol to come with a bit of an internet twist. In an effort to mix up the type of interaction fans can have with the show, FOX has announced a new partnership with Google and Facebook. Now, each time an episode airs live, simply searching for "American Idol" will let viewers cast a vote right from Google's main site or its iOS and Android Search apps. Up to 50 votes per contestant can be submitted, so there shouldn't be any problems if you have a thing for more than a single Idol. As for Facebook, FOX plans to include data from the social network during episodes of American Idol, such as real-time voting updates and conversations people may be having about the show. Bill Bradford, SVP Digital at FOX, says that the chance to collaborate with Google and Facebook was a no-brainer, as this is a great opportunity to better engage fans and make them "a bigger part of the show."
Majesco snags the American Idol license for 'interactive games'
Looks like Majesco has found its next sugar-momma franchise, since Zumba Fitness has just about run its course in keeping the company afloat. Majesco has landed a "strategic partnership" to develop interactive games based on American Idol, which can mean only one thing: American Zumba Fitness Idol.In American Zumba Fitness Idol, players would have to dance their way to weight loss, all while singing the day's hottest hits, mostly on-key and with a winning personality. Now with day-one DLC, American Zumba Fitness Cooking Mama Idol, where players have to bake a cake on top of it all. Feel the burn. Pre-order today!Of course that's probably not even close to what Majesco will do with the American Idol license, apart from the singing bit. We'll see when Majesco announces details at a "future date."
Peel to test real-time polling of TV shows
Remember Peel? The pear-shaped IR blaster and accompanying remote control app was given the TUAW review treatment last July by our very own Victor Agreda, Jr. The company has announced that starting this week, they'll be testing a real-time polling feature in the app. Not surprisingly, the polling feature will be tested on this week's episode of American Idol. The way the polling will work is that you'll have the opportunity to "cheer" or "boo" performances by clicking buttons on your iPhone. Don't like what Steven Tyler or J-Lo have to say about a performer? No problem -- you'll be able to boo them as well (or cheer for them if you're so inclined). The company wants to expand polling to other shows as well -- think of sports or political events. Peel is also putting iTunes "buy" buttons next to the photos of your favorite would-be stars, although they're not getting a cut of sales made through the app. If you are one of the few who have purchased a Peel and happen to be an "Idol" fan, be sure to try the new feature out this week. [Photo credit: Peel]
Hitman, UFC, American Idol added to Games on Demand
Three new games have landed on Xbox Live Games on Demand this week. The games offer some vastly different experiences, so there should be something for everyone. For those who enjoy watching sweaty dudes pummel each other, UFC 2009: Undisputed is the game for you. If you prefer more discreet (perhaps even sneaky) violence, Hitman: Blood Money might be more up your alley. If, on the other hand, you'd rather have your singing talents mocked by a virtual Simon Cowell -- and who wouldn't -- it's Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 all the way. Each game runs $29.99 in North America. As usual, pricing and availability will vary in other regions. Shortcut: Add UFC 2009: Undisputed to your download queue [via Xbox.com] Shortcut: Add Hitman: Blood Money to your download queue [via Xbox.com] Shortcut: Add American Idol Encore 2 to your download queue [via Xbox.com] [Via Major Nelson]
GDC09: Upcoming EA iPhone game list fully revealed, screens and info on Tiger
Just before the deluge of GDC 2009 news started this week, Travis Boatman, VP of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, confirmed the upcoming release of a veritable smörgåsbord of EA franchises coming to the iPhone. Today, we have confirmation from Meghan Rathman (representing EA) of the exact titles on the way to the iPhone/iTouch as well as a handful of screens from Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Unfortunately, according to Ms. Rathman, the rest of the games in development are "still too early" and don't have screens. Considering the turnaround time on iPhone/iTouch games though, we're willing to bet you'll see those shots by the end of the week pretty soon!The full list of games we received from EA is as follows: Tiger Woods PGA Tour, The Sims 3, FIFA, Madden NFL Football, Spore Creatures, Mystery Mania, Wolfenstein RPG, American Idol, Connect Four, Battleship, Need for Speed, RISK, Monopoly and Clue. Differing from reports at the GDC Mobile event earlier this week, we're seeing the addition of The Sims 3 and Need for Speed. In turn, we're losing the first SSX in two years, Red Alert, NBA Live 10, American Idol, Star Trek. But hey, Tiger Woods!The press release from EA on Tiger Woods PGA Tour tells us that the game is of the "touch" rather than of the "shake" variety, comes with achievements and offers a way to compare achievements with your friends. Of the key features listed, notably missing is "playing against friends wirelessly," though it does promise the ability to "affect your ball spin direction" using your finger. Those are comparable features, right? We'll keep on EA and let you know as soon as we find out more on their upcoming iPhone/iTouch assault.%Gallery-48706%
GDC09: EA quietly announces iPhone versions of major franchises
Of the many GDC 2009 announcements taking place this week, we were most shocked to see EA sneakily introducing some of the company's most popular franchises to the Apple device some are calling the newest gaming platform -- the iPhone. Travis Boatman, VP of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, made the announcement at GDC Mobile, naming SSX, Wolfenstein RPG, Red Alert, FIFA 10, Madden 10, NBA Live 10, American Idol, Spore Creatures, Clue, Risk, Mystery Mania, Connect Four, Battleship, Tiger Woods and Star Trek, according to reports from Patrick Klepek (former MTV Multiplayer writer) and Shacknews. While most of the titles are the to-be-expected EA mutliplatform titles like Madden 10 and NBA Live 10, the SSX series will be getting its first update in two years according to this announcement. Also of note, Wolfenstein RPG is of no relation to the just released Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone; rather, it makes up half of the two iPhone games id Software is purportedly working on. Details are unfortunately scant at the moment but we've reached out to EA for comment.On a personal note, we'd like to extend our personal "WHAT THE HELL?!" regarding Risk being announced for the iPhone and still not hearing a peep on it coming to XBLA/PSN. Seriously, EA. What the hell?![Via Shacknews]
Screen Grabs: Nokia N95 8GB is Simon Cowell's American Idol
Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. It kind of figures, right? Famed American Idol judge Simon Cowell sports a phone crafted by a Finnish handset maker. We know, that's not quite England, but it's close enough. In tonight's episode, he proceeded to tell the iPhone that it simply "wasn't the complete package" while alluding to the lack of copy / paste, the T-Mobile G1 that it was "too young to be taken seriously" and the BlackBerry Storm that it just "pushed his buttons the wrong way." Ultimately, Paula, Randy and even Kara were coaxed into agreeing, sending the N95 8GB to Hollywood for one more shot at stardom. Sigh.%Gallery-43301%
'American Idol' is most timeshifted show of 2008
Well, would you let your brain simmer on this a bit. American Idol, the famed singing competition that airs live numerous times per week when it's in full swing, was found to be the most timeshifted program in the USA in 2008. Granted, it's also the most watched show in the nation, but we digress. The significance here is that this tidbit, which was dug up by The Nielsen Company, goes to show that live competitions and so-called "topical" programming aren't as immune to DVRs as networks would love to believe. The data found that "an extra four million viewers watched Fox's American Idol in the seven days following the initial episodes." To us, the only true DVR-resistant programming is live sports -- the genuineness of the event just seems to fade when you're not watching in real time, but we can't say we've ever felt the same when watching Simon & Co. a few days after the fact.
American Idol tab in Wi-Fi iTunes store
If you have recently used the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store on the iPhone or iPod touch, then you may have noticed a new tab that Apple added. In the "Featured" category, you will find an "American Idol" tab beside "New Releases" and "Genres." Now you can get your American Idol fix any time you're around a Wi-Fi signal!Thanks, shon.
Latest Rock Band and Americian Idol DLC recap
It's a new music DLC Tuesday and this week Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore joins Rock Band in the new downloadable content funnery. Joy! As we mentioned last Friday, the Grateful Dead finally makes its Rock Band debut with a six track blowout allowing DLC purchasers to buy each of the six master tracks individually for 160 Microsoft points or as a pack for 800 points. Then we have the somewhat forgotten KR:AIE who is offering a massive twenty-one song DLC blowout today with various tracks ranging from Michael Jackson's "Beat It" to the B-52s' "Love Shack" all for 120 points apiece. Not too bad. We listed and conveniently broke down the new musical DLC for both Rock Band and KR:AIE after the break. Rock it fellow Deadheads!
American Idol comes to iTunes
OK, guilty pleasure alert -- I kind of love American Idol. In fact, I have previously referred to it as, "my crack." I even named my MacBook, "Simon" because it was purchased with money I made writing about the show last season (and because I am a GIGANTIC dork). And even though I'm not professionally covering the show this year, I remain a huge fan. Hey, we're all allowed to have our vices, and looking at the TV ratings, millions of other people are just as lame as me. Last year, performances and "singles" from the #1 show on television didn't come to iTunes until AFTER the season had ended. I don't know if it was because Apple and Fox couldn't work out an agreement early enough (iTunes did feature the Idol Gives Back charity singles/videos), or what, but I have a feeling a lot of potential money was lost by not having performances available on iTunes earlier. This year, iTunes is in on the action from the very beginning.Starting this week, the audio performances from the Top 24 contestants will be available on iTunes for $.99 a piece. Starting March 11, the full video performances from the the Top 12 finalists will be available for $1.99 a piece. Fans can even "pre-order" performances from their favorite contestants from within iTunes, and those songs or videos will be automatically downloaded the day after the show airs.iTunes is also providing, in their words, "exclusive direct links from the free streaming performance videos on americanidol.com".If they follow last year's trend, the contestant's will record their chosen song each week in a studio BEFORE performing live on the show, and that audio file will be available the next day. The video footage will be from the live performance and from slightly different angles than what is used for the television broadcast. The Top 24 starts tonight, meaning the first batch of downloads will be available tomorrow.
Carrie Underwood sets iTunes record
The question of Sanjaya's hair-styles aside, American Idol is a music phenomenon. Carrie Underwood's American Idol Gives Back recording of "I'll Stand by You" just became the first iTunes-exclusive track to debut in the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 according to Country Standard Time. "I'll Stand By You" is set to appear at #6 on that top ten list for the week ending May 12th. Apparently there have only been six on-line releases to debut in the Top 10 and "I'll Stand By You" is "the only track to do so without having been serviced to radio for airplay", selling nearly 125 thousand copies since it debuted in late April. iTunes will donate net proceeds from "Idol Gives Back" singles and videos to the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund.
Karaoke Revolution contest
In another contest, gamers can compete across the U.S. to become the next (virtual) American Idol. Using Konami's Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol, players will sing a favorite song, and videos of top scorers will be posted for internet humiliation voting. The most internet-famous singer will then be flown to a real "American Idol" taping to stare longingly at the actual singers.The contest begins today at the DigitalLife expo in New York and reaches 10 cities through mid-November. Players can register on-site.The full schedule follows: New York: Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, October 13-14 Philadelphia: King of Prussia Mall, October 21 Dallas: The Parks at Arlington, October 22 Washington D.C.: St. Charles Towne Center, October 28 Houston: Willowbrook Mall, October 28 Atlanta: Lenox Square, November 4 San Francisco: Stonestown Galleria, November 4 Boston: Northshore Mall, November 11 Los Angeles: Glendale Galleria, November 11 Chicago: Woodfield Shopping Center, November 18 Keep an eye on the Karaoke Revolution site for more information. The site hadn't been updated when this post went online. Seacrest out.
My Dream App launches
Phill Ryu's My Dream App has officially launched today. What is My Dream App? Think American Idol for Mac software, think America's Got Talent with software developers and no Hasselhoff.The idea is that non-programmers have ideas for apps they would love to see, but they lack the skills to make them a reality. Enter My Dream App, people submit their app ideas to the contest. The entries are whittled down to 24 and then the visitors of the website vote until there are only 3 left. The remaining 3 will become be developed by a team of a designer and a developer and then become real life products for sale (the person who submitted the idea gets royalties).Submissions are open until Friday, September 1st (extended from the original Aug. 25th).Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am serving on the panel of judges for My Dream App (along with Steve Wozniak, Leo Laporte, and Kevin Rose, just to name a few) though I have no vested interest in the contest.
Cingular's southern base skewing American Idol results?
Market research firm the NPD Group thinks it might have an explanation for American Idol's apparent bias toward contestants from the south, pointing to the show's exclusive arrangement with Cingular for voting via text messaging. You see, Cingular is based in Atlanta, and the majority of the company's customers -- some 20 million -- are also from the south; of the 18 million Cingular customers that use text messaging across the country, more than half are (you guessed it) from the south. So, NPD suggests, since only Cingular users are able to vote by text messaging, it would stand to reason that they'd be more likely to vote for contestants from their own region -- and, wouldn't you know it, all five American Idol winners are indeed southerners (even though Cingular wasn't sponsoring the show during the first two seasons). We hope you'll understand if we don't get too worked up over this.[Via RCRNews]
Jon Bon Jovi bejewels D807s for a good cause
We're for charity auctions just as much as the next guy, but Jon Bon Jovi and Cingular have made it hard to throw our support behind this one -- the duo are offering a limited run of ten SGH-D807s afflicted with the proverbial double-whammy of unfortunate modifications: jewels and American Idol propaganda. The eBay auction stands to benefit Jon Bon's own 2nd Floor Youth Helpline, a hotline kiddies can call to talk to a "trained listener about day-to-day issues of concern." Besides the defaced D807, a winning bid will net you a "special-edition collectors' box" signed by Ryan Seacrest and Jon himself. Whether Chris Daughtry's departure from the show counts as an "issue of concern" for the hotline, we're not sure.[Via Slashphone]
HDTV Listings for May 24, 2006
What we're watching: Lost, Lost, Lost. We'd say maybe this is the episode where we get some answers, but we all know better than to expect that from this show by now. Anyway, check out the recap at 8 p.m. and the two hour season finale at 9 (hopefully it will actually be in HD, but with ABC apparently you never know). Also wrapping up tonight is American Idol, so you may have a fight on your hands for the remote during the one hour overlap of the two. On TNT best friends and former teammates Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki face off to decide who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals this year, tip-off is 8:30 p.m.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Joystiq Video: Karaoke Revolution Country
As luck would have it, the edited version of Randall and I's Karaoke Revolution performance live in LA just got uploaded during a nice slow night of blogging. Now, instead of getting washed away in a torrent of E3-related posts, it'll sit on the front page, gathering exposure and accumulating your precious mockery ... alright Joystiqers, have at it!If the embedded video isn't working, check out our local version (.mov).[Thanks, Alexia and Randall!]
Commercial Success and As Heard On added to iTunes
Just in case you haven't heard by now, there are two new sections in the iTunes Music Store, one of which I think is brilliant and the other which I am sure will be popular (but doesn't float my boat).Commercial Success is the answer to all those situations when you heard a song on some Coke commercial and you just had to have it. At the moment there are only 27 track available, but I am sure there will be more coming.As Heard On American Idol features songs sung by the hopeful pop stars on American Idol. You can hear the songs as they were meant to be heard, and really isn't that what it is all about?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Is MTV's The Real World going high definition?
MTV announced today that the next season of their granddaddy of reality TV will be shot in Denver, CO. Where is MTV's high definition station MHD based? Colorado. It makes complete sense to me for them to use one of their longest running and most popular series (especially since they don't show music videos anymore) to promote their new station.
