Screwed by iTunes and Fox!

Since I disclosed my trick of figuring out who was going to win American Idol, the iTunes store has been altered to only present the current American Idols on a special page - I can't get at the popularity chart anymore!

Still, David Cook is going to win, and except for him, it's more or less a crapshoot as to who will get voted out any particular week.

Bummer.

© 2008 Stephen Clarke-Willson, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved.

TiVo predicts Idol losers

TiVo predicts losers:

Entertainment blog TMZ reports that TiVo has hit on sure way to predict who's going to win -- and who's going to lose -- the biggest contest in the land. Yes, I'm talking about "American Idol."

TiVo anonymously monitors usage statistics in a pool of 20,00 of its users. The company can tell when viewers replay an "Idol" contestants' songs, and when viewers skip over it. Replaying, obviously, is a good sign. If people are fast-forwarding through your songs, you're going home.

TMZ says TiVo has predicted the "Idol" loser for four weeks straight. And tonight, TMZ says, TiVo's method predict that 24-year-old Syesha Mercado is going home.

Well, that came out wrong - it was Michael Johns who was blind-sided by the vote. But I think this corroborates my hypothesis that except for David Cook, the overall vote is very close each week.

© 2008 Stephen Clarke-Willson, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved.

American Idol - iTunes Popularity

So, I've got my own system for predicting how American Idol will end up, which consists of checking iTunes to see how our Idols are doing.

David Cook is still number one in popularity with Billie Jean.

Next up is David Archuleta with Angels.

And in third is Jason Castro with Hallelujah.

David Archuleta is in fourth with Imagine.

Michael Johns, who was just voted out, sadly, is fifth with It's all Wrong but It's all Right.

Brooke White is sixth with Let It Be, which I think is fantastic.

David Cook's popularity is significantly higher than the others, so as long has he is consistent he will win. If you can be as popular as Michael Johns and still get voted out then I think we can assume that most of the votes are pretty close and this is a very competitive season.

I've bought the following Idol performances from iTunes, and here I've ranked them according to how much I like them:

Let It Be
You're the Voice (David Archuleta)
God Bless the USA (Kristy Lee Cook)
Hallelujah
You're so Vain (Brooke White)

© 2008 Stephen Clarke-Willson, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved.

Who's ahead in American Idol?

You can figure out who's currently leading the pack in American Idol by visiting the iTunes store and searching for "American Idol", and then sorting by popularity. As I write this, David Cook is the most popular. Last week Brooke White was ahead.

Apparently they are selling a lot of cuts on iTunes. I've bought some. Paula said they won't release the numbers because they are worried it will skew the show. But you can get a hint how it's going with the popularity sort.

Have fun!

© 2008 Stephen Clarke-Willson, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved.