(19 February 2008 6:25 pm)

MUMBAI: Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Interactive Media, 19 Entertainment, FremantleMedia and Apple have collaborated to bring performances from the seventh season of American Idol on the iTunes store (www.itunes.com) exclusively.

Customers can purchase music performances for 99 cents per song, and viewers will be able to purchase the full video of top 12 finalist performances for $1.99, starting 11 March.

Music lovers can also pre-order performances of their favourite contestants from the iTunes store, which will be automatically downloaded the day after the show airs.

"Working with Apple and iTunes, we're giving viewers another great way to enjoy America's new stars from American idol" said 19 Entertainment founder and creator of American Idol Simon Fuller. "I'm sure there will be many memorable performances that viewers will want to relive from this 2008 season."

"We've created a special section on the iTunes store for Idol fans with an array of music and video performances from television's most popular show," said iTunes VP Eddy Cue. "We think American Idol viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download Idol performances from iTunes."

iTunes will also provide exclusive direct links from the free streaming performance videos on www.americanidol.com, the official Fox website of the show.