Idols on Itunes

Much has been said about the power of American Idol to bump sales for its guest stars, but how about the boosts received by songs that are simply sung on the show?The best example of this is probably "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," by KT Turnstall, sung last year (twice) by Katharine McPhee. While Turnstall had started to get some buzz before her song appeared on the show, it was Ms. McPhee's memorable performance (sung while kneeling on the floor) that really put the song on the map. Turnstall never set foot on the Idol soundstage, but nevertheless received a nice profile boost from having her song featured. (An interesting note: in intereviews, Turnstall definitely acknowledges McPhee's role in her song's success, but makes it very clear that she is not a fan of the show. Just the $$ the show put in her pocket, I'd imagine).

With Itunes gaining ever-more prominence in the lives of American Idol viewers, its never been easier to walk from your couch to your computer and own a song that you just heard on tv. This year so far, two contestants have had impact on downloads of the songs they have performed:

-Blake Lewis' version of "Somewhere Only We Know" gave a huge boost to the fairly recent Keane song, pushing it up into the Top 20 on Itunes the week after Lewis performed it on the show.

-More notably, Chris Richardson's version of "Geek in the Pink" by Jason Mraz pushed that 3-year old song into the Top 30 on Itunes.

Funny, it used to be sort of embarrasing for your song to be performed on Idol (I remember Edwin McCain wincing that "I'll Be" was so frequently performed during the first season of the show). With the success of Turnstall, Keane, and Mraz (not to mention Rascal Flatts, who became true superstars after Carrie Underwood sang "God Bless The Broken Road" back in Season 4), I'd be surprised if artists weren't clamoring for Melinda, Lakisha or Blake to croon one of their hits.