American Idol fans will soon be able to have a very interactive voting experience online and on-air.

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Fox has announced Facebook and Google have partnered up with American Idol's thirteenth season to enable fans to vote in real-time online for their favorite finalists during select live shows and also observe voting trends simultaneously on-air thanks to Facebook.

Fans will be able to vote directly through Google Search via computers, phones or tablets as the live shows air, while Facebook will support visual, on-air voting progress updates based on real-time East Coast data of the votes being cast.

Updates of the voting polls to be featured in the live shows will give home viewers a chance to see demographic trends and how their favorite finalists are measuring up against their competitors at a given time.

"This season of American Idol is all about re-connecting fans with what they love most about the show -- the journey of the contestants from hopefuls to stardom," said Fox executive Bill Bradford. "With the help of innovators like Google and Facebook, this season, we're deepening that connection by making it easy for fans to make a bigger impact and be a bigger part of the show than ever before."

"Integrating content from Facebook into American Idol's live broadcast brings a new dimension to the viewing experience and enhances the connection fans have with the show and its contestants," added Justin Osofsky, Facebook's Vice President of Media Partnerships and Global Operations.

"With nearly 11 million fans of American Idol on Facebook, and all of the conversations people are already having on Facebook around live television events, there is an endless amount of creative potential through our partnership. We're very much looking forward to seeing that creativity come to life on and off Facebook throughout this season."

Google will now be the fifth voting method available for home viewers and introduced on Wednesday, February 26 at 8PM ET/PT, the season's first live performance show. 

Fans will be able to vote via Google when the Idol vote-window opens at the beginning of each performance show. They can search for Idol-related terms, all of which will bring up the page where fans can cast their votes. In addition, home viewers utilizing Facebook for show purposes may have their profile pictures featured in the broadcast.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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