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Fox and Apple have jointly launched an iTunes store for American Idol performances, in case you thought Fox was finished co-branding and cross-promoting (milking) the Other-Super Bowl*.

Sans-cynicism, American Idol fans will be happy to know they'll be able to purchase the songs sung by the top 24 performers tonight for 99 cents a piece. Starting March 12, they'll be able to purchase full-video performances by the remaining top 12.

Oh, why wasn't this option available when Sanjaya was performing? Why, oh Lord? Why? Or, more importantly, when I had the McPheever.

Oh yeah, we had YouTube, where, if you didn't get enough emo out of this year's finalists, you can still find poor Josiah snivelin' it up**.

Ahem. Simon Fuller, American Idol creator, thinks this year's crew is one fans will shell out some serious cash for. “We have some truly outstanding talent this year, and by working with Apple and iTunes, we’re giving viewers another great way to enjoy America’s brightest new stars from Idol,” he said. “I’m sure there will be many memorable performances that viewers will want to relive from this 2008 season.”

Please ignore the jangling in his pockets and the far-off stare toward an imagined McDuck money pool.

Which reminds me, are the performers getting a cut of the action, some iTunes royalty love?

Elissa Johansmeier, a Fox spokesperson, said, "We won't provide info on revenues.  Thanks."

I told her I would take that as a "no," to which she replied, "We won't provide info on revenues; it's company policy."

Ah, I knew something was missing. See how useful a semicolon can be?

Another report says Apple and Fox also won't be revealing which performer is being downloaded the most over the course of the season. They don't want to influence the voting.

Or to open the door for renegotiations.

*By the way, Fox, thanks for the non-high-definition broadcast of the Super Bowl—putting that $2.4 million per 30-second spot to good use I see.

**What happened to Rock n Roll, anyway? There's no crying in Rock n Roll. Just like baseball. I like my rockers tough like they used to be when they wore spandex and eye shadow. And don't bring up Elton, cuz despite the frilly glasses he still knew how to smack somebody I bet. Ask George Michael; bet he knows.