For fans of the incredibly popular US TV show American Idol, the 8th season promises to be something special.

Thanks to a new iPhone application recently launched by Freemantle and Zumobi, fans will have the opportunity for an even deeper engagement with the show, whenever they want to, where ever they want to.

The official American Idol Season 8 App is a must have for serious fans, as it provides a variety of ways to engage with the series, as well as a range of specially developed material about the 13 final contestants.

The application provides fans with in-depth contestant bios, pictures, news and exclusive video from behind-the-scenes of the on-air show. The app also features daily news updates on the top contestants in the “Buzz” and “Bio” sections.

Exclusive Content

In terms of special content, each week American Idol productions will produce a new video for each remaining contestant, giving fans the opportunity to get know their favorites better.

Starting with the original 13 finalists down to the eventual winner, this means over 70 original videos, available only through the iPhone app.

Consumer interactivity

Everyone likes to see if they can predict who the eventual winner of American Idol, so the application has a special “My Rankings” section. This feature allows users to test their talent-picking power by predicting, customizing, and tracking the order of who stays and who gets voted off each week.

The American Idol Season 8 Application also includes the “All Idols” section, where all the results from each week’s voting is easily available so consumers can see who survived the cut and who didn’t, even if they can’t watch the standard broadcast of the show.

And finally, while using the application consumers can simply click to go to the special American Idol iTunes page to buy their favorite contestant’s songes.

The American Idol Exclusive Application has developed by Zumobi in partnership with FremantleMedia Enterprises, 19 Entertainment, and Fox Broadcasting Corporation.

“The new application puts iPhone and iPod touch users in the driver’s seat and allows them to engage with the show anytime they want,” said David Luner, senior vice president, Interactive & Consumer Products, FremantleMedia Enterprises, North America.

“The popularity and sales iPhone and iPod touch are skyrocketing. The adoption of these mobile devices and their appeal for enjoying music and video entertainment is more prevalent than ever,” said Cindy Spodek Dickey, VP of Marketing for Zumobi. “The American Idol application has exclusive features and videos, as well as links throughout the app to purchase music in the iTunes store. All these elements, combined with the size of the iPhone/iPod touch audience, and the strength of distribution via iTunes, makes it a natural fit as an app.”

The American Idol application can be downloaded from iTunes here (note, you will need access to the US iTunes store to be able to download it).