Alex Preston 'Story of My Life' is #135 on iTunes Charts

For the first time ever, American Idol is opening up chart positions of contestant recordings on iTunes.

This is like 7 years too late -- and obviously, Idol has finally surrendered and has copied both The Voice and The X Factor USA.

For all it's worth, Alex Preston was the highest ranking song from Idol overnight landing at #135 for "Story of My Life". Congratulations Alex! You are now the new front-runner!

And yes, the power of One Direction! Alex & Sierra from The X Factor USA first gained traction on iTunes by covering 1D, so this could be a good thing for Alex Preston moving forward in the competition.

Incidentally, I don't think The Voice Season 6 tracks have landed in the iTunes Top 200 yet (please correct me if I missed it). So this is actually good news for American Idol! See? This was always a good idea. Nigel Lythgoe was just too stubborn to try something new. I'm imagining what could have been during Season 8 with Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and everyone else DOMINATING iTunes after the show. Sigh. Oh well.