UPDATE: The track was iTunes' 29th most popular download shortly after midnight Thursday morning.
EARLIER: Kris Allen's performance of "Falling Slowly" on last night's American Idol has gotten mixed reviews, but the song is a hit on iTunes.
The Oscar-winning track from the soundtrack to the movie Once is already the 33rd most-downloaded song on iTunes, less than 24 hours after contestant Kris Allen performed it on a movie-themed edition of American Idol. This morning, Entertainment Weekly noted that the soundtrack was the 26th most-downloaded album on iTunes (now it's no. 24) and that the film and lyrics to the song were popular search items on Google, but the mag didn't mention how popular "Falling Slowly" was, suggesting it hadn't even cracked the top 100 by then. So far, "Falling Slowly" is the only song performed last night in iTunes Top 100.
Meanwhile, Allen's performance has gotten mixed reviews with some praising it and others saying it was the worst performance of the night. We loved it, but DialIdol notes that Allen got the least votes last night, which means he might be going home tonight. If he does, though, we wouldn't be surprised if his second performance fuels "Falling Slowly"'s sales further upward. If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, a free, legal stream of the original version of the song is embedded below.
