Flemington, NJ, February 20, 2009 – A new study conducted among 1,522 American Idol viewers revealed that viewers selected Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey and Anoop Desai as the top contestants to move on to the next round of the show. 

The study was conducted by HCD Research on February 17, to obtain American Idol viewers’ predictions and opinions regarding which contestants should advance to the next round. HCD Research will conduct a weekly study during American Idol Season 8, to determine which contestants viewers think should move on to the next round.  HCD Research will compare viewers’ predictions against the actual results of each show.

The viewers’ rankings were similar to the actual results that were revealed Wednesday evening. However, viewers predicted that Anoop Desai should move on rather than Michael Sarver, with 35% of viewers voting for Desai and 24% voting for Sarver.

Among the findings:

Respondents were asked to pick their top three favorite contestants from Tuesday night’s show that they thought should advance to the next round.

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

HCD Research specializes in conducting communications research for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, financial and entertainment industries, among others.

Headquartered in Flemington, NJ, the company's services include traditional and web-based communications research.  For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or 908-788-9393. 

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).