Ford and its Fiesta Movement are continuing to keep the heat going and the excitement churning with more & more promotional initiatives.  This latest page in the 2nd chapter involves the Ford Fiesta sponsorship of FOX’s “American Idol”.  Each of the top 12 contestants from the reality show will get more than a shot at becoming the next “Idol”–they’ll get some good face time in with Ford design engineers in order to create their very own customized 2011 Ford Fiesta!  The promotional Fiesta spot is set to air on tonight’s episode of AI on FOX, from 9:00 to 10:00pm ET.

“Ford has been a sponsor of ‘American Idol’ since the show premiered in 2002, and each season we try to take our relationship with the show to the next level in a fun and meaningful way,” said Connie Fontaine, manager, Ford Brand Content and Alliances. “This year, the Idols will get a closer experience with our vehicles as they interact with our designers and customize a Fiesta design that reflects their own personality.”

If you hop over to www.americanidol.com from March 17 through May 21, 2010, you’ll be able to get a glimpse of the American Idols’ Ford Fiesta selections and die-hard fans (age 18 and older) can also enter the Ford Music Video Challenge on a weekly basis to get a chance to win one of the Fiestas, as well as a trip to the  set of a Ford music video shoot.  All the finer details related to this particular contest can be found at www.americanidol.com/ford/challenge.

So how did the top 12 Idols get rolling on this ride?  Each of them were shown a palette of nine Ford Fiesta colors (Lime Squeeze, Blue Flame, Bright Magenta, et al) to choose from, then they all answered personality questionnaires in order to determine what they look for in a car.  Next, four Ford designers (Dillon Blanski, Gustavo Bizyk, Lesli Ann Agcaoili and Dean Carbis) parsed through the surveys, shuttled off to Hollywood, and met the Idols personally to get started on each of their unique Ford Fiesta concepts!

“Ford has great young designers who are bringing fresh thinking to our product lineup,” said Fontaine. “We hope the design integration with ‘American Idol’ will shine a light on the remarkable talent that is working tirelessly to deliver great products to market.”

Each of the top 12 Idol contestants were able to make personalized choice beyond their initial color selection and pick out custom body graphics, wheel treatments, tech options, and much more.  Ford’s new SYNC stereo upgrade was a definite hot-ticket item.

“We explained to the Idols that the graphics they design will actually be a symbol of them and their life experiences,” said Carbis, who most recently served as lead exterior designer for the 2010 Ford Taurus. “They were really excited to work with us.”

While a few of the Idols went down the graphics customization route, the remainder focused upon a sports tuner package.  Of course, all of them were interested in the music-related options & features.

“Many of the Idols are obviously very music-oriented, so we talked about taking an instrument they play or the lyrics to their favorite song and somehow incorporating that into the graphics,” said Blanski, 26, the youngest member of the Ford design team.

As we look forward, we know that Ford is planning to have a plethora of additional options for the Ford Fiesta, such as a lower body kit by 3dCarbon, a large sporty rear hatchback spoiler from Europe, a selection of shift knobs, and body-side graphics by Original Wraps.

After seeing all this, we can be sure Ford’s going to have a hot handful going come this summer, when the Fiesta makes its official debut!