Scott Cooke “Scotty” McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American singer from Garner, North Carolina who won the tenth season of American Idol on May 25, 2011.
His mother works as a realtor. His father was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother from San Juan and an American father. He used to impersonate Elvis as a child, and started learning guitar at age ten. He attended West Lake Middle School and sang at his graduation. He also attended Garner Magnet High School where he joined a vocal ensemble, Die Meistersingers that performs across the United States. He started out singing tenor but switched to bass when his voice turned lower in his sophomore year.
McCreery auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The judges were struck by his deep bass voice unusual for his age. At age 17, he is the second youngest Idol winner behind season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. Scotty’s coronation single “I Love You This Big” entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number 32, becoming the highest debut for a debut single since the chart converted to BDS data the week of January 20, 1990. The song sold 171,404 units in its first week. He is signed with Mercury Nashville Records and will release his debut album this October.
Lauren Alaina (born Lauren Alaina Suddeth; November 8, 1994) is an from Rossville, Georgia. Auditioning for the tenth season of American Idol in Nashville, Tennessee, Alaina was the runner-up on the tenth season of American Idol.
A sophomore student at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where she is a cheerleader, Alaina was inspired to sing by her cousin, Holly Witherow, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
She released her single “Like My Mother Does” immediately after the finale of Season 10 of American Idol. The song entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number 49 and the Hot 100 chart at number 20, and sold 121,000 copies in its first week. She is signed with Mercury Nashville Records and will release her debut album before the end of the year.
Haley Reinhart (born September 9, 1990) is an American singer from Wheeling, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois who came third in tenth season of American Idol.
Both her parents are musicians. She began singing when she was 8 years old, and she performed with her parents’ band, Midnight, which covers rock songs from the ’60s and ’70s. After graduating high school in 2009, Reinhart attended Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, studying jazz.
Reinhart first auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol, in Chicago, but did not advance to the Hollywood round. Reinhart returned for the tenth season of Idol the following year, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and this time was put through to Hollywood. She has received notable musician and celebrity support from Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Adam Lambert, Tom Hanks, Blake Lewis, Melinda Doolittle, Kris Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Ellen DeGeneres and others, who picked Reinhart as their favorite. She is the only contestant from season 10 that has over one million views on three of her Youtube performance videos: her renditions of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” and Ben E. King’s “I (Who Have Nothing)”.
James Durbin (born January 6, 1989) is an American heavy metal singer and guitar player from Santa Cruz, California, who finished in fourth place on the tenth season of American Idol.
His father, a musician, died of a drug overdose when Durbin was nine. He announced during his aired audition on American Idol, he was upset he didn’t get a chance to know his father well. He was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and Asperger syndrome shortly after his father died. He was the lead singer in a metal band called Hollywood Scars, where he went by the stage name of Jimmy Levox. Influenced by bands such as Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue, Hollywood Scars drew their inspiration from the glitz, glam, and decadence of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip in the 80’s and early 90’s. The band released a single entitled “Under The Cherry Tree”. He was also in a band called Whatever Fits.
Durbin had previously auditioned for American Idol in Season 8, but was not chosen. Despite being eliminated fourth, he received a homecoming previously reserved for Top 3 contestants. The first time such an exception on the homecoming policy has been made by the show.
Jacob Lusk (born June 23, 1987) is an American singer from Compton, California, who finished in fifth place on the tenth season of American Idol.
His father worked as a music producer, but he died when Lusk was twelve. Lusk began singing when he was four years old, and performed at his church from the age of five. He attended United Faith Community School in Long Beach, California, and was the lead singer in the school choir, plays and programs. He is a minister of music at his church.
Lusk auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Los Angeles, California. He received high praise from Randy Jackson for his performance of “God Bless the Child” during the Hollywood rounds as the best ever seen on Idol. He was one of the top five males in the semi-final round, and therefore advanced to the Top 13.
Casey Abrams (born February 12, 1991) is an American musician from Idyllwild, California who finished in sixth place on the tenth season of American Idol.
Abrams spent his early years in Chicago, Illinois before moving to California. A student at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, California, where his father teaches film production, he studied classical bass instruction and improvisation. After graduating in 2009, he attended University of Colorado at Boulder as a music major. Abrams suffers from ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory disease which causes ulceration and inflammation of the colon, and that occasionally requires blood transfusions, which resulted in his having been hospitalized while on American Idol.
Abrams auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Austin, Texas. He was selected as one of the Top 24 semi-finalists, but two days before he was due to perform for the semi-finals, he suffered severe stomach pains and was rushed to the hospital. He was well enough to perform on performance night, and was one of the five male vote receivers to advance to the Top 13; however, he missed the Top 13 results show due to his illness. He was the lowest vote receiver on the Top 11 result show, but was saved by the judges; they chose to save him immediately, stopping his supposedly last performance on the show halfway through it. He is the third finalist to be saved by the judges in three seasons.
Stefano Langone (born February 27, 1989) is an American singer from Kent, Washington. Langone placed seventh on the tenth season of American Idol.
He is half Spanish and half Italian. Langone has been singing and playing the piano since childhood. On May 28, 2009, he was involved in a near-fatal accident after being hit by a drunk driver. He had two broken arms, a fractured pelvis and other serious injuries and had to re-learn how to walk, and he has extensive scarring as a result of the accident.
Langone auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in San Francisco, California. He was not one of the five male vote getters in the semi-final round to advance to the Top 13. He was then one of the six selected to sing for a wild card and advanced to the Top 13.
Paul McDonald (born William Paul McDonald; August 29, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter from Huntsville, Alabama, who as of 2011 resides in Nashville, Tennessee. McDonald placed 8th on the tenth season of American Idol.
In the spring of 2005, he and fellow Auburn student Jonathan Pears began writing songs together, forming the band Hightide Blues. Adding two other members, Cragon Sims and Scott Rollins, they began touring small clubs around the state of Alabama. In 2006, McDonald put his education on hold to pursue a full-time career in music. After a limited edition self-titled EP Hightide Blues in 2007, the band released in 2008 a self-produced album, Love Come Easy. From 2007 to 2010, the band continued touring around the country, performing with musicians such as the Zac Brown Band, Sarah Bareilles, and JJ Grey and Mofro averaging around 150-200 shows per year. In August 2010, McDonald and his band members moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and launched a campaign to let their fans choose a new name for the band. The group’s first album under its new name, entitled The Grand Magnolias, was released in 2011.
On January 27, 2011, McDonald received a golden ticket to compete in Hollywood from judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson, and made it into the Top 24 by singing an original song, “American Dreams.” McDonald continues to be one of the most popular American Idol Season 10 competitors on the social networking site.
After meeting her at the premier of Red Riding Hood, it was revealed that McDonald was dating Twilight actress Nikki Reed. On June 5th, 2011 it was announced the couple are engaged.
Pia Ann Rose Toscano (born October 14, 1988) is an American singer from Howard Beach, New York. Toscano placed ninth on the tenth season of American Idol.
She is of Italian descent. She began performing in talent shows when she was four, and by the time she was nine, had performed in a local church production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Toscano has also opened for the Barenaked Ladies and performed with Josh Groban at Madison Square Garden. Prior to Idol, Toscano worked as a make-up artist and as a wedding singer in a band called “Current Affair”.
Toscano auditioned for American Idol four times before. She made it through to Hollywood in season 6, but her journey ended there. In 2010, she auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and was put through to Hollywood, this time making it through to the Top 24. Considered by some to be a frontrunner in the competition, her elimination came as a shock to judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler, all of whom were visibly upset and vocal. Many viewers and media outlets described Toscano’s departure as one of the most shocking eliminations in American Idol history. Pia is now signed to Interscope records and her album is due out before the end of the year.
Thia Megia (born Thialorei Lising Megia; January 30, 1995) is a Filipino – American singer from Mountain House, California. Megia finished in the top 11 of the tenth season of American Idol.
Megia was born in Hayward, California, to Cynthya and Loreto Megia. Her parents, originally from Angeles, Pampanga, the Philippines, emigrated to the United States in 1968 and changed their name from Mejia to Megia. She attended Eden Gardens Elementary School in Hayward through the sixth grade, but was cyber-schooled online at California Virtual Academy, when the family moved to Mountain House, California. She has won singing competitions in San Jose and Saratoga and has sung the national anthem at San Jose Giants, Stanford football and San Francisco 49ers games. Prior to Idol, however, Megia was best known for her appearance on the fourth season of America’s Got Talent in 2009. She made it to the quarterfinals, but was cut in the Top 40 round. That same year, she was invited to sing at the David Foster and Friends concert in California. Thia sang “Who’s Loving You” by The Jackson 5/Michael Jackson.
Megia auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the song “Chasing Pavements” by Adele. On March 31, 2011, Megia and Naima Adedapo were eliminated from American Idol. Megia is the youngest finalist to ever appear on Idol after they changed the minimum age limit to 15 years She is also the only female in the top 13 who is also an instrumentalist, a pianist and a guitarist, however she did not play either on American Idol.
Naima Adedapo (born October 5, 1984) is an American singer, dancer, actress from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Adedapo placed in the top 11 on the tenth season of American Idol.
Adedapo is the daughter of Milwaukee area jazz singer Adekola Adedapo. Adedapo graduated high school from St. Joan Antida and majored in Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Adedapo is married with two daughters, age one and three, and three stepdaughters. Adedapo is a dancer with Ko-Thi, an Afri-centric dance company, and sings with her husband in R.A.S. Movement, a reggae and world beat band. Adedapo was one of the top 38 finalists on MTV/P.Diddy’s “Making the Band”.
Adedapo auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was not one the five female vote-getters in the semi-final round to advance to the Top 13. She was one of the six selected to sing for a wild card. The judges chose three of the six, including Adedapo, to advance to the Top 13.