The American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011 is a summer concert tour in the United States, Canada and The Philippines^[1] that features the Top 11 contestants of the tenth season of American Idol. The 49-date tour started in West Valley City, Utah, on July 6, and its North American leg will end in Rochester, New York on September 10.^[2] 45 dates were originally planned but four extra dates were added due to high demand,^[3] including two final shows in Manila, Philippines,^[4][5] only the second time the show has travelled outside of North America after Singapore was added to the tour schedule in Season 3.

This season's tour was promoted again by AEG Live after a year with Live Nation.^[6] This year Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, and U.S. Air Force Reserve joined as sponsors of the tour.^[3]

Performers[link]

Show overview[link]

In a break from the previous three years where the shows were essentially a series of mini-concerts by individually performers, this year there were more ensemble performances. Also unlike the previous three years, the individual performers did not perform according to their elimination order on American Idol, and the number of songs performed by each performer did not reflect their elimination order.

The show started with a group performance by the girls and the first half ended with a group performance. The first half featured solos from the first six eliminated contestants - Pia Toscano, Paul McDonald, Thia Megia, Stefano Langone, Naima Adedapo and Casey Abrams, while the Top 5 performed their solos in the second half. Duets and group performances interspersed the solo performances. The second half started with solos by the runner-up Lauren Alaina, and ended with solos by the winner Scotty McCreery followed by the traditional closing group performances.

Setlist[link]

Season 10 American Idol tour, Scotty McCreery performing with Thia Megia, Haley Reinhart and Pia Toscano.

• Naima Adedapo, Thia Megia, Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina and Pia Toscano – "Born This Way" (Lady Gaga)
• Toscano – "Empire State of Mind" (Jay-Z and Alicia Keys)
• Toscano and Stefano Langone – "California King Bed" (Rihanna)
• Paul McDonald – "Maggie May" (Rod Stewart)
• Megia – "Who Says" (Selena Gomez & the Scene)
• Megia, Reinhart, Adedapo and Toscano – "Tightrope" (Janelle Monáe)
• Langone – "Grenade" (Bruno Mars)
• Langone (Adedapo, Megia, Reinhart and Toscano on backing vocals) - "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (Usher)
• McDonald, James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Langone and Jacob Lusk - "Animal" (Neon Trees)
• Adedapo – "On the Floor" (Jennifer Lopez)
• Toscano – "This Time" (Pia Toscano)
• Alaina, Toscano and Megia – "Firework" (Katy Perry)
• Abrams – "Smooth" (Rob Thomas and Santana)
• Abrams and Reinhart – "Moanin'"
• Abrams – "Harder to Breathe" (Maroon 5)
• All (Except Scotty McCreery) - "Forget You!" (Cee Lo Green)

INTERMISSION

• Alaina - "Flat on the Floor" (Katrina Elam) and "Like My Mother Does" (Kristy Lee Cook)
• Alaina (Langone, Megia and Reinhart on backing vocals) — "If I Die Young" (The Band Perry)
• Durbin - "Sweet Child o' Mine" (Guns N' Roses) and "Uprising" (Muse)
• Lusk — "Never Too Much" (Luther Vandross)
• Lusk (Adedapo, Langone and Toscano backing vocals) - "You're All I Need to Get By" (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell)
• Reinhart — "The House of the Rising Sun" (Traditional) and "Bennie and the Jets" (Elton John)
• McCreery — "Your Man" (Josh Turner), "Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not" (Thompson Square) and "I Love You This Big" (Scotty McCreery)
• McCreery and Alaina — "When You Say Nothing at All" (Keith Whitley)
• McCreery (Alaina, Megia, Reinhart and Toscano on backing vocals) — "Gone" (Montgomery Gentry)
• Group medley – Durbin and Alaina — "Here I Go Again" (Whitesnake), Abrams, McDonald and Reinhart — "Faithfully" (Journey), Adedapo, Langone, Lusk and Megia — "Walk This Way" (Aerosmith), all — "Any Way You Want It/Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin" (Journey)

Additional notes[link]

1. Lauren Alaina sprained her ankle backstage at the Portland show,^[7] and performed her next show with the injured foot strapped in a boot.^[8]
2. The performance of Firework was removed from the setlist in shows starting from Rosemont, IL due to Lauren Alaina needing to rest her voice. However, it did return to the set starting with the Philadelphia PA show. Alaina did not appear in the first half in Columbus and Pittsburgh, but did appear in the second. However, she missed the Baltimore show completely, and reported that she was suffering from severe bronchitis.^[9]
3. Paul McDonald was absent from the Providence show.
4. The show at Albany on August 28, 2011 was postponed to September 4, 2011 due to Hurricane Irene that struck the East Coast of the United States on August 27.^[10]
5. It was the second time that the American Idol LIVE! Tour traveled to Asia with The Philippines being the second and only country for this year that they traveled to outside the United States and Canada.

Tour dates[link]

• ^Note a The Albany show was originally scheduled for August 28 but moved to September 4, 2011 due to Hurricane Irene.

Response[link]

The tour attendance rebounded after the poor turn-out for the Season 9 tour. 16 of the first 24 shows were sold out, and more than 97% its tickets has been sold through its first 14 dates with an average venue size of 8,100.^[12] The tour grossed $22,002,464 from 47 shows (the two Philippines shows did not report) with an attendance of 97%. The tour had the highest number of sell-outs of all seasons due in part to a lower average venue size of 8856.

Tour summary[link]

• Number of shows - 49 (24 sold out)
• Total gross - $22,002,464 (47 shows)
• Total attendance - 403,695
• Average attendance - 8,589 (97.0%)
• Average ticket price - $54.5
• Highest gross - Raleigh, North Carolina - $696,605
• Lowest gross - Syracuse, New York - $286,435
• Highest attendance - Raleigh, North Carolina - 13,533 (100%)
• Lowest attendance - Syracuse, New York - 4,975 (89.1%)

References[link]

Scotty McCreery
Scotty McCreery performing in June 2011
Background information
Birth name	Scott Cooke McCreery
Born	(1993-10-09) October 9, 1993 (age 18) Garner, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2011–present
Labels	19/Interscope/Mercury Nashville[1]
Website	Official Site

Scott Cooke "Scotty" McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American singer from Garner, North Carolina. He won the tenth season of American Idol on May 25, 2011. His debut studio album, Clear as Day, was released in October 2011 and was certified platinum in the United States. The album includes the top 20 country songs, "I Love You This Big" and "The Trouble with Girls".

Early life[link]

McCreery was born in 1993 to Judy (née Cooke) and Michael McCreery in Garner, North Carolina.^[2][3] His mother works as a real estate agent,^[4] and his father works as a manufacturing systems analyst.^[5] His father was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother from San Juan and an American father.^[6] His mother is the daughter of a retired school teacher from Gates County, NC. He attended Timber Drive Elementary School in Garner,^[5] and later West Lake Middle School where he sang at his graduation. He also attended Garner Magnet High School^[7] where he joined a vocal ensemble, Die Meistersingers, that performs across the United States.^[8] He started out singing tenor.

McCreery won a singing contest called "Clayton Idol" at the Clayton Harvest Festival in Clayton, North Carolina,^[9] and was one of 36 finalists in a "Rip the Hallways" contest featuring teenage vocalists in North Carolina.^[10] He has performed at various local events.^[11] He also attended Caswell Youth Retreat in the summer of 2009, and participated in the talent show there singing Long Black Train by Josh Turner.^[12]

[edit] American Idol

Overview[link]

McCreery auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Milwaukee. In the Hollywood group round, he joined the "Guaps" and became embroiled in the drama when fellow group member Clint Jun Gamboa expelled Jacee Badeaux from the group. He later expressed regret for not standing up for Jacee. He was one of the five male vote getters in the semi-final round to advance to the Top 13. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, McCreery confirmed that he has Puerto Rican ancestry. "Yes, I'm Puerto Rican," said McCreery with a smile. "I have a little bit of J.Lo in me."^[13]

Performances/Results[link]

• ^Note 1 Due to the judges using their one save on Casey Abrams, the Top 11 remained intact for another week, when two contestants were eliminated.

[edit] Post-Idol

McCreery released his coronation single "I Love You This Big" immediately after winning the tenth season of American Idol. The song 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.^[14] The song sold 171,404 units in its first week,^[15] and was certified gold on August 25, 2011. A music video for the song, shot on Angels Point near Dodger Stadium, was released on August 9, 2011.^[16][17]

He signed with Mercury Nashville,^[18] earning a contract that gave him over $250,000 in advances for recording the first album.^[19]

Both McCreery and Lauren Alaina were invited to present at the CMT Music Awards on June 8, 2011,^[20] and they also both performed on the Grand Ole Opry on June 10.^[21][22] McCreery performed "I Love You This Big" and George Strait's song "Check Yes or No." ^[23] Their trip to Nashville was also featured later in an ABC Special CMA Music Fest: Country’s Night to Rock where McCreery performed "Your Man" with Josh Turner at the CMA Music Festival.^[24]

McCreery toured with the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011, which began in West Valley City, Utah on July 6, 2011 and ended in Manila,Philippines on September 21, 2011.

GAC premiered a TV special, Introducing: Scotty McCreery, on October 3, 2011, the day before his debut album is expected to be released.^[25]

On October 19, 2011, McCreery sang the National Anthem in Game 1 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

On November 9, 2011, McCreery performed "Walk in the Country" and announced the CMA Radio Stations of the Year honors at the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards ^[26]

On November 10, 2011, McCreery joined other country stars in Nashville to tape the CMA Country Christmas special that aired on ABC on December 1.^[27]

On Thanksgiving day of 2011, McCreery performed his second single The Trouble with Girls at the 85th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City then headlined the Macy’s Great Tree Lighting at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta in the evening.^[28]

McCreery performed his second single at the 2nd Annual American Country Awards ^[29] on December 5, 2011 and won in the New Artist category ^[29][30]

McCreery performed "The First Noel" during the first annual CMA Country Christmas.^[31]

McCreery performed on the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade at Walt Disney World on December 25, 2011.^[32]

In 2012, he opened for Brad Paisley along with The Band Perry. The tour kicked off on January 12 with tour dates announced for the first quarter of 2012.^[33]

[edit] Clear as Day (2011)

McCreery's first album, titled Clear as Day, was released on October 4, 2011.^[34] Tracks from the album include a song from Keith Urban,^[35] and the title track "Clear as Day".^[36] A single from this album, "The Trouble With Girls" was premiered on radio on August 30, 2011,^[37][38] and released onto iTunes on September 1, 2011. An exclusive pre-order package on the album was offered in his website on August 8, 2011.^[39] He is the first artist to be featured in Deluxe Edition Of 'ZinePak available exclusively at Walmart.^[40]

The album sold 197,000 on its debut week, and Scotty McCreery made history as the first country act to debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200 with their first studio album, as well as the youngest man to open at the top of the chart with his debut release.^[41] It reached No. 1 on five separate Billboard charts - Billboard 200, Top Current Albums, Digital Albums, Internet Albums, and Top Country Albums.

McCreery's appearance on Today on November 23, 2011 coincided with the news that his debut album Clear as Day had been officially certified as gold.^[42]

Clear as Day was certified platinum with over 1 million units shipped.^[43]

With McCreery's debut album Clear as Day reaching number one on the Billboard 200, he joins Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry (Daughtry) as the only Idol contestants to have a number one album.

McCreery recorded Tim McGraw's "Please Remember Me" and it was released on March 8, 2012. Also, it is used as the exit song on the eleventh season of American Idol.^[44]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

• ^ACurrent single.^[61]

Other songs[link]

Music videos[link]

Personal life[link]

McCreery is a professed Christian.^[65][66][67]

McCreery will soon be attending North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[68]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site on Scotty McCreery
• Scotty McCreery on American Idol
• Scotty McCreery on IMDb.com