Cast and Crew

Creator: Tom Keegan

Leading Role: Thomas Grassberger, Larry Sullivan and Courtenay Taylor

Summary of American Idol Season 10 DVD Box Set

Season 10

Season ten of the series premiered on January 19, 2011, on Fox. Many changes were introduced this season, from the format to the personnel of the show. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joined Randy Jackson as judges, while Nigel Lythgoe returned as ex ecutive producer. Jimmy Iovine, chairman of the Interscope Geffen A&M Records group, the new partner of American Idol, acted as the in-house mentor in place of weekly guest mentors, although in later episode special guest mentors such as Beyoncé, will.i.am and Lady Gaga were brought in.

Season ten is the first to include online auditions where contestants could submit a forty second video audition via Myspace. Karen Rodriguez was one such auditioner and reached the final rounds.

One of the more prominent contestants this year was Chris Medina, whose story of caring for his brain-damaged fiancée received widespread coverage. Casey Abrams, who suffers from ulcerative colitis, was hospitalized twice and missed the Top thirteen result show. He had the fewest votes at Top eleven but was saved by the judges, and as a result, the season 10 was the first season to have eleven finalists go on tour instead of ten.

Pia Toscano, one of the presumed favorites to advance far in the season, was unexpectedly eliminated on April 7, 2011, finishing in ninth place. Her elimination drew criticism from some former Idol contestants, as well as actor Tom Hanks.

The two finalists in 2011 were Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery, both teenage country singers. Scotty McCreery won the competition on May 25, 2011, being the youngest male winner and the fourth male in a row to win American Idol. McCreery released his first single, "I Love You This Big", as his coronation song, and Alaina released "Like My Mother Does". McCreery's debut album, Clear as Day, became the first debut album by an Idol winner to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 since Ruben Studdard's Soulful in 2003.