Photo Credit: Eric AdkinsTonight, Keith Urban returns as one of the judges alongside Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick, Jr., as American Idol begins its 15th and final season. While Connick tells ABC Radio you can expect everyone from Taylor Hicks to Clay Aiken to pop up this year, season-10 winner Scotty McCreery also gave us a preview of what’s ahead.
“The final season is gonna be crazy. I’ve gotten a little scoop on it, and every big moment you can think of from the last 15 years will show back up,” he says. “It’s really bittersweet to see it go, but it will be a fun season.”
When Scotty took home the title in 2011, he was instantly transformed from a 17-year-old from North Carolina to an up-and-coming country star.
“I mean Idol was one of those things — there was Star Search and stuff, but it was the first show where you really felt like your next-door neighbor could be the next big star. That was the case with me. I was the neighborhood grocery bagger, so it’s just one of those things,” he reflects. “It had a huge impact on my life, a huge impact on folks like Carrie [Underwood] and Kellie [Pickler] and all sorts of folks. It was the biggest show in pop culture, so [I’m] just proud to be a small part about it.”
Though we don’t know exactly what Scotty’s involvement will be in giving the iconic show a fitting send-off, the “Southern Belle” hitmaker does have some ideas about what he’d like to see.
“I think it’d be cool if they got all the winners together for a song, and just had different parts. [I] don’t know what song would be the best one for that, but to have all 15 of us come out there and do that would be pretty cool,” he says.
This May, Scotty will release his memoir, Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream. His fourth album is also due sometime this year.
American Idol: The Farewell Season premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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