Up for auction "American Idol Season 10" Contestant Signed 8X10 Color Photo. Signers are; Lauren Alaina, Paul McDonald, Casey Abrams, Naima Adedapo And Lauren Alaina. This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-7685EThe tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011, and concluded on May 25, 2011, on the Fox television network. The show underwent a number of changes from the ninth season , including the return of Nigel Lythgoe as executive producer. Randy Jackson returned as judge for his tenth season while Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joined the judging panel following the departures of Simon Cowell , Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres . Interscope Records , which is part of Universal Music Group , replaced Sony Music Entertainment as Idol 's official partner record label. Interscope's Chairman Jimmy Iovine , a songwriter and producer, was named as the in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis. He was supported by associated producers Rodney Jerkins , Alex da Kid , Tricky Stewart , Don Was , will.i.am , and Timbaland , who all helped the contestants tailor their song choices to their chosen genre of performance, while also producing arrangements for the contestants and offering original material to be performed. Ray Chew replaced Rickey Minor as the show's musical director and leader of Idol 's live band. Programming changes affecting viewership included a revision in the days of broadcast from Tuesdays and Wednesdays to Wednesdays and Thursdays. The show also opened up an option for viewers to cast their votes online through Facebook , allowing 50 votes per account. Specific changes in the competition itself included extending extra rounds (such as the Las Vegas show ) and a final solo round, while also returning the judges' wild card choices. The show additionally lowered the age of eligibility to 15 years. More contestants made it to Hollywood in the tenth season than in previous seasons. On May 25, 2011, after 122.4 million votes were cast for the finale (and nearly 750 million votes for the seasonal total), Scotty McCreery was crowned the winner of the tenth season of American Idol , making him the youngest male winner at 17 years and seven months old, and the second youngest winner ever behind sixth season winner Jordin Sparks . The tenth season was the first season where 11 contestants went on tour instead of 10. Nine contestants from this season were signed to record labels. The signed artists are Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart , James Durbin , Casey Abrams , Stefano Langone , Pia Toscano , Naima Adedapo , and Jimmie Allen . Simon Cowell , who had been a judge since the first episode of the first season, announced on January 11, 2010, that he would not be returning as a judge for this season in order to focus on launching the American version of his hit British singing competition The X Factor . Ellen DeGeneres officially announced her departure on July 29, 2010, after judging for only one season, because she felt the show was not the "right fit" for her. Kara DioGuardi then announced on September 3, 2010, that she would also not return this season. On September 22, 2010, it was announced that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler would join the judging panel. There were a number of other major changes in season ten, from the judges to the format of the show itself including the opening intro, which used the " Hall of Idols ". Nigel Lythgoe returned as the executive producer, and Ray Chew has been hired as the show's new musical director, replacing Rickey Minor , who left the show along with vocal coach Dorian Holley to become the musical director of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . Peisha McPhee, mother of season 5's runner-up Katharine McPhee , joined as one of the vocal coaches. In this season, online voting was also offered for the first time for fans with Facebook accounts; up to 50 votes may be cast. The tenth season also saw a return to the process of singers singing two songs each on performance nights starting earlier in the season, and three songs each starting on Top 3 night. Extra rounds were added in the Hollywood phase of the competition which would narrow the contestants down to 60 finalists. Those who advanced were then taken to Las Vegas in an extra round where they were asked to perform a song from the Beatles , and then a further solo round in Los Angeles. It was initially plan to reduce the contestants down to 20 by the end of the Hollywood rounds, however, 24 contestants were chosen instead for the semifinal, and they would perform in two groups of 12 in a semi-final sudden death round where they faced the public vote to determine the top five males and females to form the first 10 finalists. The judges were given three wild card picks, bringing the total number of finalists to 13. Lythgoe had previously suggested significant format changes that would replace the following semifinal, with contestants having "to make the best music video, to promote themselves, and to work with a band and dancers for an awards show-style performance." However, the plans were shelved. Despite previous reports that Idol producers had axed the weekly music theme, the themes remained.