ION INDIE MAGAZINE December 2016, Volume 31 | Page 26

Scotty McCreery: Oh, okay.
Kiki: That's good to know. And you know Mark, my journalist there…he's a wonderful sports fan. I was always
the cheerleader that started the wrong cheer at the wrong time, so...
Scotty McCreery: There you go.
Kiki: So much for sports. (Laughs) Okay now, with all the winners of American Idol, a recent poll by the Los
Angeles Times named you the best. What do you think it was about your appearance on season 10 that
resounded with the readers of the LA Times? And if you could define a favorite moment on that A.I. stage,
what would that be?
Scotty McCreery: Yeah, well first of it, it's really cool to see that poll and see what the readers voted there.
Even with that though, you know, I can't sit here and discount folks like Carrie Underwood and Kelly
Clarkson, that have really gone on to be superstars. I still have a lot of work to go through before I approach
that level, but that's really cool to see that. I don't think, you know, it was so much to do about me as it was
to do about that whole season in general. There was so much talent that season. I think more so. For me, I
mean, I'm biased. But I think more so than any other season. And I think just the diversification of the talent,
you know? We had everything from gospel to R&B to folk to jazz to country. You name it, we had folks that
were really great at what they did on my season, season 10. So I think that probably resounded a little bit
with them. And favorite moment from the American Idol stage would probably be when I was sitting side
stage during the finale and I was 5 feet away from Steven Tyler with just him and a piano singing “Dream
On”. From that close of range and seeing him do this thing was a pretty incredible moment for me.
Kiki: No kidding. Does it get any better than that? (Laughs)
Scotty McCreery: Not really, not really.
Kiki: There is much reported in the press by former contestants on television’s various singing competitions-and we've interviewed many in the pages of ION Indie Magazine. Some commentaries are positive and
some are negative. If asked by an up and coming artist in this current climate, would you recommend
pursuing televised singing competitions and what advice would you give that artist to best prepare for their
audition?
Scotty McCreery: Yeah, you're never gonna hear me knock where I came from or TV shows or Idol. I mean, I
was bagging groceries before I was, so I'll take this job any day over that, so…you know, Idol kind of provided
me with that opportunity, so I'm forever indebted to them and love the opportunity that television provides.
Same as with the internet and YouTube--and that's where Justin Bieber was found, YouTube. I mean, there
are so many different opportunities to get found nowadays. If I had to give advice to somebody that was
going on television, I would--number one--tell them to buckle up, because it's a 7 day a week/24 hours a
day kind of job--for 5 months, if you go the whole thing. It was intense. It was fun, but it was intense. And
two--really just take it in. I don't think I took it in as much as I would have liked to. You know, getting to work
with folks like Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler or Randy Jackson. Again, it was like drinking water out of a
fire hose. I didn't know what was going on but you know, I would say stop and smell the roses and just enjoy
your time more so than being stressed out…so, yeah.