American Idol’s Pia Toscano Finally Signs Record Deal with Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records

American Idol contestant Pia Toscano can finally say she has a record deal.

After Pia’s shocking elimination from American Idol it was announced that she had signed a record deal but her reps later said it was all just rumor.

Today, Jimmy Iovine and his Interscope Records announced that Pia Toscano has officially signed to the label and is now under management with Red Light Management.

Ex-Idol contestants Haley Reinhart and James Durbin are also under contract with Red Light.

Related: Did AI’s James Durbin Really Get Arrested?

Toscano’s first single, “This Time” has already been recorded and is set to release on July 15, 2011.

“Pia has been working with several artists and producers including Rock Mafia and is proud of her first single “This Time”. We look forward to a long relationship with Pia, and other Idol contestants.”

Pia was a viewer favorite before being booted from the show before Stefano Langone. There were also subsequent tales of a romance between the two.

Related: Pia and Stefano share off-set excitement

If you recall, Jimmy Iovine played a crucial role in last season’s Idol competition. It was speculated that any good talent would be snapped up by his Interscope records after the season was completed.

Pia told reporters after the announcement,

"I'm looking forward to working with him and everyone at Interscope Records and 19 Recordings. This is a dream come true."

She also said she will have a new album out before the end of the year and it will be a “huge, big diva sounding album.”

Watch Pia Toscano and Lauren Alaina Backstage Interview


Jimmy Iovine and Interscope also represent 50 Cent, Travis Barker, The Black Eyed Peas, Greyson Chance, Mary J. Blige, P. Diddy, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fergie, Lady Gaga, new Kids on the Block, Pussycat Dolls, Soulja Boy, Sting, Timbaland, U2, Will.i.am, and others.

Pia seems to be in good company with Jimmy and we can’t wait to hear what she has to bring to the table.

Go get ‘em Pia.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – Jimmy said it was ok

Scotty McCreery Wins American Idol 2011 Crown - Video

We’ve seen some of the best go home.

We’ve met two new judges this season.

We’ve learned we don’t miss Simon after all.

And now we know the winner of American Idol 2011 season 10.

17-Year-old country crooner Scotty McCreery took home the gold tonight and is the new American Idol 2011 winner.

Even after last night’s last minute scare, 30 minutes before going live, that Lauren Alaina had lost her voice and Haley Reinhart would be his new competitor.

Scotty made his hometown of Garner North Carolina proud by winning the tenth season’s top prize after a record breaking 122 million votes put him over the top. 

“Scotty had what it took to go the distance and everybody in Garner is very proud of him. The entire town went into shock when we heard that Scotty had won.”

Scotty beat out 17-year-old country singer Lauren Alaina, and emerged as a frontrunner after the eliminations of Jacob Lusk, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, Stefano Langone, Casey Abrams, Paul McDonald, and Pia Toscano.



So what prize does the winner of American Idol get?

The winner receives a record deal with a major recording label for up to six albums. All previous winners have reportedly earned at least $1 million in their first year after being named winner. Several have gone on to become superstars.

In addition, the top ten finalists go on the road with the “American Idol Summer Tour” kicking off this June and making each contestant a nice six-figure income.

This season of American Idol was a vast improvement over prior seasons. The ousting of bad guy Simon Cowell and the addition of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez ignited a fresh fire under the show.

Not that this season was without problems and drama.

Related: Was Idol’s James Durbin Arrested?

Things got a bit rocky when Pia Toscano was voted off before smooth operator Stefano Langone. Fans revolted and started a grass roots effort to have her reinstated - but ultimately failed in their attempt.

Fans were ecstatic when Pia announced she had signed a record deal only two days after being voted off the show.

Related: The Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone Drama

And fans cheered when alt-rock sensation Casey Abrams was welcomed back after the judges used their one “save” of the season.

However, some viewers felt that the addition of famous record producer Jimmy Iovine may have led some Idols astray by giving bad advice or pushing them towards a particular song.

Jacob Lusk for example, criticized Iovine for giving him bad advice that Jacob felt ultimately cost him his chance at winning. 

Related: AI’s Jacob Lusk Arrested in L.A. – Mug Shot

And Chris Medina lashed out at producers when he was not invited to the finale live show. He felt that the show really played up his sad story about his fiancée, who suffered a debilitating brain injury, and then dumped him after he was eliminated.

Related: Chris Medina not invited to Idol Finale?

But all-in-all it was a great season. We really believe the changing of the guard propelled American Idol back to what it was in the early days.
And we congratulate Scotty for going the distance and bringing home the win.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter

Lady Gaga To Mentor American Idols Final Four Contestants This Week - Steven Tyler to Perform

Is Jimmy Iovine getting the week off?

Is it time to bring in some new blood to the mentoring mix?

Big news this week for Lady Gaga and American Idol fans as Miss Gaga herself is scheduled to mentor the remaining four Idols during this week’s May 11th show.

James Durbin, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart are the sole remaining 4 contestants after Jacob Lusk was voted off last week.

And when I heard Haley sing Gaga’s unreleased single “You and I” last week I suspected it was not a coincidence. And I think some folks are getting tired of listening to Jimmy Iovine week after week.

Lusk is tired of him – and even blamed Jimmy for his poor performance last week that ultimately sent him packing.

Related: Idol Jacob Lusk Arrested in L.A. – Mug Shot

Gaga is riding high with her just released music video “Judas”, but is coming under fire from some fans that her hit “Born this way” is a knock-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself”. We have to admit, they do sound almost identical.

Related: Lady Gaga Releases “Judas” Music Video – Watch
Related: Gaga under fire for Madonna rip-off - Video

But we don’t really want to see Scotty McCreery emerge from some type of country style giant egg contraption, or watch James Durbin rock out wearing a tuxedo made of meat.

So we hope Gaga is gentle with our last four contestants as the stakes this year could not be greater.

But you can tell that an hour show is way more than necessary for simply revealing the voting results, and producers are having to fill the time with other performances.

Last week each contestant sang TWO songs and Jennifer Lopez graced us with a performance.

This Thursday, Steven Tyler will belt out his new single “It Feels So Good” and word has leaked out that Aerosmith will be performing during finale week.

Related: Steven Tyler releases new book and talks Idol

The theme this week is songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote most of Elvis Presley’s hit songs.

Really? Lady Gaga and Elvis?

Please Miss Gaga, no meat dresses, giant eggs, crown of thorns, nun outfits, or lesbian kisses – let’s keep things civil. After all, this is family hour. At least they didn’t go with Justin Bieber as mentor.

Related: Lady Gaga takes big fall on stage during concert – Video

Follow InfoStar on Twitter

Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone Entangled In American Idol Drama Off the Set.

It seems that some American Idol fans were so upset when favorite Pia Toscano was voted off the show last week that a grassroots campaign has been launched on Pia’s behalf.

Fans think there was a great injustice done by keeping Stefano Langone in the competition, and have been calling and sending emails to producers at Fox saying that Pia should be brought back to the show.

They have also been bombarding Stefano’s email and twitter accounts telling him he should bow out and quit.

But before everybody gets too excited they should know that Pia just signed a record deal with Interscope Records – ran by Jimmy Iovine, who has also been acting as mentor for American Idol this season.

Interscope released a statement saying,

"Pia is being signed to a deal with Interscope Records who are rushing her into the studio to record an album ASAP. We have started calling every top songwriter and producer in town to get an album together and rush release it. Papers are being finalized. It's basically a done deal. She's signing. They rushed everything but she's so excited."

In addition to the album, Pia will also be touring with the other top ten finalists on the American Idol summer tour – so everything has worked out nicely for her.


But what I don’t understand is why everybody turned on poor Stefano? He is actually a pretty good singer.

I would have thought that before going after him, people would have set their sights on Scotty McCreery or Paul McDonald.

I suspect this week we will see one of them eliminated.