Lauren Alaina | featured news

One week after “American Idol” season 10 winner Scotty McCreery dropped his debut, runner-up Lauren Alaina follows with her major label bow. Will “Wildflower” debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 like McCreery’s “Clear As Day?”

He was a little bit country; she was a little bit country. Scotty McCreery, the 17-year-old from Garner, N.C., won, but the real competition wasn’t between him and fellow Southerner Lauren Alaina, 16, of Rossville, Ga. All along, the contest was between “American Idol” past and “American Idol” present. It turned out that even after 10 seasons, with fewer frills and a different cast of judges, the ratings soared. “American Idol” is indestructible.

Despite strained vocal cords, the teenager came up big. But will her clutch performance be enough to beat Scotty McCreery?