American Idol's Scotty McCreery Covers That's All Right Mama

On tonight’s episode of ‘American Idol,’ Scotty McCreery and his fellow contestants were challenged to sing a song from over 650 listed as shaping rock ‘n’ roll, as defined by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was not a shock that McCreery would sing pick an Elvis Presley song from the canon, since the singer revealed in earlier episodes that he used to entertain schoolmates on the bus by impersonating the King. McCreery went with ‘That’s All Right.’
Beforehand, will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas mentored McCreery and told him to give the song an edge. So while it might have seemed like a safe choice, McCreery said he that his performance would not be “the country Scotty. I am going give it that rock feel.”

And that’s just what he did, as he showed us a whole other rockabilly side to his voice. We’re so used to his deep drawl, but he demonstrated several different ranges and had fun while doing it. Judge Jennifer Lopez asked the teen if he listens to hip-hop at all, because she felt some “flavor” in his Elvis!

“Scotty is in it to win it,” Randy Jackson declares. “If anyone thought you were a one trick pony and that all you can do is the country thing? This was a new Scotty. We’ve never seen this side!” Steven Tyler notes that he thought McCreery was “all hat, no cattle” but that he could take a 57-year-old hit, give it a twist, and have the teenage girls screaming.

McCreery approached the judge’s table, engaged the crowd, all the while dressed in jeans and a denim shirt like a true country boy. It was his most impressive performance in a series of impressive performances.

A bunch of girls even bumrushed the stage to get a piece of the singer, who clear has that somethin’ somethin’, just like Presley himself.