Seventeen-year-old McCreery defeated fellow teenaged country singer Lauren Alaina, continuing the trend of male victories throughout the show's last four seasons. (Every winner since 2007 -- since season six "Idol" Jordin Sparks -- has been male.)
A record 122.4 million votes were cast following Tuesday's performance show, bringing the total votes for season 10 up to more than 730 million -- the highest number of votes for any "Idol" season.
"It's been a year now since Lauren and I tried out," McCreery told the crowd upon being crowned "American Idol," adding that the two have "stuck together." He continued: "I gotta thank the Lord first -- he got me here."
The Garner, North Carolina native clinched the "Idol" title with a performance of his debut single, "I Love You This Big," on Tuesday's (May 24) show, in addition to renditions of Montgomery Gentry's "Gone" and George Strait's "Check Yes or No." McCreery returned to the "Idol" stage Wednesday alongside Tim McGraw, as the two performed McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying." Watch below.
