<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Randy Jackson has said that he was &amp;quot;impressed&amp;quot; by the wide variety of musical styles that featured on the new season of American Idol.  The judge spoke about the new hopefuls during an interview with American Idol host Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show this morning.   Jackson said: &amp;quot;One again I think we&amp;#039;re so blessed with really amazing talent and what I&amp;#039;m really impressed by - like last year - is there is such a variety.  &amp;quot;People who would never have auditioned for the show ever showed up and [we have] different types of musical styles.&amp;quot; Jackson added: &amp;quot;I think people have the misconception that this is just a pop show but we&amp;#039;ve got R&amp;amp;B, jazz, even some kids with some hip-hop flavor, and of course, we always have country. I just love the variety.&amp;quot; Listen to Randy Jackson talking with Ryan Seacrest below:   American Idol&amp;#039;s tenth season was won by country singer Scotty McCreery, who became the youngest male in history to top the all-genre chart with his debut album Clear As Day, which was recently certified platinum.  Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Haley Reinhart, Stefano Langone, Pia Toscano and Casey Abrams also landed recording contracts after leaving the show.  American Idol returns for its 11th season with a two-night premiere featuring audition highlights from Savannah and Pittsburgh tonight (Wednesday, January 18) and Thursday, January 19 at 8/7c on Fox.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/american-idol/news/a360834/american-idol-is-not-just-a-pop-show-says-judge-randy-jackson/>