American Idol's Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina Make Big Splash in Nashville

American Idol winner Scotty McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina were all over events tied to the CMA Music Festival this weekend. The pair made their respective Grand Ole Opry debuts Friday night, June 10th, and the gig was a dream come true for Lauren. Her dad plays banjo and had always dreamed of playing that stage himself. Says Lauren, "I was raised wanting to sing at the Grand Ole Opry. My daddy was actually there when I performed, and we both cried."

Scotty and Lauren played on opposing teams Saturday morning at the City of Hope Celebrity Softball challenge. Lauren's team ended up winning. That night, they each got to perform at the CMA Music Festival's stadium show with their heroes. Lauren performed Martina McBride's hit "Anyway" on Idol, and she teamed up with Martina herself to perform the song on the big show. Martina says she was surprised when Lauren told her she was nervous about singing in front of all those people at the stadium. "I wanted to say, 'You know how many people watch American Idol, right? Every week?'" Martina says. "I told her not to be nervous."

Scotty joined his hero Josh Turner for a performance of "Your Man," a song Scotty covered twice on Idol this season. Even though Scotty has been compared to Josh many times, Josh doesn't feel any competition with the Idol champ. "He obviously won American Idol, and I heard that he's had two days off in the last four months. So, I don't envy him one bit," Josh says of Scotty. "So, if it's a competition, he wins, and I'm OK with that."

Scotty and Lauren have both been working on their debut albums this week in Nashville. They'll head out on the American Idols Live tour, beginning July 6th in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Images: John Russell/CMA

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