Scotty McCreery is heading back to the show that made him famous this week as "American Idol" crowns its newest winner.

Scotty, the Garner High School student who won Season 10 of the popular singing show a year ago, will perform on Tuesday night's show and then be on hand for the blowout "Idol" finale on Wednesday night.

On that show, either Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga., or Jessica Sanchez of San Diego will be named the winner of Season 11. (Even without hearing their final songs, we'd bet the ranch on Phillip.)

It’s becoming a bit old hat for Scotty McCreery — another country music association announces award nominees, and the Garner High School student is a contender.

On Monday, CMT announced that Scotty’s music video for “The Trouble With Girls” has been nominated for “Breakthrough Video of the Year” at this year’s CMT Music Awards, to air on June 6 on the country music cable channel.

Fans can go online to vote for Scotty at www.cmt.com through June 4. Carrie Underwood – like Scotty, a former “American Idol” winner – leads the nominations with five.

Scotty’s fellow nominees in the breakthrough category have all competed against him before – Lauren Alaina, who has runner-up when Scotty won the 10th season of “Idol” a year ago; Brantley Gilbert and Hunter Hayes, both of whom were nominated against Scotty for Best New Artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this month; and Pistol Annies and Thompson Square, both of whom were nominated against Scotty for Top New Artist in December’s American Country Awards.

Garner Magnet High School's state 4AA championship football game today against Greensboro Page is being televised live on News 14 Carolina.

News 14 Carolina is owned by Time Warner Cable and free to all Time Warner Cable customers.

The game, which is being played in Winston-Salem, starts at 3 p.m.

If you miss it today, check Carolina On Demand (1047) tomorrow because they usually put the games there for replaying.

Go Trojans!

We know what you're thinking. You're thinking you want more pictures of Scotty McCreery. Well, here you go.

Click on the photo at left to access a gallery of the "American Idol" hopeful pitching for the Garner High School Trojans baseball team. 

And if you're not totally up-to-date on all the Scotty stuff, one trip to our Scotty Watch page will cure that.

You get used to loud noises on the music beat, but every now and then you still hear one loud enough to take your breath away. Like the sound that went up at the Garner High School gymnasium at about 8:58 Thursday night -- when it was announced that homeboy Scott McCreery had made it through to the "American Idol" top-three.

The 1,500 or so people who had assembled at McCreery's alma mater to bear triumphant (they hoped) witness gave a deafening, animal roar tinged with relief, because he was apparently in the bottom-two this week. At the end of the show, it came down to McCreery or James Durbin for the last spot. So now, he'll get the big Saturday homecoming, including an afternoon pep rally/concert at Garner's Lake Benson Park. See details on that here; and a more detailed report on the scene at the Garner gym here.

Meanwhile, Thursday night's results might have sealed the rest of the competition in McCreery's favor. I could imagine him losing to Durbin, but not to either Haley Reinhart (who I expected to get the boot this week) or Lauren Alaina. Right now, this year's title looks like McCreery's to lose. But we'll see...

Scotty McCreery continued to show his vocal and emotional range on "American Idol" tonight, singing both an emotional Sept. 11 anthem and a fun 1950s song. Plus, he told us how much he misses Garner. He vowed to "kiss the grass" – then find some tea and fried chicken – if he gets to come home for a Final Three visit this weekend.

But the highlight of the night was probably Scotty's encounter with this week's guest mentor, Lady Gaga. Clad in black-and-white hair, makeup and clothes, Gaga looked like some sort of bird, as my colleague Brooke noted. Gaga was obsessed with making sure Scotty didn't pull away from the microphone, even going so far as telling him to think of the mic as his girlfriend and to "make love" to it. "I better have a good-lookin' microphone," Scotty joked. Later, he was shown good-naturedly kissing the cross around his neck and seeking forgiveness after his Gaga encounter.

For the first round of tonight's show, the Final Four were asked to pick songs that had special meaning to them. Scotty chose Alan Jackson's 9/11 anthem “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Of course, Scotty was just 7 on Sept. 11. Still, he gave a strong, emotional performance that the judges loved.

So, what will Garner's Scotty McCreery be singing on Wednesday night's Final Four showdown? Hard to say. The theme/mentor combination is an odd one.

Fresh from last week’s “Now and Then” theme, the Final Four -- from left, Haley Reinhart, Scotty, James Durbin and Lauren Alaina -- will face something old and something new this week. The old? The songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote music for Elvis Presley, The Drifters and The Coasters, among others. The new? The guest mentor is Lady Gaga. Her teaching session with Scotty should be interesting.

What should Scotty sing? We still like the idea of him tackling “Stand By Me,” which we suggested for the “then” part of last week’s theme. Other Leiber and Stoller songs that it would be fun to hear Scotty try: “There Goes My Baby,” “Kansas City,” “On Broadway” or “Spanish Harlem.”

If you're a Scotty McCreery fan that likes to plan ahead -- and you're not the superstitious type -- you can go ahead and block off Saturday afternoon. You'll want to be in Garner for the big Scotty homecoming party.

Granted, the party isn't official yet. Scotty, the "American Idol" contestant from Garner, doesn't get a hometown party this weekend unless he makes it to the Final Three. And we won't know that until Thursday at about 8:55 p.m.

Still, town officials need to go ahead and get ready for what will be a huge bash if Scotty makes the cut. Here are the details we can reveal thus far:

As Scotty McCreery finds out Thursday night whether he makes the "American Idol" Final Five, the town of Garner will have its weekly party in an even bigger venue: Garner High School at 2101 Spring Drive.

With the bash at Scotty's old stomping grounds (he's a junior at the school when he's not in Hollywood), the Garner High "Blue Crew" is hoping for a big, big showing. Everyone is encouraged to wear blue and help create a kind of Cameron Crazy-style vibe for the hometown idol. (Though without too much Duke influence -- from what we hear Scotty is a Wolfpack fan.)

As Scotty McCreery's star continues to rise with his “American Idol” performances each week, those around him are starting to get their moments in the spotlight, too. Next week, Scotty's "Blue Crew" buddies will be treated like celebrities in their Garner hometown.

The Blue Crew members -- who play on the Garner High School Trojans baseball team with Scotty -- have received a shout out from Scotty on the popular Fox show. And four members of the crew flew out to Hollywood for a taping of the show a few weeks ago, cheering Scotty from the audience. (From left, James Booth, Kyle Wiggins, Scotty, Kyle Tobin and Colin Perry.) 

The Blue Crew members will appear Thursday at the Garner Business & Consumer Expo, where they will meet the public and sign autographs.