Scotty selected the Tim McGraw hit "Please Remember Me" as the "goodbye" song that will be played after a contestant is eliminated and video highlights of the contestant's experiences on Idol are shown. The song will debut on American Idol on Thursday.

"It's always a sad time whenever this song is played, but it's definitely a really big part of the show," Scotty says. "I never had to experience that feeling personally, but I always felt the pain because we became such a close family on the show. We were such a tight-knit group of people, so it was always sad to see people go. The send-off song was always a way to stay connected to the show. I'm glad they chose me to do it."

Simon Fuller, creator/executive producer of American Idol and CEO of XIX Entertainment, says, "Once again this year I wanted to have one of Idol's past winners sing our farewell song. The success Scotty has enjoyed since he won Idol last year is incredible. He has a platinum album selling over a million copies in just a few short months and has enjoyed a sell-out arena tour with Brad Paisley. With the release of this special song, 'Please Remember Me,' his success is set to continue and hit new highs. Idol is proud of all the incredible stars that have come from our show."

Scotty says "Please Remember Me" is a great song with lyrics that are very appropriate for this setting. "When you are eliminated, whether it's early on or down the road in the competition, you always want people to remember you. You want to get to work and put out some good music, and through that music, people will remember you. This is one way this lyric can be interpreted for this goodbye song.

"Tim did such a fantastic job with it when he cut it. Hopefully we will live up to his expectations and he will like it,' Scotty says. "I sent Tim a message and told him that we cut it and I hope that he liked it. He told me, 'Great man. I can't wait to hear it. I'm sure you nailed it.' It was cool hearing that feedback from a country superstar."

Scotty will perform on American Idol later this season. "I am pumped!" he says. "That was my launching pad and what gave me my platform to do what I'm doing now. Anytime I can go back and see some familiar faces and say thanks, I will be the first one to do it.

"I am excited to go up there and sing and hopefully have some one-on-one time with contestants and see what they are up to and maybe have a chance to give them some advice and some of my ins and outs of the competition that I learned through my experience."

Since winning Season 10 of American Idol in May, he has quickly emerged as one of the most successful country stars of the last year. His debut album, Clear As Day, was certified platinum for sales of more than 1 million units in just three months, and he was named No. 1 on Billboard magazine's list of Top New Country Artists for 2011. He also won New Artist of the Year at the American Country Awards in December.