Pia Toscano

Interscope Records is pleased to announce that it has signed Season 10 American Idol contestant Pia Toscano to a recording contract and will release her debut single, “This Time,” via all digital retailers on July 12th. Toscano will perform “This Time” when she hits the road for the American Idols Live! 2011 Tour, which kicks off July 6th in Salt Lake City, UT, and continues through the summer before concluding on September 10th in Rochester, NY.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Interscope and 19 Recordings family,” Toscano says. “[Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman] Jimmy Iovine was an amazing mentor during my time on Idol and I’m looking forward to working with him and everyone at Interscope Records and 19 Recordings. This is a dream come true.”

A showcase for Toscano’s rich, emotionally transparent voice, “This Time” was written and co-produced by Esther Dean, who is known penning hits for such artists as Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Nicole Scherzinger, and many more. The acoustic guitar and beat-driven track is just a taste of what’s to come when the Queens, NY, native releases her debut album, which she is currently working on, later this year.

Widely considered one of American Idol’s Season 10 frontrunners thanks to her powerhouse vocal ability and dark-haired beauty, Toscano’s early elimination shocked and visibly upset judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler. The latter said of the voting public: “They’re wrong. I don’t know what happened with this. She’s beautiful. When she sings, she’s a bird.”

Outraged fans took to Twitter to express their support, including celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Hudson, Ellen DeGeneres, Alyssa Milano, Dax Shepard, Marlon Wayons, and Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher phoned in to “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” to opine: “I think she was probably the best pure singer on the show, and she’s got all the makings of what it means to be a star in my opinion, so I was just irked [when she was voted off].”