Photo: Retna

Whether you watched this season of American Idol or not, you can appreciate that this year’s winner, 17-year-old Scotty McCreery, has got a seriously amazing voice—and an adorable smile to boot. A record-breaking 122.4 million viewers cast votes in favor of the country-crooning season 10 winner, and we are not at all surprised! The North Carolina native has been strumming his guitar since the age of 10 hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of his idols, who include country superstars Josh Turner, Randy Travis, and George Strait.

His years of vocal training and competitions paid off. Scotty’s been winning the judges and audiences over ever since his first audition (when judge Stephen Tyler said he looked like the Mad Magazine mascot—um… if you say so). Like we already mentioned, that deep bass-y voice isn’t the only thing the fans were falling for.

We love the boy’s down-home style (plaid, button-down shirts, denim and cowboy boots all the way) and those bluer-than-blue eyes are nothing to complain about. Plus, he’s super smart! He took classes while on Idol (he even has an English test tomorrow!) and was on his high school’s honor roll. Think he’s available for tutoring?

And even though things probably didn’t go the way runner up Lauren Alaina had hoped, we’re still a little jealous of the girl. After the winner was announced, Scotty planted a smooch on her mouth, and she even got a shot-out during his first single, “I Love You This Big.” “I love you baby!” he told her. Suddenly second place ain’t lookin’ so bad…