‘American Idol’: Scott Borchetta Says ‘The Music Comes First’ For Nick Fradiani

Nick Fradiani will have little time to allow his American Idol triumph sink in before being whisked off to Nashville. Big Machine Records President Scott Borchetta has made it abundantly clear, it will be “boots to the ground” starting today — the day after the big Idol finale.

While Borchetta was sad to see frontrunner, Jax, eliminated, and says Clark Beckham is extremely talented, he feels the right person earned the spot on his Big Machine roster. Billboard reports, Borchetta and Nick are ready to to get to work.

“Honestly, both Clark and Nick are fantastic. And the fact that Nick won tonight doesn’t take anything away from Clark’s talent. But I think if you look at who is ready to go to work tomorrow, I think I felt that way last night. And Keith Urban felt that way last night, as well. America voted. Nick’s ready. So, I’m going to take him back to Nashville. He’s the newest member of the Big Machine Records family, and he is your new American Idol.”

Borchetta says he does not want to rush Nick’s first album, which is now available for pre-order. He feels they have an amazing start with his first single “Beautiful Life.” He plans to keep it all about the music, and carefully selecting the perfect songs to follow-up the single he feels won the competition for Nick.

“So, we’ve got to find more songs like that…we want to make sure that it’s about the music first. We could rush in… [but] that’s not how we roll. We’re going to make sure that we have great songs and we’re going to do our best. We’re going to do what we always try to do at the Big Machine Label Group and make sure the music comes first. My team is going to be on a mad song hunt to make sure that we have great songs.”

The record label giant has not confirmed if he will or will not sign any contestant other than the winner. He says while that option is open with any of the top ten, for now, the focus is all on the newly crowned Idol and the tour, which begins July 7.

Scott says the next few weeks will be a whirlwind of “nonstop media” for Fradiani, as they “continue to work his butt off.” They plan a media blitz that will attack all outlets from every direction. According to USA Today, his upcoming appearances include, singing the national anthem at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day, performing “Beautiful Life” at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, presenting at the CMT Music Awards, and performing at Nashville’s CMA Music Festival.

As the 29-year-old singer began his media rounds this morning, he visited On Air With Ryan Seacrest. He admitted to Ryan that he did not expect to win, saying he thought he had a shot, but thinks he “blacked out” when he heard his name announced as the winner. He also talked about the emotional moment when he saw his mom and dad in the audience. He stopped singing momentarily to embrace them as the camera caught his dad’s tears of joy. Fans across the country were celebrating along with them, as Nick Fradiani began his journey as the 14th American Idol.

[Image by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]