Scotty's mom, sister recall pre-Idol days

“We really did it on a whim. We didn’t have a family trip planned,” his mother, Judy McCreery, said during an interview with WRAL News in February. “Then, he kept moving along in the process, and I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness. What have we gotten ourselves into?’”

Judy McCreery said her 17-year-old son has always been an entertainer.

“Sometimes I would get so upset with him because I felt like he was such a clown,” she said.

Judy McCreery recalls a moment when her then-2½-year-old son visited the dentist for the first time.

“He was playing with him, and most kids were terrified and had to be drug back there,” she said. “

Judy McCreery said her son also gave concerts on the school bus.

“His bus driver would say, ‘We really love his Elvis concerts,’ and I was mortified, thinking he was being a behavioral problem,” she said. “But she said, no, she liked it because the kids would sit there quietly and watch him sing.”

When he was about 12 years old, that deep voice emerged.

“When his voice changed, it just like went off a cliff, and people would call the house, and they’re like, ‘Is that Scotty at 12?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes,’” she said.

Scotty McCreery’s sister, Ashley McCreery, is a college student in Charlotte. She said her brother used to make her scream but not for his music.

“He loves to scare me really, really bad,” she said. “I can tell you countless stories of him hiding in my closet, jumping out, screaming, and I would just scream like a little girl.”

When WRAL News asked Judy McCreery if she was ready to be the mother of the next “American Idol,” she wasn’t so sure.

“No, I don’t think so. We have a wonderful, simple, little life in a wonderful town. You know everybody in Garner,” she said.

Scotty McCreery will sing for the title of “American Idol” on Tuesday against fellow country singer Lauren Alaina.