Garner teen makes it to 'Idol' tour

America voted the 17-year-old Garner Magnet High School student to the top 11 after his performance Wednesday night of "For Once in My Life" by Stevie Wonder.

As a top 11 finalist, McCreery will be featured on the "American Idol" tour, which travels across the country this summer. 

The show typically brings the top 10 singers on tour, but the judges opted to save singer Casey Abrams from elimination on Thursday night. Their decision added Abrams to the tour. 

McCreery's "Idol" journey began last year when he auditioned in Milwaukee singing Josh Turner's "Your Man" and Travis Tritt's "Put Some Drive in Your Country."

Another singer with a spot on the tour with a Triangle connection is Naima Adedap, of Chicago, who performed with the Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh this past December. 

"Winning 'American Idol' would be great, but just to get into the industry and to be a part of the music industry and be in Nashville and sing with the greats – that's a dream," McCreery said during an interview with WRAL News last month.