The tenth season of American Idol premiered on the Fox television network on January 19, 2011, and concluded on May 25, 2011.

The show underwent a number of changes from the ninth season, including the return of Nigel Lythgoe as executive producer.

Interscope's chairman Jimmy Iovine, a songwriter and producer, was named as the in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis.

He was supported by associated producers Rodney Jerkins, Alex da Kid, Tricky Stewart, Don Was, will.i.am, and Timbaland, who all helped the contestants tailor their song choices to their chosen genre of performance, while also producing arrangements for the contestants and offering original material to be performed.

Ray Chew replaced Rickey Minor as the show's musical director and leader of Idol's live band.

Nine contestants from this season were signed to record labels, including Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Stefano Langone, Pia Toscano, Naima Adedapo, and Jimmie Allen.

[10] On September 22, 2010, it was announced that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler would join the show as the new permanent judges.

Those who advanced were then taken to Las Vegas, where they were asked to perform a song from the Beatles, and then a further solo round in Los Angeles.

[14][15] Chairman of the Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group, Jimmy Iovine, worked directly with contestants this season as an in-house mentor.

[15] Additionally, a team of Universal Music-associated producers and songwriters, such as Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Timbaland, and Alex da Kid, also worked alongside the contestants to help them take on original arrangement and material.

The 61 remaining contestants proceeded to Las Vegas, where they performed songs from the Beatles as duos and trios in the Love theater at The Mirage.

In that round, each contestant performed a song of their own choice at Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose aircraft hangar.

The males and females competed on back-to-back nights, and the top five from each group, along with the judges' three Wild Card choices, advanced to the finals.

Following the ten singers who advanced on Thursday, March 3, six of the remaining semifinalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round.

Russell Brand did not mentor them individually, but did entertain them as a group, while coaching them on stage presence and confidence.

Lauren Alaina damaged her vocal cords while rehearsing for the finale, but she was treated and cleared to continue in the competition.

[28] The show's success helped Fox network achieve the longest winning streak in broadcast history of seven consecutive season in the Adult 18–49 demo.