Scotty McCreery New York City Concert Helps Sandy Victims

Posted Nov 26th 2012 2:15PM by Stephen L. Betts
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Charley Gallay, WireImage

Scotty McCreery's Nov. 23 concert at New York's historic Beacon Theater was turned into a benefit concert to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Black Friday show, originally billed as "Christmas With Scotty McCreery" became the "Beacon Theater Benefit for Hurricane Sandy Relief," with the young performer donating a portion of ticket sales to World Vision's Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

"Being from North Carolina, I have seen firsthand what hurricanes can do," says the singer. "After seeing the devastation caused by Sandy, I wanted to figure out a way to help."

Since the storm, World Vision has focused on providing assistance to communities in Queens, Staten Island, Bronx, Yonkers and Coney Island in New York; as well as in Hoboken and Egg Harbor township in New Jersey. In addition to the ticket donation, World Vision collected donations onsite during the concert.

Scotty was joined for a special performance at the Beacon by his friend, and fellow "American Idol" alum, Pia Toscano, who said of the opportunity, "New York is my hometown and it's been difficult to watch what has happened there to my friends and family. So when Scotty asked me to be a part of his Beacon Theater benefit performance, I jumped at the chance."

Scotty's time in the Big Apple continues this week with an appearance on Wednesday's (Nov. 28) "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special on NBC. He joins Trace Adkins, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and Cee Lo Green on the special, which will feature the tree lighting ceremony in New York City's Rockefeller Plaza.

While the 19-year-old has collected some of his favorite holiday tunes for the recently released Christmas With Scotty McCreery album, there's one Yuletide tune that is noticeably absent, and it's his all-time favorite.

"My favorite Christmas song comes from my favorite Christmas album, and that's Elvis' Christmas album," says Scotty. "I was an Elvis fanatic growing up. It was 'Blue Christmas.' When I was making my album, I knew I was going to put at least one Elvis song on there, so it came down to just deciding that nobody was going to sing 'Blue Christmas' like Elvis Presley, so we did 'Santa Claus Is Back in Town.' But 'Blue Christmas' is definitely my favorite."

The "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special airs Nov. 28, at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.

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