American Idol’s Pia Toscano Scores a Record Deal and Date With Mark Ballas

(HMG Celebrity News) – While the little teen queens who dominate the fan voting on American Idol don’t seem to have much of an eye for talent (especially for female stars) it was obvious Pia Toscano was one of the real talents of this season’s show.  So less than 24 hours after her shocking early American Idol exit, the 22-year-old New Yorker got a record deal and will start immediately on her debut album under the Interscope Records imprint, which is chaired by Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine.

“Pia is being signed to a deal with Interscope Records who are rushing her into the studio to record an album ASAP,” a source familiar with the contract talks tells Us Magazine. “Starting [Thursday] night after the show, Interscope told her they wanted her and first thing [Friday] morning Interscope brass started calling every top songwriter and producer in town to get an album together and rush release it.”

Meanwhile Pia’s love life is on the rise too. Pia apparently has had her eye on “Dancing With the Stars” pro Mark Ballas for weeks as both shoot their respective shows on the CBS Television City lot in L.A. In need of an introduction Pia has a friend who is friends with pro wrestler Chris Jericho, a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.” Pia gave her friend a piece of paper with her phone number on it, who then passed it along to Jericho, who then passed it on to Mark.

Mark, according to TMZ, was more than receptive and the two went out on a big date on Friday that reportedly went very well with an encore date likely.