'American Idol' Champ Lee DeWyze Releases First Single

One week after he announced that his his major-label debut Live It Up would be released on November 16, reigning "American Idol" champ Lee DeWyze premiered the first single from that album, a shiny slab of shuffle pop called "Sweet Serendipity."

The polished song — which DeWyze unveiled Wednesday (October 13) morning on "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest's radio show — is full of Que Sera Sera sentiments and a sunny sundry of piano chords and multi-tracked vocals.

Most notably, it sees the champ moving away from the rough-hewn vocals that guided him to the Season Nine crown and exploring a slicker, speedier delivery, particularly on the air-tight chorus.

Make no bones about it, "Serendipity" represents a shift from the sound of his first two indie albums, 2007's So I'm Told and '09's Slumberland; instead, it's very much a Hot A.C.-leaning tune in the same vein as radio smashes like Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" or Train's "Hey Soul Sister."

DeWyze recorded the song, and the rest of Live It Up, while he was on the "American Idols Live!" tour this summer. He worked with a host of big-name producers on the project, including Grammy winner Toby Gad (Selena Gomez, Alicia Keys, former "Idol" champ Kris Allen), John Shanks (Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi) and the Norwegian production team Espionage (Beyoncé, Train). The majority of the album was co-written by DeWyze.

"I'm excited for all the people who supported me throughout 'Idol' to hear what I can do with my own songs," he said in a statement. "The album shows a whole different side of me, and I'm so proud of it."