American Idol Hottie STEFANO LANGONE Makes the Girls Swoon with "If You Don't Know Me By Now"

Stefano Langone, American Idol Season 10's #1 hottie, gave a heart-felt performance of Simply Red's version of "If You Don't Know Me By Now" on the Top 12 show. This week, Idol contestants were given the theme 'songs from your year of birth'. Stefano was born on February 27th, 1989 into a musical family. Stefano says his father was a big musical influence. "When I was looking for songs that were released in 1989," said Stefano, "I found some real winners. Milli Vanilli, New Kids on the Block, and Simply Red."

Ryan Seacrest reminded everyone to purchase the night's songs on Itunes, with profits going to the American Red Cross for Japan earthquake and tsunami relief. (Just click the American Idol Season 10 Top 12 album, below video.)

"If You Don't Know Me by Now" was first recorded by the jersey soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with the late Teddy Pendergrass as lead vocalist. It became their first hit after being released as a single in 1972, topping the R&B chart and peaking at #3 on the Pop chart. The song was originally written for Labelle (a trio led by Patti LaBelle) but they never recorded it. Patti LaBelle made the song part of her concert repertoire in 1982, and a live version appears on her 1985 album, Patti.

It was later covered by the English pop/soul band Simply Red in 1989, also becoming their best-known hit after reaching #1 on the U.S. Hot 100 and at #38 on the Hot Black Singles chart. It peaked at #2 in the UK Singles Chart. It also topped the Canadian Singles Chart. Seal recorded the song for his 2008 album Soul, and it became his first Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit since "Love's Divine" in 2004; the song was subsequently nominated for the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy.