American Idol Top eliminated contestant, DeAndre Brackensick dialed in for a reporters conference call this afternoon. The 17 year old seems really sweet and grounded. He says his experience on Idol helped him gain conference. Read a transcript below. Plus, I added a few other interviews from around the web.
- Is it difficult is it to perform first?, “A little bit, because you have to have that level of being really good to start off the show, it kind of sucks, going off the show, because you don’t want to get forgotten. Everything happens for a reason. I was happy, no matter what. It was cool.”
- Did he talk to the judges or contestants after his elimination? “The judges came and talked to me and just told me to keep doing what I’m doing and that I’m going to keep going on in life with music and I did get to see some of the contestants back at that mansion when I was packing up. It was all love. Everybody’s amazing.”
- Does he think Jimmy was being a little hard on him? Did he get a chance to talk to him after the show? “No, not at all. Jimmy has his opinion. Everybody has their own opinion. It’s going to come from either Jimmy, from fans, from people that don’t like me, from my friends, from family–it’s going to come regardless. Much love to him for doing that. I have nothing but respect for him. Even though it did come off like that, it drove me even harder to try to prove him wrong. And everything he has said to me helped me in the long run.”
- DenAndre mouthed some words to someone in the audience before he sang to be saved. Wh0 was he talking to and what did he say? “I was talking to my sister ’cause she was crying. I just told her to not cry because there’s no reason to cry, ’cause I accomplished so much. Why be sad for things I’ve done? You shouldn’t be sad because I’ve done so much. Why dwell on something that didn’t happen. Rejoice on all the things that have.”
- What did he have to do as a minor that the other contestants didn’t have to do? “Me and Jessica, we had to do school work. We had different call times, Sometimes earlier. Sometimes we got pulled out earlier, just for minors. It was kind of nice. It made things a little bit easier being a minor.”
- Who does he think is going to be the most fun on the tour? What does he think the tour will be like? “Everybody has their fun moments. It’s just going to be a fun experience all around because we’re so close. It’s a really close bond that we have for each other. It’s going to be really fun. I really want people to come watch the show–just to see in person how individual is. You can’t compare anybody to anybody because we’re just so different and so uniquely talented.”
- Was he thinking he was safe going into the results show? “The vote was a bittersweet thing. I thought I did a very very [good] job the night before. It happens. I can’t really explain the feeling I had. It was more of a numbness because I didn’t know what to feel. I was happy for myself, but I just didn’t want to go.'”
- On meeting Eric Benet, “That was amazing. That was the highlight of my whole Idol experience. I loved meeting Eric Benet. He’s a big influence to me as an artist.”
- He’s looking forward to his prom. How weird is that going to be popping back into his normal world? “It’s going to be somewhat weird because I’m just so used to being busy, busy busy busy, and used to the Idol life. I think I’ll be able to slip right back in. Hopefully, this is a nice little break and then I’ll be busy for the rest of my life. That’s what I want to do.”
- Will prom be anticlimactic after Idol? “I guess so. Hold on—Idol really brought the confidence out of me because out of all the previous dances I worked as coat taker, or ticket taker, and stuff like that. I feel comfortable to go to a prom and just enjoy it. I’m glad I get to enjoy life as a kid, and then get to go enjoy the high life of Idol. It’s the best of both worlds.”
- What happens now? “I get back home in about a week. I’m not going to go back to school because I’ll only be there for a couple of weeks, so I’m going to stay home schooled/independent study, because I’m going to go back for tour practices. I really can’t wait to come see all the support I got from San Jo.”
- When is his prom? “April 21st, I think.”
- On attending prom in the past, “I have. I just worked at them, though. I was coat taker at junior prom, ticket taker at homecoming. I was homecoming king, but I was a ticket taker. I just worked, because I was so uncomfortable with myself.”
- What advice did he receive when he was on the show that he’s going to carry with him. “Just stick to myself. That was a big thing that I was struggling with, because I always wanted to try to please people and it just never worked. When you please yourself, everything comes together. You feel comfortable and people love it better when you do what you want. The judges voted me in because they loved me. So why would I change myself if that’s not what I even got in there for the first place.”
- How does he maintain the curl of his hair, “It’s natural. I use a little leave in conditioner, but it’s natural even without stuff in it, it looks the same.”
- How important is it in the competition to know music history? Does it help? “It does help because you just get thrown with a whole bunch of different genres, just randomly. You need to know different styles, different genres, different decades of music. Because song choice is the whole game of Idol. That’s the whole game at first. To know the history of music, to know old things, to know new things. Just to know what you’re singing and how to sing ’em is really important.”
- What would he want his record to sound like? “I want to be an R&B artist. True R&B and soul. Like the falsetto–the old school kind of stuff. I want to bring that back a lot because I think music is really lacking that. People just need to know that there’s other things. I want to bring back instruments, because people don’t really use them as much now. Everything’s computers. Not that I don’t like music nowadays–I love music–I want people to know that there’s other things out there too.”
- What was his reaction to Jimmy predicting he or Hollie would be going home? How did it make him feel when the judges immediately came to his defense. and stood by their positive feed back of him? “Jimmy saying that was fine. People have their own opinions. It doesn’t bother me at all–it comes along with the gift and with the ride. Whatever he says is all of love, and I take everything to heart, whether it be bad…it just makes me want to drive to go further. I really loved how the judges stood by my back. I love our judges. What you see on TV is what you get off TV. They always been supporting me since the beginning. It just made me feel really good. Even though I did get eliminated, I’m glad I got eliminated the way I did. I went off on a good note, I went off happy. It wasn’t a sad moment in the way where I had a regret, or I did something wrong. I have no regrets. I felt like I did what I needed to do. And I just got cut just because of competitions sake.”
- Did he ever get a better explanation as to why Randy and Steven didn’t want to save him? Was he surprised Steven Tyler didn’t, because he was Steven’s wildcard pick? “I didn’t ask, people have their reasons, I don’t really want to ask. I think because of that, because I was a wildcard, I don’t need to be saved again. This is my second chance from last year, my second chance on Idol. Then I got a second chance with wildcard. You only get so many second chances in life. You just need to make good with what you have now. I think even getting this far, I could build something off of this. I think they believe in me too, I don’t really need the whole show to be who I want to be.”
- Does he lack confidence due to his nerves like Gwen Stefani mentioned? “I think that it’s the fact that it’s being judged. You’re just waiting for acceptance–there’s a lot of times I felt really good about it. I just didn’t show it on my face. I was just waiting for what they were going to say, and that was partially my problem. I was always just waiting for acceptance. You know, what I realized is if I accept it, then I’m fine. If it met my standards, then it should be good. I shouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
- On choosing “Master Blaster” as his save me song, “I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to get saved. Because I was a save already from the wildcard. Even though that song didn’t show off anything, I wanted to leave on a happy note. On something fun. I didn’t want it to be sad. I didn’t want to dwell on the things that I didn’t accomplish–just look on and be happy about what I did accomplish throughout this whole experience.”
- What was the one thing he was possibly surprised to learn about himself through being part of the show, “Just that I’m able to be at that level with everybody else. It took me a really long while to realize that I’m in the same competition as everybody. I’m good enough. Why do I have to feel intimidated with everybody? This is my family, they support me, I support them. There’s no reason to feel that way. My own Idol came over and told me I did a great job with one of his songs. I could do what I want to do. I have the talent, I’m able. That’s basically one thing I really learned. I gained a lot of confidence from this.”
- What is he most looking forward to about going on tour? “I’m really looking forward to–number one–being with everyone and just singing, because I love to sing with people. That’s like a big thing for me. And going to my hometown and performing for everybody–from all of the love I’ve been getting and hearing about. It’d be really cool.”
- What does he make of getting voted off after the judges compliments? “I just think everything happens for a reason. I think partially because of the votings–why I got kicked off-my voice and my style is just not popular nowadays. I’m trying to bring back something and it’s still in the process of bringing it back. It’s something that got lost and unappreciated in this new generation and I think that was partially the reason. Also, everyone is so good. Someone has to go home every week. It had to be me this week. I just have to take what I got and be grateful for what I did get to experience.”
- Did being a wildcard pick give him a disadvantage going into the competition? Somewhat. But I just think America didn’t really get to see my full voice, cause it was only based off of one performance. I only got shown the day before, and it was all falsetto. I didn’t really get to show my lower register in Hollywood week and the other auditions I did. So, I’m glad I did get to show the other side of me that was there. I think that was basically it.”
- What is his next move? “Tour. Hopefully getting a record deal out of this. Or something–whatever comes my way, I’m trying to grab it as much as I can. Whether it be modelling, acting–anything. I just want it. I want to keep working. Like I said before–I want to be exhausted the day I day.”
- Did he think he would be going home after his performance? “No. I didn’t think it. I thought that was probably one of my best performances, vocally and performance wise. It kind of sucks that I did go home. You deal with it and you move on . You take the experience and just move on forward with it.”
- Did he take any of Jimmy’s critiques to heart? Even though it was the opposite of what the judges said? “I took everything Jimmy said–and it was almost completely opposite almost every week. Even though it wasn’t all positive–the negative, it drives me and I take that to heart, no matter what it is and even just certain little things he tells me there. I take it and it makes me a better artist. Whether it be in someone else’s eyes, my eyes or his. It makes me a better artist. I take the things I want. That’s one thing I learned through this–I need to learn from people, not listen. Take what I want and apply it to who I am, not take what they tell me and make myself what they want. That’s what I learned from Jimmy.”
- Did he think he was on borrowed time because he was a wildcard pick? “There’s still a little bit of fear. Me, Jeremy and Erika, we all sat down that night and talked about it. We were judges picks so we didn’t know what was going to happen later on, because America didn’t want us at that time. I think being that judges’ pick drove me even more. Even getting this far, I’m still shocked. I just accomplished so much from being America’s nobody to winning at least a portion of America being on my back. I love it. I love it so much.”
- Last words: Thank you so much everybody. Thank you guys for helping me forward myself, and just getting me out there. I really appreciate all the calls and questions.
Didi Benami interviews DeAndre for Hollywood Reporter
‘American Idol’ exit Q&A with DeAndre Brackensick: ‘I have a lot of love for Jimmy’ — VIDEO
Minutes before he was kicked off of American Idol, DeAndre Brackensick was dancing with fellow bottom-two dweller Elise Testone as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Backstage after the show, he repeatedly told press that he had a feeling he might go home, and he chose to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster” because he wanted to go out with an upbeat number that let him end things quite literally on a high note. (You can check out EW’s video exit Q&A with the golden-maned teenage crooner below.)
Watch the Video at Entertainment Weekly
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“American Idol” Latest Castoff – DeAndre Brackensick : MyFoxLA.com
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