Eliminated American Idol contestant, Ben Briley, spoke with reporters today about his time on Idol, wanting to break out of the box, and his belief that the judges threw him under the bus.
Interestingly, Ben claims that mentor, Randy Jackson, supported his song and creating choices, even defending him against Rickey Minor, who had concerns about the song choice, arrangement, and Ben playing the piano. Ben can’t understand why, during his results show package, Randy said that he “confused the audience.”
Also you are going to want to make sure to read through to the very end. During his closing statements, when contestants typically thank reporters and give out social media deets, the singer went on a lengthy rant–an attempt to clarify why he made the decisions he did.
What did he think when the judges decided to pit him against Neco Starr for the last spot in the Top 30? That was a surprise. I did not expect that at all. I think they did that primarily because they really could not decide. We were both so different. They weren’t going to do a sing off. That would have been pointless. They thought the only way to find out was to get America to vote.”
Was there a point in his American Idol audition experience where he really started to want it for himself? “It was during the audition when I got to go to Hollywood. I didn’t think I’d get to go. They wanted me there. It gave me ambition. It gave me more drive to do well on the show.”
Does he feel like he should have waited to step out of the box later in the competition? “The whole reason I picked that song [Bennie and the Jets] was to show my diversity and to show that I can do something else besides country music. I love country music. That’s probably what I’ll make my career in. But I just wanted to show my versatility. I wanted to show people I could play piano, I haven’t done that on the show yet. It was more of–not making a change to my artistry and who I am as an artist. It wasn’t about that at all. It was more about showing something different. Showing a different side.”
Was he surprised to be the first boy eliminated? “It was definitely surprising. I did not expect to go home this soon. Chalk it up to that song choice. I’m pretty sure that’s the reason. I wanted to stick around as long as I possibly could. Everything happens for a reason. It couldn’t have happened at a better time, because I was getting really homesick.”
What’s next for Ben? “When I get home, I’m going to take about a 4 day nap. Somebody really needs to buy me a steak, because I think I deserve at least that! Then I’ll probably figure out what’s next. Can’t really do anything until after the show for contractual reasons. I’m going to go back to work. I live 30 minutes outside of music city. It’s the best place in the world for music. It shouldn’t be too hard to book shows and start working on my own music and finding people who want to play it, hopefully I’ll have a single out on the radio by the end of the year.”
He told Ryan Seacrest he wasn’t surprised to be in the bottom 3 because of his song choice. What was going through his mind? Did the real time vote reveal affect him? “The vote thing during the show. That doesn’t really affect any of us. When you think about it, when people vote in, they have more time to vote in for the people that went first, than the people that went last. We don’t really pay attention to any of that. It kind of set in for me after the night was over. Everyone did such an amazing job last night. Mine was definitely one of the weaker performances. I don’t think it was the weakest. I knew I’d be in the bottom 3, but I was really surprised to go home. Mainly because I wasn’t ready to go home. I had a lot of plans .”
Harry said something about Ben singing with this “throaty” sound that resembled something out of a play or a character. How did he feel about that? “That’s how I sound in every song. I got criticized for doing that song and not making it my own, I won’t argue heavily on that fact, I would disagree and say that I DID make it my own. I don’t sing differently. I don’t play differently. I can only play what I know and sing what I know. That throaty sound is just how my voice is.”
How did he feel about the judges critique of his “Bennie and the Jets” performance? Was he surprised that he didn’t get points for attempting something creative? “That did kind of sting a little bit because the whole purpose was to show them that I am a little different. I wanted to show that. For one contestant they’ll say ‘You’re consistent, but we need you to change something up’ then they’ll say to somebody else ‘You need to stay in your lane.’ When somebody does finally take a risk, and takes a big step forward–trying to be different and showing a different side–it gets shot down on national television.”
The judges seemed especially hard on Ben in particular–both last week and this week–and less critical of some of the others. There some who had problematic performances that the judges soft pedalled. Did he notice that? How did it make him feel? “I definitely did notice it. I’m not going to pretend to have a reason for that. Maybe they just didn’t like me as much as they thought they did. That would be the best answer. I don’t understand why. They’ve always been nice to me outside of the show. That was something I never really quite got. I don’t really let it bother me. At the end of the day it was America that apparently got confused. I think it was because of the judges comments. They kinda just threw me under the bus. Their comments didn’t help. I don’t know what their beef was with me in the past 2 or 3 weeks, I can assure you that it does not affect me at all.”
Does missing the tour make it hurt a lot more? “That part does sting a little bit. The good thing is, I won’t be away from my wife for an extended period of time again. I was kind of worried about that.”
When did Ben realize he wasn’t going to be saved? “[I knew it] kind of based their comments in the past week. I knew that if I was eliminated, they weren’t going to save. They just had a chip on their shoulder, or something. I knew right off the bat that they weren’t going to use it.”
What were the mentoring sessions like with Randy? “Randy really helped me. He had my back this week, especially. We had some issues on whether Rickey wanted me to play or not play, whether or not [to choose “Bennie and the Jets”]. Randy actually had my back, ‘Hey I really think you should play. Let the band come in and then you get up and walk around.’ I agreed with him. They were worried the piano [would] take away from my singing. I assured them it wasn’t, I know how to play and sing at the same time. I’ve been doing it for 7, 8 years or so. Then, after he said that, and really had my back, when he commented on yesterday’s [the results] show he said I confused people. It was a complete 180 from what he actually told me. He’s a nice guy. I wish we had more mentoring sessions with him. ‘Cause we only saw him maybe 2, 3 times a week. It was fun. The workshop was fun too.”
How was the workshop with Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry? “I didn’t get to talk to Adam that much. But Chris really helped me out as far as making sure you pick your songs, make them your own.”
Is he a classic rock fan? “Classic rock is one of my favorite styles of music. I listen all the time to people like Steppenwolf, Creedance Clearwater Revival, the Allman Brothers and Three Dog night–all the great seventies bands. I kind of grew up with them. Elton was another one my mom really introduced me to. She was always playing his music in the house. She played “Candle in the Wind” at her mom’s funeral. The song choice was easy for me. I think the problem was, I just didn’t get that across as much. The comments after the performance didn’t help either.”
Keith said they weren’t saving him, because he was looking for an artistic growth. You showed that you could play the guitar, then there you are playing the piano and you ditched the baseball cap. Did you understand what he was trying to say? “Honestly, no. I did not. I really wanted to grow, and that was the purpose of doing the song. Because I wanted to show people that I do have a lot of things up my sleeve. I wanted to break them out and show you these things. I guess it was just too much. They wanted to see a certain thing from me. I never really knew what that was. I’ve definitely grown. I keep growing every day, every time I pick up a guitar I grow. Every time you practice, you grow as a musician. The artistic growth comment. I still don’t understand that. There are a lot of things about the past two weeks that I don’t understand. I don’t let it bother me, because I honestly don’t care. I do my thing and go home.”
More on Randy supporting him in the mentoring sessions, and then doing a 180 on the results show, “He was all for it when we were in rehearsals going over the songs. We had some issues with that song, and the arrangement. We were even worried ‘Maybe we should do a different song.’ I was adamant about sticking with it, because that was my gut’s feeling. I always wanted to do that song and play the piano. He was all for it. He said ‘Yeah, I think it’s going to be great. It’s a very different look for you. Showing a different side. I think it’s going to go over well.’ And then I confused the audience, were his words. I don’t understand. I think he was also kind of going off of what the judges said. What ultimately sent me home was what the judges said that swayed the votes.”
Did he know Haley Reinhart had sung it before? “I did. She did a version of that song, and got some criticism because it wasn’t like hers. I’m also not Haley Reinhart.”
Ben’s closing remarks: “I just want to get across that I am not just a country singer. I can do all sorts of things. That was the goal of last night. The goal was to show people I could play piano. I have a number of instruments that I actually can play that I wanted to break out on the show. I just didn’t want to be that contestant that sang the same music over and over again. I didn’t want to be consistent. I wanted to surprise people. Most importantly, I wanted to be unique. That was my goal for the competition. It was also my goal for last week. I wanted to make it my own. I’m not Elton John, I’m not Haley Reinhart. I’m not going to sound like them. Nor, am I going to play like them. It was a big let down, because I thought it would go over better than it did.
The experience on the show has taught me about professionalism in music and something I didn’t really know much about. It’s really going to help me in the future. You have definitely, definitely not seen the last of me. No one is going to out-work me. I have a goal, I have a mission and I have this ambition. It is to support my family playing music. That has never changed since day one. I don’t care about the fame or the money. I was never in it for either one of those reasons. I was in it because I want to be a good father and a good husband.
Hopefully, you’ll see me soon in a year or so in a different context. Maybe I’ll have an album out by then. You never know. Just keep your eye open. I’m not laying down. You hear hear about all of these contestants that don’t do anything, because they don’t wanna…some people just don’t work hard. If anything, I’m a hard worker. I intend to prove that to you.”
