Katie Stevens is 17 going on 30. She’s an incredibly mature, well-spoken young woman. It’s no wonder she had difficulty when the judges told her to “go young.”

Was Kara or Simon right about the music direction she should go in? Katie sees her self as a Kelly Clarkson type–a pop artist with R&B leanings. So, sorry Simon! Read the transcript of the brief interview she gave to reporters today.

And at the bottom of the post, check out a few of her satellite interviews with FOX news stations today.

Which musical genre is she most comfortable in? Was Simon and Kara’s tug of war over what she should be singing frustrating? “I think where I went at fault in the beginning of the competition during Top 24 when I was getting bad comments and stuff, I think that was when I was trying to please the judges, and I wasn’t pleasing myself and doing what I loved.  So, I decided going into Top 12, that I was just going to be myself. Everything that I did at that point was what I loved to do. I think that kind of showed off, so that the judges started giving me better comments. And Simon telling me that I thought I was country?  They all know what they’re talking about, but ultimately I need to do what I love and do what I feel is best for me, and I kind of side more with Kara in the pop with R&B leanings. In an album, I would like to record things like Kelly Clarkson, where she has the soulful voice, kind of R&B soul, pop with rock backgrounds. So, I hope to record that kind of album soon.

What piece of advice that Adam Lambert gave will she take with her? “He told me to always stick to what I love, and what I believe in, and it was great to have him as a mentor, because he’s been through the Idol process. He’s able to give us feedback on what he did and how he was able to evolve throughout all the pressure and everything. So it really helped us to try to hone into that and do the best that we can.”

What has been the most difficult aspect of being on Idol? “Each contestant, we go out there and we try to do our best each week, and it’s just very hard knowing that you’re going to be judged afterward. If you don’t know what to expect, you don’t know if they’re going to give you good comments, or bad comments.  So, you just got to try to manage your nerves the best you can because—I think the singing part was probably easiest. But, it was nerve-wracking going into the judging p art of it. So, definitely the judging was most difficult for me.”

On the relationships she formed with the other contestants, “I was very emotional, because we are like a family, and it’s not a competitive environment and everyone’s so supportive of each other. So it’s really, really difficult to see people that you love weep. And I think that it was harder towards Top 24 and with Lacey and Paige, because they’re not going on tour with us. It’s kind of like, you don’t know when you’re going to see them.  I think I got less emotional saying good bye to the people that were in Top 10 because I’m going to see them and spend so much time with them over the summer. It’s kind of a ‘see you later’ rather than ‘goodbye.’ We’re all really close.  I think that’s ultimately why I got so emotional. “

What she was planning to sing next week for Inspiration Week, “’Somewhere over the Rainbow’ was definitely a song that I’ve wanted to sing for the entire competition. I’d never found the right time to do it, so I would have done that, but I know that I’m going to have plenty of opportunities to sing for America again.”

Was she happy to be singing at the end without the pressure of the Save? “I love Big Mike and I was so happy that he got saved and all of us contestants were able to spend another week with him.  It was weird, because I had this feeling that it was going to be me when I was standing next to him. And I’m so proud of him and all the other contestants, they’re so amazing.  I was so privileged to be able to spend time with them and work with all of them.  I was definitely happy to sing at the end—it was obviously a little emotional—I tried as best I could and that wasn’t the last time that America was going to see me.”

Did she see herself in a no-win situation? She was told to ‘Sing young’ but then had to sing Elvis and the Beatles, “It was definitely difficult getting all of the ‘young’ comments and do older songs. But, you know what? I’ve never been afraid of a challenge, and I was happy to sing those songs.  Everybody wants to win, but I still wanted to keep myself in check and say, ‘Don’t forget where you came from’. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime.  It has helped me so much learn who I am as an artist and as a person. I didn’t see myself in a no-win situation, but you always got to be prepared to go home because everybody is going to go home but one.”

Is it hard to lean towards that ‘young’ thing when maybe it’s not her natural vibe? “I grew up hanging out with my older brother and his friends and my older cousins and everything.  I usually hung out with people who were older than me. I think that’s how I came to have a maturity level beyond my years.  I kind of think it was a little bit more difficult for me to be young and go towards that..it’s not immaturity but…the younger vibe because I spend so much time with people who are older than me. Especially in this competition, so many people were older than me. It’s always good to be young in person—I am 17, so I am young. I love the older music, and everything, so that’s where my inspiration lies. It was definitely difficult, but again, you have to do what you have to. I tried my hardest, and I’m not ashamed of anything that I did.”

How did her parents react to her elimination? “They have been behind me ever since I started to sing when I was little.  Obviously they saw that I was upset, but my mom even said to me yesterday after I was upset after the outcome, she said, ‘You know Katie, if you started out and you were at the stadium that you were only going to make it to the eighth spot, would you have done it?’ And I said ‘absolutely’. They basically told me how proud they were of me, how I should have no regrets about anything, and I don’t. I’m so proud of myself that I was able to have strength enough to go through this at my age. “

More on her Grandmother, and learning Portuguese, “Growing up my parents when they went to work, I would stay with my Grandparents and they were both from Portugal and they spoke Portuguese ultimately, and they would always speak to me and my brothers and my cousins in Portuguese.  We kind of picked it up, and so know we all know how to speak it.  My Grandmother raised me and she was such an inspiration to every performance I’ve ever been in.  She always inspired me to follow my dreams. This was always something that I wanted to do. And when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it kind of affected me and I wanted to do something great that she could see while she still remembers me.  I have acoomplished my goal, which was to have her be proud of me and be able to see me do this.  I reached my goal, and I’m happy.”

Did anybody try to send her a phone bill to try and take her to prom? “No! But the day after I had made the proposal to send me phone bills, I actually got a bunch of people who said, ‘We will send you a phone bill’. I haven’t received any of them, but they told me that they would.”

What did she think about Ryan’s strange behavior Tuesday night? “Ryan is always funny, and he’s a sweet person. What you see on the TV show is what you get and it was an honor to be able to meet him after watching the show for so many years.  He’s just a character, and he’s hilarious, and we were all very entertained.”

What’s next? Is she going back to school? Going to the prom? “I actually don’t think that I’ll be able to attend prom or graduation because that’s when tour rehearsals will start. Definitely, I’ll be going back home, hang out with my friends, keep up with school so that I can graduate and get my diploma, I’m really looking forward to the tour. Hopefully after that, writing an album, and we’ll see how it goes. I’m excited for what’s to come.”

What did the fan support mean to her? “It meant the world to me, having all of Connecticut behind me was just such an honor. I was doing this for my grandmother, but I was also doing this for everybody else back home. Beause I wanted to make everyone proud, and show that Connecticut can do something great.

Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia on Good Day LA

FOX LA post Idol report featuring Katie and Andrew

Katie Stevens on Good Day New York