In an interview with MyCentralJersey.com, American Idol 14 2nd runner-up, Jax talks about her abrupt and painful elimination at the top of the Final 2 performance show. After she was cut, Harry Connick Jr met her backstage to console her. HE wasn’t happy with the way the show handled her exit either!
Jax said it wasn’t the fact that she was eliminated that upset her, but the way it was handled.
“I was, of course, upset that I was cut, but I needed to have closure. I’m such a huge advocate for closure,” she said. “And this was the hugest moment of my life. Obviously I worked hard and I felt like I deserved a moment to say goodbye but really everyone else worked harder than me. Seriously, there were sleepless nights of fans on Twitter, some people paid to come out there. I was hurt. I was so heartbroken, but it wasn’t even for me. The fact that I got cut didn’t even hurt as much as the fact that I couldn’t thank everybody.”
Jax said that Connick came to see her in her dressing room after the show. After he introduced Jax to his wife and daughters, he let Jax know how he felt about the night.
“He was angry at the show,” she said. “He said that it was inhumane. He said ‘I don’t take any credit for that. I was not behind that. I had no idea that’s how they were going to do that.’ “
Grabbing the mic after performing “Piece of My Heart” with Steven Tyler on the finale, Jax got her closure, thanking the judges, crew and fans who helped her along the way. The move was completely in-the-moment:
“I had to,” she said. “It’s funny but on live TV, there’s no room for being spontaneous. Every move is sketched out. It scares people a little bit. Everybody kinda froze, but I needed it. I needed to do what I did.”
For Jax, it was hard “being swept away the night before like that.”
“I actually felt guilty,” she said. “I don’t know whose call it was, but it wasn’t my call to do the elimination the way I was cut. They warned us before the show which freaked me out a little bit. It felt kind of disrespectful to me. I had to thank the judges. Everybody had such a huge input — the crew, the band, the judges, the fans, my family. I never got to see the crowd. I looked up and saw the ‘Jax Pack’ signs. And then they took me out and took me to the press. I was getting frazzled.”
On ending her run in 3rd place, Jax is philosophical.
“The funny part about this was, I feel like it’s cooler to come in third place,” she said. “Cause third, it’s not as mainstream as first place. And the JaxPack is so weird and freaky and we’re like, ‘Yea we took third place and we destroyed the show a little bit.’ ”
Jax will be heading to Florida at the end of June, along with her fellow Top 5 contestants–Nick Fradiani, Clark Beckham, Tyanna Jones and Rayvon Owen–for rehearsals for the American Idol Live! tour.
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