I’ve yet to really blog about Brooke White’s elimination Tuesday night. I’m glad she left the show in a reasonably happy state, rather than that crazy train she appeared to be riding the week before. Watching Brooke crawl into a fetal position while her name is called for elimination would not have been a fun thing to watch. She did cry in the end, but it seemed more healthy release than skeery breakdown.
Brooke was either going to be eliminated this week or next (I think it will be Jason’s turn to go next week…), so I don’t feel sad that she was eliminated. She had a great run on the show, even though her nerves and her stamina seemed to wear thin toward the end. I will say that I’m thrilled that the folkies–both Brooke White and Jason Castro–made it deep into this competition. It would have been unheard of, even a couple of years ago. Keeping the talent diverse will keep Idol strong. So will making artistry in all it’s forms–rather than just good singing–the focus of the competition.
I see bright things in Brooke’s future. I can hear Brooke’s raspy vocals on the radio next to artists like Colbie Callait, Sara Barailles, Feist and all those other singer/songrwritery female performers on the charts right now.
Here’s a roundup of her exit interviews: Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Eonline, TV Guide, and Idol Chatter posted the entire transcript of yesterday’s satellite interview with the press.
Highlights after the Jump…
- She would have loved to sing a James Taylor or Fleetwood Mac song.
- She was considering singing Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me” next week.
- About the tour–the contestants will be singing about 3 songs apiece.
- Brooke had a re-sure of confidence going into Tuesday’s show, and she felt good afterward. But she woke up Wednesday morning feeling in her gut that she’d be going home.
- About singing “I’m A Believer”, “I knew that morning that I was going home. It was just a gut feeling. It’s funny, though ‘ regardless of what Simon said about Tuesday night being a ‘nightmare, ‘ in the room it was not. It was really well received by the audience. For the first time in a couple of weeks I felt like I was completely present. I was in it. I had a confidence which I had been lacking. After the show Simon commented, ‘Maybe that didn’t work for you.'”
- On Simon Cowell, “Every week you go up there, and not that it always turns out the best, but I always give my best, and when youre standing there in a place of vulnerability, it hard to know what you should take and what you should not take. I think sometimes he has some valid points and sometimes his delivery is just plain mean. And I like him; I think he a good guy.”
- On the judges criticisms, “It’s a constant contradiction. I appreciate that the judges have to do their jobs. They’ve given me great feedback, but some of it makes no sense at all. There is no formula to how this works. You try to stay in your zone and then you’re predictable. You get out of your zone and then it’s like, ”Well, you should stay in your zone.” At one point, I was getting pretty steady good feedback from them. But then it got rough. But all the while I don’t think I changed my strategy.
- On what she would like to do as an artist once the show is over, “I want to be a singer/songwriter. What I did on the show is as close to what I want to do, without performing my own material — I would love to write or at least co-write. Build an album around that organic sound. Keep it real, keep it raw, keep it fresh. I know it 2008 so you have to make it current. I definitely think that my avenue, I want to play the piano, I want to play the guitar and be very involved with the music and just connect with people on a very honest level.”
