UPDATE: More Press Conference quotes from Scott, Lil and Jorge.
It kinda got lost in all the excitement of the wildcard, but the three contestants, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds and Jorge Nunez, who advanced to the Top 12 via Americas vote this week spoke with the press Thursday afternoon. Here are a few quotes. I’ll have more later.
Scott MacIntyre
- Why he chose Mandolin Rain, “I chose that song, as far as the lyrics go, because it’s the only song I know that talks about listening, y’know, ‘Listen to the Mandolin Rain’ obviously, but then listening to people’s hearts break, listening to the tears roll, y’know, and listening is such a big part of my world. I thought it was the perfect song to start off this whole live venture”
- On the Hi-Five, “I’m the last person that would ever be offended by that. And I thought it was so funny because that’s happened to me my whole life and people try to wave to me and I don’t see it and people hi five me and I don’t see it, and, I love Ryan, he’s an awesome guy and he actually did the right thing, he grabbed my hand and he did it again. And I thought everyone would be wondering about it, so I just had to return the favor.”
- Have the other contestants been helping him? “Absolutely, and ‘Idol’ has just been great about accommodating me as well. But where there have been opportunities for other contestants to step in, even though we’re in this as a competition, I’ve been just so thankful for their friendship. And they’ve been really great about stepping in and helping out.”
- About relating to the camera, “It’s definitely a challenge, y’know, doing it live and the group number. I had to guestimate and learn what parts of the song, uh, as all the contestants did, where are focus was. Except I couldn’t see the camera we were looking at, so it was a lot of memorizing distances and angles and so, I used my memory and I used my ears and we just go from there. We hope for the best, y’know? (laughs)”
Lil Rounds and Jorge Nunez after the JUMP…
Lil Rounds:
- Her musical family, “My family is really really music oriented and I have a grandfather who, uh, actually played with B.B. King and, y’know, from there he just–they grew up around a lot of music and we grew up around music.”
- Her kids (they are five, three and two) call her …American Idol Mama., “They are really excited about, y’know, what’s going on. They understand that mommy’s doing something special, y’know, for the family, and I’m following my dream of singing and they’re my inspiration because they look at me and they tell me all the time, or they talk to me on the phone and they tell me, ‘I’m proud of you’ and ‘I’m happy you went to ‘American Idol’. And they really support me and they’re happy about it, so it makes me all the more excited about it.
Jorge Nunez:
- On Marc Antony and Jennifer Lopez texting Ryan Seacrest, “That’s like the best thing that’s ever happened to me throughout this whole journey. Cause, they’re so famous here, so imange how big they are at Puerto Rico. It’s been–that was the best thing ever, when they told me that they were brought to tears by my performance, that was amazing. I’m like ‘Oh my God, they know who I am!’ So it’s a great feeling.”
- Has plans to sing in both Spanish and English if he can–not worried about a backlash from people who don’t want Spanish sung on their “American” show, “It’s something that is part of who I am, and I just gonna stay true to myself. If I get the chance to sing in Spanish, I’m not going to lose it, because, I mean, whether it’s in Spanish or in English, if it’s good they’re gonna like it.”
