Scott MacIntyre isn’t afraid to stick to his convictions–he maintains that his performance of “The Search is Over” on Tuesday was solid, and that the judges should have given him more credit.
When he heard it back later, surely he could hear those ear-splitting high notes? Really, that’s my only quibble with Scott. In today’s exit press conference with news reporters, he revealed himself to be confident, funny, and intelligent–it was hard to pull quotes ’cause all of them were really good.
Check out the various accounts from news sites: MTV, LAT, Zap2it, USAToday and Entertainment Weekly.
Quotable quotes:
- Why did Scott think he could be the next American Idol? “From the beginning I’ve felt like I had a story to share and I’ve pursued music as my main passion and that combined would’ve been a shame not to share that with the world. It has given me a platform and so many people know what I’ve been through, I Hope it encourages everyone to reach for their dreams and never give up and that’s the message I have for anyone in that situation.”
- Why Scott doesn’t wear sunglasses like other visually impaired musicians, “I’m glad you asked that, and I’ve never answered this question before, so this is all off the top of my head. I have not had an urge to wear glasses like that. A lot of what I’m trying to do is break barriers and break the perceived notions about blind individuals. The biggest thing I can think of is, you never see how Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles get on stage. Stevie Wonder kind of magically appears there and then the lights dim and he’s gone. I always think: What if someone was in a wheelchair? Would they wheel them out, take them out of their chair, sit them on a sofa, and then turn the lights off and do the same thing when they’re done? You know, I carry my cane around. I can’t always on the show, but if you ever see me in concert, on tour, you’ll most likely see it. It’s been on television all over the place. That’s one thing. I think it helps people to be aware that, Oh, he needs help, and he may need some assistance. I’m not above asking for assistance at any time if I do need it. I think that trying to hide that ‘ wearing the dark shades, not that that’s bad ‘ but that’s what people have come to expect that. They may be a little stand-offish. They may not know how to respond. I think that by me not going that route it’s hopefully bridging the gap between the visually impaired and everyone else and letting them see that it’s just another attribute of me. You know, my hair is dark blonde, my eyes are blue, and I’m visually impaired!”
More after the JUMP…
- Why Scott tried out this season, “I have never tried out before. I think this was the perfect year to audition. It’s the first time they’ve come to Arizona so that was just perfect for me because I got to have that state hopefully behind me. I can’t wait to go home and see what the response really is. A number of things have happened. I’ve been in school for a number of years, I’m kind of the academic gone pop star. It was just the right time. I’ve been following the show since about season 5 and the moment at which I decided to audition was when they rolled the grand piano onstage last year and I realized I had to be here.”
- Was it tough to stand in front of the judges while they debated their split decision? “That was one of Seacrest’s most agonizing pauses. He’s getting a little too good at that. I was actually very thrilled to know that it was a split decision between the 4 judges and that was something very nice for me to walk away with, knowing that the decision was split. Talking with Simon after the show, I sensed there was some inner turmoil with him. I stand by my performance on Tuesday night and I think if you watch it back that night it was a good solid performance.”
- Scott was not afraid to disagree with the judges, “As you can tell Im very diplomatic and clever and humorous. I stuck up for myself, but I did it nicely.”
- What went wrong with his performance of ”The Search is Over”? “I always have to remind myself that it’s a TV show. I’ve followed the show for a number of years and everyone knows you can’t listen to the judges all the time. A lot of people do, sometimes to the performers’ detriment. But the judges didn’t give me as much credit as was due in that performance. I was really hoping to kind of take America aback by coming out with the guitar. That’s partially what happened. No one expected me to come out with the electric doing an ’80s power ballad. It’s something I wanted to do before I left the competition, just to show another side of me. It was a one-time thing. Who knows? If I wouldn’t have done it, I still might not have been here next week and no one would have known that I’m also a guitarist.”
- Is Inspirational music his favorite genre? “When youre on the show, it very challenging with the different themed weeks to find songs that represent your style as an artist. I did sing a lot of inspirational songs that I believe in and could sing the words to as though they were my own. I couldnt sing my original music, so I tried to sing songs that represent who I am. I think it important to stay true to your character and your values. I received a lot of positive feedback from people who were inspired by it. But inspirational music as a genre is not actually where I see myself going. I have done Christian contemporary music in the past, but my original music is definitely along the lines of Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Carlton, that kind of thing. I hope to slowly reveal that side of me when I release an album.”
- Will he keep performing with your family? “If I can, I’d love to. There’s Scott MacIntyre the pop singer-songwriter and there’s a punk-power-pop band with my brother and then there’s the MacIntyre Family Singers, which has done acapella jazz, gospel music, classical, Broadway, so it’s really been fun for me to delve into different types of music. My dad is the only one who doesn’t sing. He auditions every year for the MacIntyre Family Singers and he hasn’t made the cut yet. [laughs]”
- What will Scott miss about the contestants? “I’m going to miss the camaraderie and I’m going to miss how we all make fun of each other before the show starts. I’m going to miss having dinner when people leave and wishing them well. I’m definitely going to miss the group songs, believe it or not. It’s actually a really interesting group of kids this year (everybody calls us kids, it’s nothing weird). We are actually one of the only groups that talks and jokes two minutes before we walk on stage. Apparently last year everyone was very silent and in their own world but this year there is an extra element even though we’re competing.”
- What he thought about the fact that only 30, 000 votes separated him from Anoop, “I thought a few more people should’ve voted. [laughs] In all seriousness, at this stage in the game everyone has won in their own right. There’s not much difference between finishing 8th and finishing 3rd, it’s really what you do with the opportuntiy you’ve been given and I have this incredible platform now and I’m going to do everything I can to make the transition of being known as Scott on American Idol to being known as Scott MacIntyre the musician.”
- How he felt about being asked to come out from behind the piano, “I think Simon said it all that night. You don’t see Billy Joel or Elton John or Burce Hornsby or Stevie Wonder come out from behind the piano. It’s where I belong. It doesn’t take the place of my vocals, it’s just another way to express myself and carry my vocal with it. My decision to play the guitar this last week was more the fact that I wanted to shock America a little bit than to just get out from behind the piano. It’s interesting because they tell you one thing one week and the opposite the next week. I don’t take what they said to heart because I like my performance this week. I’m so glad at least 2 of them were tempted to keep me on. I have no regrets leaving the show, I’m so happy I brought my shredder out to go out in a blaze of glory and it’s all good things from here.”
