Top 20 – Idol Exit Interviews

 

Jason Yeager:

He’s just a tad bit bitter.   I don’t blame him.

  • What he thought went wrong, “Well, you know, I was kind of in a lose-lose situation. The first week, Simon bashed me ‘  you know, all of them really kind of criticized me for being too old-fashioned. They criticized me for not doing a ”singer’s song.” So, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t really know what to say or do with myself at that point.”
  • On  choosing a song, “First of all, you’ve got themes, so you’re restrained to a decade. Then you’re listening to all these different songs. The producers have lists of songs that are cleared for television, so you can pick off that list ‘  but what are the odds that any of those songs are really going to be you? There’s not a whole heck of a lot of time given to do really good research and to listen and try to find a killer song for yourself. And sometimes you’re back to the drawing board if the song isn’t approved. There’s so much more that goes into it that people don’t see. Some artists are completely off-limits that I really enjoy and would really showcase me. You have a couple of hands tied behind your back.
  • More on song choice, “I had some Boyz II Men lined up because they were thinking about doing ’90s week. Next week was going to be ’80s, so I thought, ”Well, great, Journey would totally showcase my vocals” ‘  but we ran into problems with getting rights. The killer song for me never really seemed to pan out. I don’t want to place blame on song selection. I wish I could have found that one song… I had so much against me.”
  • Like what? “Nobody knew who I was before I showed up in the top 24. Colton [Berry] was in the same boat; Garrett [Haley] was in the same boat. It’s kind of sad sometimes. I think you’re definitely at a disadvantage, and I don’t care what people say: You are at a disadvantage when you know that you were there, but according to America, it’s like, ”Why didn’t they show you during your first round?” I don’t know. ”How come they didn’t show you during Hollywood?” I don’t know. ”How come they haven’t done any backstories on you?” I have no idea. So now I’m faced with being in the top 24 ‘  and blessed to be there ‘  but now I’ve got to do something that’s going to get people behind me. It just made me laugh when Simon was like, ”I think your problem is that you don’t stand out.” I just laughed to myself on the inside, because I did everything everyone else did ‘  all the interviews and whatnot ‘  but I have absolutely no say over what gets used on the show. It was just disappointing. I have so much more I could have shown people if I had the chance. Right now, I’m just trying to swallow all that up.”

Alaina Whitiker, Robbie Carrico and Alexandrea Lushington

…After the Jump.

Sources: Entertainment Weekly, MTV

Alaina Whitiker:

  • On being called to the stage with Kady Malloy, “Yea, we were really good friends and we had hung out a lot through this whole thing. She was really shocked. She told me she thought she would be the one going home. I kept telling her all day, “You need to stay really positive, ” because it’s really bad to be down on yourself. So it was kind of ironic when it came down to me and her, but I’m really happy for her. She has a great voice. … It means a lot to me that people ‘  I mean, it’s a compliment that they were shocked. They didn’t think that I was going to go. I don’t know if it makes me feel better about it…I got really emotional. I think I was a little surprised at the outcome. It’s not that I thought Kady [Malloy] was going home at all, but at the same time, I didn’t think I was going home.”
  • On Simon calling her the Dark Horse of the race, “I definitely think that had something to do with it, because I’ve always thought that Simon knows what he’s talking about. America may think he’s really mean, but I think they respect what he says. So I thought that when he said that that maybe that was a good thing.”
  • Is she glad she decided to sing anyway? “I’m definitely glad I sang. Looking back, I was saying, ”I can’t sing, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, ” but in the back of my mind I knew I had to. You know, this is a good ending to my journey and everything. So I don’t think it was a question of, Am I going to do it? It was a question of, How am I going to do it? How am I going to remember the words, and how is it not going to sound horrible because I’m crying? I definitely think I would have regretted it if I hadn’t sang.

Robbie Carrico:

  • Is it a wig? “I have been growing this hair for a very long time, and I think it’s ridiculous that they have to come up with something like that.”
  • How he’s feeling, “I’m feeling a little better today. It was a pretty emotional night last night, and it was a lot to process. I would have loved to have gone further in the competition. That’s not really how the cards played out. There’s some great opportunities opening up, and hopefully more. Like my dad told me earlier, ”Hit the ground running! Keep the momentum going with what we got!”
  • About his “authenticity”, “Well, that’s tough for me. That’s kind of a tough situation, because they were saying they weren’t sure if I was a rock singer. I had the look and everything, but they weren’t sure. Simon had said he wasn’t sure if I was the kind of guy who had played the grungy bars and paid my dues, but that’s what I’ve been doing the last six years.”
  • What song would he have done from the 90s? “There’s a song we do back home that I love so much, from a band called Seven Mary Three, called ‘Cumbersome.””
  • What’s next, “Well, the reality of it is that I’ve got my band back home. I’ll get back with those guys and see what’s going on with that. I’ve got my job back home ‘  I’m a painter. My dad owns a painting company, so I’ll go back and jump into the family business.”

Alexandrea Lushington:

  • Why the girls were having an off night on Wednesday, “A lot were nervous and a lot had to do with song choice, I guess. And everybody watching everyone else do what we thought was really well, and [hearing] the feedback they got. It was kind of discouraging, but at the same time it was like, Now we have to step it up. We all went out there and we did the best that we could, and I have no regrets at all.”
  • On her song choice, “Well, I have no regrets about my song choice. I still think it was a really good song that I picked, even though I never heard that song. It ended up growing on me. Everybody had a tough time that night. But it’s over now”
  • On being the Underdog, “…I had yet to prove myself and really show what I could do. And I wasn’t really letting myself come out like I wanted to. I was doing, like, piece by piece. But it’s okay now. I’m still the underdog, and I’m going to continue working and following my dreams.”
  • On David Archuletta, “I remember telling him from the beginning, “You’re going to be a huge chick magnet.” He is a phenomenal singer, and he’s going to do great. It was so funny, because we were getting picked up form the airport and he was sitting next to us, and my dad said, “Isn’t that that kid who was on ‘Star Search’ with you? Was his name David?” I looked over and was like, “I don’t know!” because he looked different. My dad asked him and said, “Do you remember her? She was on ‘Star Search’ with you. She sang ‘My Funny Valentine.’ ” And he was like, “Oh my God!” … From then on, we were just really close…We had a really cool relationship.   It was sad to leave, and I know he was upset to see me go.”
About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!