The four Idols voted off this week sat down with us to talk about the extremely strong bonds they formed, their disappointments, greatest memories, and plans for the future. One thing is for certain—each one of them seems to be genuinely happy for their peers that are continuing down the AI Road.
Alexandréa Lushington said the bonds between the hopefuls were so strong because of spending so much time together, and they even forgot it was a competition until the actual night of performances. Even then, she said, "…we try really hard to compete with not everybody else, but with just ourselves, try to stay focused on what we’re going to do to better ourselves in the competition."
While Alexandréa admitted that Simon is her favorite judge, as she has a lot of respect for the constructive criticism he gives, it was Randy and Paula who gave her the best advice. Although she said it might sound cliché, the two of them urging her to continue her pursuit of music meant the world to her.
Alexandréa said she was, indeed, surprised to be voted off, but that does not mean she has regrets. It’s "how the dice were rolled," and she knows that she will benefit from the experience regardless. When asked about whether her age and being able to connect with an older song might have played a factor, she quickly shot down that theory, as she said that her mom and dad made sure she grew up with a very well-rounded taste in music. She also doesn’t think the fact that some of the Idols have had previous recording contracts should be considered a big deal, as she sees no issue with people trying to catapult their careers.
As far as the future goes, Alexandréa wants to use the exposure she’s gotten on AI to work on her music further, including both performing and composing new music.
Alaina Whitaker certainly had an emotional departure from the show, but in the short 24 hours she’d had to soak it all in, she was feeling much better, and even said she still feels extremely fortunate to have been in the top 10 girls.
Alaina is a self-declared super fan of the show, so this made the experience all the more surreal for her. She even remembers the first performance that really wowed her, which was Kelly Clarkson’s "Stuff Like That There," and she said, "She just blew me away." She also was able to meet Ace Young, Justin Guarini, and JPL at the Top 24 party this year, as well as Chris Daughtry in the lobby of her hotel.
Like Alexandréa, Alaina doesn’t have many regrets, and is still glad that she sang one of her all-time favorites, "Hopelessly Devoted To You." One comment from Simon did stick out for her, however. He told her at her initial audition that he didn’t think she was as good as she thought she was, and she admitted to taking that to heart. She didn’t want people to think she thought of herself that way, so she was careful to examine how she conveyed herself each step of the way.
Also like Alexandréa, Alaina felt extremely close to her AI peers. She called the whole experience "so much fun," and said that after seeing everyone every single day, it was amazing how quickly they all bonded. Although she said they realized it was a competition, if you went behind the scenes, you would have seen how great everyone was with one another. Alaina said they would even encourage one another and give each other pep talks before performances.
Alaina was also very proud that she ended up doing her final performance. As she stated, "You know at the time, I had so many thoughts going through my mind. I had a lot of emotions. At the time, it was like I was saying, ‘I can’t sing right now,’ but I knew in the back of my mind that I have to do this. This is the end of my journey and it’s going to be a good ending to it.
While Jason Yeager is extremely proud of making it as far as he did, he admitted to having some lingering doubts about his AI experience. He wonders if he had been given more camera time during the initial part of the show if voters might have had a chance to get behind him a bit more. As he said, "I don’t want to be sour about it. I’m just kind of disappointed that I felt like I had a lot of offer to the show. I think my fans out there, people who know me, who know my voice would attest to that."
That doesn’t mean that he would advise others not to try out for "Idol." In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He said he would encourage people to go for it, as the sacrifices are all worth it, and he wouldn’t take it back. In fact, he said he’s grateful that he learned how to deal with criticism, as he will no doubt have to face that along the way in his pursuit of a music career.
Much like Alaina and Alexandréa, Jason said that he was surprised that there was never a feeling of the competition being "cutthroat." In fact, he said that Thursday nights were horrible for all of them, as they hated losing any fellow hopefuls.
While Simon’s comments did sting, especially since he had really liked Jason earlier in the competition, Jason said that focusing on the judges was one of his biggest mistakes. Instead, he said he should have considered what the viewers might like to see more, as they are the ones voting. And while Jason said that he’s proud of being part of a season that people are calling the "best of the best," it all came down to song choice and rising to the challenge on the actual night.
Robbie Carrico still begs to differ when it comes to Simon Cowell questioning him on his "rocker authenticity." As he mentioned, "I have spent the past six years working my tail off in grungy bars and pulling our own trailer with our equipment, loading it in and out and living out of a van sometimes, doing all the grunt work that they didn’t see me doing. Because of what I did before with pop music, that was a job to me. If you ever turn my CD player on while I was out on the road, you’d be hearing rock…" And when asked about the buzz surrounding his hair, he confirmed that he’d been growing his hair out for a long time, and he wasn’t wearing a wig!
Robbie explained further that he never represented himself to be a "heavy hard rocker," as some were claiming. In fact, his band back home plays more mellow music, like songs from 3 Doors Down and Rob Thomas.
Like the others, Robbie was reluctant to call his song choice of "Hot Blooded" a mistake, as he was targeting a fun, upbeat song. And in his short time on the show, he does feel like he evolved. He called himself a "sponge," and said he just soaked up as much as he could from the band and vocal coaches on the show. He said the most difficult part of being on the show was finding any time to sleep, but he also said it was well worth it. He plans on exhausting every option he can now that he’s gotten such great exposure.
To hear their parting words, check out these two exclusive videos:
Alaina and Robbie’s Exit Interview and Alexandréa and Jason’s Exit Interview.
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