'Idol' thoughts
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| After forgetting the words during his performance, “I absolutely knew it was coming ... I really feel at peace with (it),” said Brandon Rogers (left) of being sent home on “American Idol.” Meanwhile, Sanjaya Malakar (center) lingers on, thanks to a huge fanbase and despite lackluster performances. |
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By MIKE HUGHES Gannett News Service
3/27/2007
Ousted 'American Idol' contestants speak out
For some "American Idol" contestants it was all a whim. They knew nothing about the show but reached the final 20.
For some others it was an obsession. They'd been studying "Idol" for years.
For some being ousted was a shock. For others, it was just what they'd expected.
The "Idol" experience seems to vary widely. "The highs and lows, you can't imagine," says Nicholas Pedro, one of the final 20.
We can try, anyway, by talking to the people on their way out.
The show now has its final 10 - the ones who are expected to be part of the "Idol" tour this summer and fall. Meanwhile, the ones who came close were interviewed after they were eliminated.
There were four who reached the final 20 - Alaina Alexander, Leslie Hunt, Pedro and A.J. Tabaldo. And four more who got to 16 - Antonella Barba, Jared Cotter, Sunshine Head and Sabrina Sloan.
Then there were the ones who just missed.
Stephanie Edwards finished No. 11, one away from the tour. "Hopefully, I can go see one of the shows or something," she says.
Brandon Rogers finished No. 12 and took it in surprisingly
The glimpses here view "Idol" through the eyes of those people who came close to long-lasting stardom and fame.
Show? What show?
This is the most-watched show in America but some singers were blissfully unaware of it.
"'American Idol' was just another audition for me ... I honestly have never seen the show before this season," Cotter says.
Leslie Hunt saw the first-season finale but that was it. Just before auditions, she hurriedly bought DVD's of old shows.
Then there are people who obsessed about the show. A.J. Tabaldo auditioned for five straight years. Sabrina Sloan was a fan. "I've watched the show for five years," she adds.
"Idol" is not a show for subtlety, she decided. "Americans respond to big endings."
Saw it coming?
Some singers say they had no idea they were on the way out. "I feel shocked, man," Cotter says.
Sundance Head and Sloan also say they weren't expecting it. "I ... really hadn't prepared myself for going home," Sloan says.
Others expressed no surprise. Alaina Alexander found herself sitting in a row of strong singers. "I thought, 'If one person is going to go, it has to be me."'
Brandon Rogers had no doubts. "I absolutely knew it was coming ... I really feel at peace with (it)."
'OK, now sing'
Moments after losing, contestants are suddenly asked to sing.
"Your dreams are crashing right before your eyes," Nick Pedro says, "and then you're handed a microphone and it's like, 'Give it your best shot.' It's very, very difficult."
Most make it through but there are exceptions.
"I might have looked at someone and they might have been crying and I think it just triggered," Alexander says. "It was all downhill from there ... someone told me that out of all the six years of 'Idol' history that was the first time someone broke down as badly."
In recent weeks, no one got a chance. Rogers was handed a microphone just as the show went off the air. A week later, Edwards didn't even get that far.
"I did sing," Edwards says. "It just wasn't on camera ... I started crying toward the end of the song, so that would have been horrible for America to see that. So I'm kind of happy it was not on camera."
Ah, Antonella
Barba faced one more complication: Racy photos of her were on the Internet.
"That was personal, that was private," Barba says of the posing. "That was not for the public eye ... I've learned to just be careful who you trust."
Others were quick to praise Barba and dismiss the photos.
"It doesn't excite me that she has pictures like that," Leslie Hunt says. "Who doesn't?"
The Sanjaya factor
While other singers were ousted, Sanjaya Malakar lingers.
He may not be a great singer but none of the departing would complain about that. "I knew, getting into this, that it wasn't just about singing," Hunt says.
Malakar has built a popularity with young viewers - and with fellow contestants. "I love the kid and he's a sweet guy," Rogers says.
Head echoed that. "What America needs to understand is: You're seeing this kid grow up on TV. He's 17 years old; he's never been through this in his life ... He's going to be a success in the music business. He's got all of the great looks and he's full of talent."
Besides, Sloan says, this is inevitable. "People love him and he has a fan base. People believe in him."
Who gets the focus?
Even before the voting began, viewers knew Malakar.
He kept being shown during the early auditions. So were some others while many contestants were ignored.
"It's hard to go against those people who have equivalent talent, yet have established such huge fan bases," Tabaldo says.
Stephanie Edwards felt the same thing. "They didn't really show much of me throughout until like the top 24," she says.
The extemporaneous side
With only quick glimpses of some contestants, viewers might get the wrong idea.
One notion was that Edwards was sort of starched and mature.
"I'm not really that mature," she insists. "People may have thought I acted way older than 19 ... I've had some goofy moments but America didn't see them."
Hunt did get to briefly display her humor. "I'm hugely goofy," she says. "I spend a good majority of my life laughing and making other people laugh."
Other skills get lost. Cotter is a talented poet, Head says. Hunt and Alexander are both songwriters.
"I was thinking of ... doing my own song (next)," Alexander says, "but I didn't have the chance."
Getting the right look
Some contestants can soar or crash based on their look. Ironically, they might not have had much of a hand in it.
Barba drew raves the night she wore a green retro dress, a stylish throwback to the 1960s. Where did she get that? "The stylist here picked it out for me," she says.
That's risky, Pedro says. "I pretty much told the stylist, 'I know everything is my decision but whatever you want me to wear, I'll do. You know best."'
Simon Cowell promptly criticized Pedro's clothes.
The ultimate choice
The most important choice, however, involves picking a song and trimming it to fit.
Sloan found herself compromising between her own jazzy tastes and viewers' desire to have a big finish. "You only have a minute-and-a-half to really show all you have."
Rogers admits he didn't push his potential. "I didn't necessarily pick songs that showed up my voice ... It's all about song choice."
By MIKE HUGHES Gannett News Service
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