What kind of album do you see yourself making? Do you have any plans to do one with your sister?
I definitely want to do Christian music. I hope that I get to, but right now, I'm going to write as much as I can and see what comes out. Whatever the product is of that will be where I'm placed as far as a genre of music. With my sister, I had someone earlier today ask me if I would do a duet with my sister on an album. I think that would be amazing. It's a great idea, I'll look into it and see if she wants to do it. I'm sure she'd love to, that would be so much fun. But we'll have to see and cross the bridge if and when it comes.
How do you make your song choices on the show? What all goes into that?
We have one to two days to choose a song or two songs if it's a two-song week; it's rough. They give you a song list, and you choose either from 13 songs on a list or a two-page list. For this week, it was a two-page list for the Top 100 No. 1's from 2000 to now, and a two-page list for Soul Train. You just have to go through and see what you can do with the song, unfortunately, I don't think I chose the best one this week, but, you know, it's all good. Choosing a song, you just got to make sure it's something you can connect to, and that's what I try and focus on first, and then the musicality and how you're going to perform it comes later.
Many were shocked to see you go last night. One of those people was Carrie Underwood, who sent out some tweets last night in support of you. What do you think about that?
I haven't seen them through Twitter, but during an interview last night afterwards, someone told me what she had wrote. I just want to say thanks, she has done so well since American Idol, and I love that she doesn't shy away from her faith either, so it's nice to see someone doing what I want to do away from the show, give me good encouragement. It was amazing to see that, and I really do appreciate it.
What advice did you receive while you were on the show that you're going to carry with you from now on?
Always stay true to yourself, no matter who's in your ear telling you to do this that and the other. At the end of the day, it's your decision. Unfortunately, song choice got the best of me this week, it's a hard lesson learned, but I needed to learn that lesson. You have to have a valley before you can peak. What's cool about this is I don't think I've peaked yet, which makes me excited for this album – hopeful album, I should say. We'll see what happens, but always remaining true to yourself, for sure.
Do your future plans involve writing and recording in Nashville?
I miss Nashville so much and I'm excited to be back next week, but I have several friends who love to write in and around Nashville. I'm excited to get back and start working and see what we come up with, but I definitely plan on staying somewhere around Nashville.
Are some of the sort of artists you're looking at for inspiration on making an album, the sort of Lifehouse, Relient K, Switchfoot sort of bands who appeal to Christian audiences and at the same time, kind of have a little bit of mainstream appeal?
Absolutely. I'm so thankful for the Idol platform, because I was able to reach so many more people than just the Christian market, and I'm extremely thankful for that. Doing a Switchfoot route would be amazing. It would be exactly what I want to do. You would get the best of both worlds, I could maybe tour with Chris Daughtry or Paramore, or even Switchfoot, and hit the main churches along the way too. It's about a ministry for me. I would be able to share the message with people who already know and for those who maybe don't know. I'd love to be able to do that, and I'm excited to see what happens with it.
Last night, you apologized. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone apologize like that before. Can you elaborate on what you were apologizing for, either than song choice?
Last night, seeing the way I came across on camera after going backstage after September, I was kind of disappointed, 1) with TV editing, but again, I mean, I said it. I was disappointed in that. That's definitely not who I am, and that struck me the wrong way. Especially with song choice, I've taken pride in knowing who I am, and really taking a stance in my faith. I think by choosing Bad Romance I turned off a lot of those voters, which are my core voters. It was an apology for both of those things, I'm sorry I got caught up in the musicality and performance this week instead of what it should've been, which is the connection to a song that I normally bring every week. I hate that I had to go out on that note, but I got a chance to do Everything by Lifehouse again, and I'm glad I got to do that.
I enjoyed the fact you went out with a song that had a lot of religious impact. Tell me about your decision to do a strong religious song as you went out.
The producers and everyone else on the show are saying be who you are. You've gotten this far based on that. I was going to do this anyway, but that just gave me a good little kick into doing Everything by Lifehouse. I'm a Christian and I'm not going to shy away from it. I thought I should share that with everyone watching. I got great feedback from it, I did. I was so glad I got to do it not once, but twice on the show. I think that made an impact, and that encouraged fellow believers to take a stand for what they believe in and not be ashamed of it.
Chris Daughtry once said he was glad that he lost because winning would have wrecked his rock "cred." Do you go along with that?
I'm not sure if I completely agree with that. Winning provides many opportunities that me and five other people aren't going to get to experience. Idol is such a huge platform and so many people watch it, from a certain point on, people now know who I am, who I stand for and what I want to do. I understand what Chris is saying, I'm not going to lie, it would have been nice to win. By not winning, I'm more flexible with what I can and can't do. Everything happens for a reason, and God's got a plan, so I'm just going to trust it and go along with it.
If you had to pick out of everybody, who do you see going into the finals?
In seasons past, I could clearly pick a winner. I'm not just saying this, just because they're all dear to me, but, it's anyone's game, and I genuinely mean that. I would think a lot of people were surprised by me leaving last night, but it goes to show you, no one is safe. America has to vote for their favorites. There are a couple of people that stand out every week, but at the same time, there's room for dark horses in this race. Everyone did so well this week, and I know that streak is going to continue. Honestly, I'm just as curious as everyone else who's going to take this thing home, 'cause I honestly have no clue.
Were there any of the judges in particular that you felt maybe were too hard on you, or did you find yourself getting frustrated with any of them?
I was frustrated after I did September. They tell me to be true to who I am, and they love the way I change up a song, and yet they didn't like September, which I thought I did to a T to who I am, that was a little frustrating. But at the same time, it didn't show off a lot of vocals, and the range wasn't crazy. I understand it form a vocal competition stand point. It's frustrating but at the same time I kind of get it. After hearing comments like "I can hear you on the radio today," "You're ready to make a record today" from Steven [Tyler], it's still encouraging. It makes me want to write this very second and get a record together. I'm stoked for what's going to happen.
Which one of [the judges] gave you the best advice?
I think Randy has given the best. I love them all and they all bring something different, but Randy has really reached out and invested in me, and I love seeing that. He told me never stray from who you are, and always up your game. It's not week to week now, but it might be song to song, or album to album hopefully, so I'll definitely take that always remember that.
What would you say was your riskiest move?
The biggest risk was Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. I think it was a bad risk to take because I didn't really think it through. I think musically and performance wise and image, I was so happy with how it turned out. The message that was portrayed wasn't really who I was, and that's normally the first thing I think about, and for whatever reason, I overlooked that this week, and I lost sight of what I normally think of first. I think that's the main reason why I'm talking to you right now, honestly, but it's a lesson that I'm going to learn from, and I'm going to get back on my feet. I'm going to write and hopefully put out a record sometime soon. No harm, no foul, and I'm totally excited about the future.
Have you thought through what songs you are going to do on the tour, and what would you have done for Queen week next week?
I have no clue what songs I'm going to do on tour. I'm sure we'll do a couple that we did on the show. I'll probably ask fans what their favorites were, and figure it out and give them what they want. For Queen, I was wanting to do The Show Must Go On, I think that would've been an awesome song, I love the way Moulin Rouge did it. That would have been such a fun song, I would've had a choir, I was totally excited about it. I hate that I'm not going to get to do it, but that would've been a lot of fun.
Do you think that the votes were split with you and Phillip Phillips? You two were the two males on the show that had the biggest voting blocks.
I don't think we were necessarily split. I don't think it was either you were a Phillip fan or a Colton fan. The demographic for voters are the same for a lot of us. I hate when Jimmy compared us that way, but Phillip is phenomenal at what he does. I'm happy he stayed, he's fantastic, and I'm excited to see what he does on the show and excited to see what he does with Queen. I don't think it was necessary split. I know a lot of my fans are Phillip Phillips fans too, so it's going to be cool to see how all of this unwinds.
Both you and Hollie seemed pretty shocked when Ryan Seacrest announced that you'd be the one going home, especially since you had never been in the Bottom Three before, prior to last night's show. What was going through your mind leading up to that announcement, and what were you thinking immediately afterwards?
I had a feeling I was in the Bottom Three, so that didn't surprise me so much, especially after I was standing next to Jessica and Phillip. That was kind of a giveaway to me. I was surprised just because I had never been in the bottom; at the same time I'm OK with it. I'm glad Hollie gets to stay longer. She's going to kill it next week. It all happened so fast, and since I had never been in the bottom, I didn't fully understand what was going on. Even this morning, I was thinking, I need to get ready for the mentor session, I'm like, oh wait, that wasn't a bad dream last night, it's weird. It's weird being on the other side of things and outside of the Idol bubble. Again, I'm excited for what's coming up, and everything's going to be OK.
It seems like American Idol this season has been stressing "girl power." Do you think all this rallying is really making a difference, and maybe that's why you got eliminated and so many men up to this point? Do you think the female voters are helping the girls out more now than in past seasons?
I don't even know what to say. This season, if a girl is going to win any season, it's this season. The girls are so good, but then again, you look and you have Joshua Ledet and Phillip Phillips still in it. Seriously, anyone can take it this year. It's about who's willing to put in the work and change up a song and make it their own, and really outshine the rest of the group every week. I'm wondering and excited who's going to take it just as much as everyone else is, and I know them all. It's going to be cool to see.
You sing so many songs over the course of Idol. What would be your ideal theme week if you were to choose your own?
This has never been done on the show, and it probably won't, because not everyone is a writer, but I think it'd be awesome if a theme week one week would be to write a song completely from scratch and play it. That would be so much fun. I love to write, and it'd be cool to sit in a room with different co-writers based on each artist. I might need to talk to Nigel [Lythgoe, Idol producer] about this, I'm getting excited about this. I would love that, that would have been so much fun.
If the judges still had a save last night, do you think they would have used it on you?
Based on this week, and their feedback, I don't know. It's up in the air. I think I was pretty consistent up until this week, so I would hope they would, but at the same time, I'm really glad they used it on Jessica. She totally deserves it, and she's going to do great things. I would like to think that they would and hope they would, but I guess we'll never know.
Final Remarks
Thanks for calling in. I just want to leave you with I'm excited for tour. Be looking out for an album, hopefully sometime soon. I'm so excited to write with many different people that I've met through this journey. Again, I can't stress enough my faith and what that means to me. God gave me a voice at 13 years old, and I just want to share it, whether that's through Christian music, secular music, whatever. Thank you for supporting me or following me through the journey, I appreciate it. Stay tuned, there's going to be more to come, for sure.
Source: USA Today
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