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American Idol

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What does your wife make of your newfound fame and the Idol experience?
Well, you know, she's divorcing me. [Laughs] No, I'm kidding. She's doing all right, she helps me out in all kinds of ways. Last night I only got two hours of sleep, and she stayed up all night packing my clothes up for me because I had such a busy day today.

Any one performance this season you wish you'd had a chance to do over?
''Oh Boy'' [during 1950s week]. I kind of wish I wouldn't have done it. Or I think I could've done a better job with it.

What went wrong?
I have no idea, really. When I first heard the song, I was ready to go with it. I don't know if I lived through it so many times I finally got tired of it. When it came time to do it, I just wasn't feeling it. I wasn't real happy with the outfit I had, just nothing felt right. And I think it showed.

Speaking of your image, I know you took some heat in the first week of finals when you sang ''Superstition,'' because you were sporting a hairstyle that Simon compared to Jessica Simpson's. I know we never saw that look on you again, so was that a stylist-driven decision?
Of course! I sat down in the chair — it was our first time with a stylist. He was like, ''Have you got any ideas?'' And I was like, ''I just grew it. You went to school for it, so do what you can.'' And then they fluffed it out like that. The whole time before I went on, I was like, ''Does this look too poufy? Too big?'' [All the contestants] were like ''No, no, no, no. It looks good.'' And after I got done I remembered, Oh yeah, this is a competition. [Laughs] It was either all the way or nothing, so after that I took care of my hair myself.

What did they use to achieve that unfortunate look?
They took a couple curling irons, flat irons, all kinds of irons. [Laughs]

On a more positive note, what's the one song you want to be remembered for performing?
As far as songs I enjoyed doing, I liked ''Best I Ever Had'' during country week. Garth Brooks' ''Thunder Rolls,'' and ''Wave on Wave,'' I had a great time doing those. ''Real Good Man,'' too. I liked all the country ones I did.

What made you pick ''Fat Bottomed Girls'' this week?
Actually, my wife recommended it. Then I remembered Kid Rock had done a version of it, and I like him a lot, so I listened to his version, listened to Queen's version, then made mine. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do that song again. I might get voted off again, too, but I'd probably still have done it.

What do you see in your future? I know you said last night that it's not about getting rich and famous, but could you ever go back to a day job at this point?
I've got to pursue the singing thing. I've done come too far now to just throw it away.

Will you be sticking with the country genre?
Yeah, I'm sticking with country.

Prior to last night, you were in the bottom three several other times: Did you ever start to get discouraged, feel like it was a foregone conclusion that you weren't going to win? Or did you keep believing in your chances to be the next American Idol?
It was kind of mixed. I felt positive sometimes. But definitely you get into the bottom three and it kills your self-confidence a bit.

Be honest: Now that you've been eliminated, who do you think is going to win this season?
If I have to give you my honest opinion, I know you'll think I'm crazy, but I think the lead changes weekly. After every audition every week, there's a different leader. Sometimes the leader has been in the bottom three, they maybe just get through one week, and then two weeks later, they'll be on top. I really think it's that close.

Fair enough, but let's say tomorrow turned into Freaky Friday, and you were going to wake up with another contestant's singing voice: Who would it be and why?
Being the kind of music I do, the only other contestant who'd do that kind would be Taylor, so I'd have to pick him. Not that he's any better than anyone else there.

How diplomatic! Okay, let's try something else: Any question you've been dreading being asked all day?
''How do you feel?'' You know, there's so many emotions running through you. But right now, I'm actually pretty happy. I'm excited to see what's coming up for the next five years. I had a good time on the show; now I get to go home and see the family and pat my dog on the head. Last night I was a little bummed out about getting voted off, but as soon as I went to the kiss-off dinner, I felt great about it. Like I say, I'd rather leave on this note than a bad one.

Tell me specifically about the kiss-off dinner. Anything memorable that your fellow contestants had to say?
Actually, the way I am, everything's a joke with me. I told 'em a long time ago, I'm pulling out of this thing at number eight.