A.J. TABALDO
A.J., I'm usually good at predicting things, but I did not see you getting voted off this early.
I feel ya. It was a shock to me, too. I've been a fan of the show for years now and I haven't really seen someone who's gotten good reviews from the judges go home so soon in the competition. But I'm glad I went out on a good note as opposed to going out on a week the judges said I was horrible.
I especially thought you were safe seeing as you were standing next to Sanjaya, who hasn't exactly been praised by the judges.
Standing in the bottom two next to him, I did feel vulnerable. He's a great contender and an awesome person. He must have had a bigger fan base. It's so unpredictable.
Since we won't get to hear you on the show anymore, what were you planning on singing next week?
I was going to do another Stevie Wonder song, ''All I Do.'' I did it in my first audition but it never got shown so I wanted to show that fun side of me.
What was the rest of the night like?
It was a rough night, the tears and the sadness and having to say goodbye. A couple of the guys took me out to dinner and celebrated. I just took in the moment and realized everything is going to come to an end eventually. There's only one winner. I'm just trying to look at the positive.
Is there a positive?
Well, I talked to the judges after the show and they said I shouldn't be going home. They told me they felt like I was one of the stronger ones vocally and I need to keep going and hopefully there will be something in the works with one of them.
Really? With one of them who says ''dawg'' a lot and has his own label?
We'll leave that up to the imagination.
NICHOLAS PEDRO
How are you doing today?
I've been better. Actually, I'm doing okay, all things considered. I had to get up at 3 a.m. to do press, and I went to sleep at 2 a.m. I woke up and it was like, Oh man, life as I've known it for the past few months has changed.
Do you regret singing ''Fever,'' which was sung so brilliantly last season by Paris Bennett?
No, I love the song. I love the way the music plays with the vocals. I was really happy with my song choice, and the judges seemed to be happy with it too. But it's not the judges making the decisions.
So what do you think happened? Because you weren't the worst singer up there.
I don't know. It's the total package. Maybe with the target audience I wasn't a favorite. Maybe there are some other audiences that could have appreciated my talent more. But the lowest person last night got upwards of a couple of million votes, so there's definitely a fan base that appreciates my voice. There is no shame in me going home.
Any regrets that you came back for a second beating on Idol?
No, my experience last year made this all the more sweeter. I was so defeated and crushed last year, and for me to come back and have this level of success is a huge moral victory. How many people can say they reached the top 20? I'm very happy I came back.
Any insight on Sundance's weeping?
Sundance is my buddy, man. It broke my heart to look back and see him crying. I was fine and keeping my composure and when I shook the hands of my friends and saw them with tears in their eyes it was humbling. Sundance is one of the funniest people I'll ever meet. We'd go for walks together to the store or whatever and make each other laugh. You can tell he's got a great heart.
After Ryan told Jared to stand up and then said he was safe, did you think you'd also be safe after he told you to stand up?
I was like, ''Oh boy. Here we go.'' I was like, ''This is what they did with poor Amy [Krebs] in the same seat too.'' I said to A.J., ''I'm in the hot seat.'' You just try to prepare yourself. It's like you're there but you're not. I'm sure if you go back in slow motion you can see the exact moment my heart broke.
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