ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You said you weren't surprised to be leaving earlier, but you said last night that you were planning to have fun from here on out...
CARLY SMITHSON: I didn't necessarily mean on the show. I just meant life in general, in every performance that I ever do from now on. Whether I'm on the show or not, I'm going to stay true to who I am, and just do music I really enjoy. I've always said that Heart has influenced me hugely. They are one of my favorite bands. I think their music is killer. That kind of pop-rock vibe, and just hitting those power ballads and stuff like that, it's just all who I am. I listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd all day, and I drive a truck. I'm hardly going to go out and give a pop performance. That's just not who I am. I always have a little bit of an edge to what I do.

That's pretty clear based on your performances throughout the show.
''Here You Come Again,'' the original — Dolly Parton is the most fun-spirited person that I've ever come across. She's amazing. But for me, I prefer to strip it down to a guitar just to give it a little bit more of an edge. Make it a little bit more me.

After Ryan told Jason he was safe last night, what did Jason say to you?
I don't remember. It was probably something very Jason Castro to say. He's so funny. He comes out with the most bizarre things. He's really come out of his shell as well. He was very shy before. We all were, and the last few weeks we've kind of loosened up a bit and realized how fun this all is. But he says the strangest things at the strangest moments, and it's great. I think he truly believed he was in the bottom two, which was funny. Oh, I know what he was saying. He didn't want to sing his song again, because I don't think he remembered the words.

Ha! Well, at least he wouldn't have been the only one. What were you talking about with Ryan when Syesha was performing her possible exit performance?
Ryan was asking about me and Syesha being roommates and that we'd picked the most up-tempo songs of the night, and it was funny that both of us ended up in the bottom two.

What were you going to sing next week?
I wanted to do ''Sweet Caroline,'' and I wanted to do it with a cello and a piano.

Interesting! Too bad we won't be able to see it. What's next for you after the Idol tour?
Making a record. Being creative, writing songs, making a career for myself.

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