Alexis Grace: 'It Just Wasn't My Night'

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How do you feel about the whole ''sing for your life'' challenge? Is it unnecessarily cruel for the judges to dangle their save in front of you, then not give it to you?
ALEXIS GRACE: Um...I mean, it was hard, but I'm a tough girl and I can take it. It would have been nice for them to give me the save, but I think maybe it's too early in the game. I think maybe they were trying to save it for later. Maybe if it were another couple weeks down the road, maybe they would have saved me. You know, everything happens for a reason.

Were you nervous performing on Wednesday night?
I was nervous and I don't get nervous. I think I knew something wrong was gonna happen. I got really nervous. I think it was just because I wanted it so bad.

And to suddenly find yourself in that position...
I know you should do positive thinking, but all day, I was envisioning myself singing for my life. I envisioned it all day long. And it happened.

Had you looked at any of the online predictions or anything?
No, I didn't do that at all. I just sensed that it was going to be me.

Okay, let's talk about Kara's obsession with your ''dirtying'' yourself up. Did that ever bother you?
It never bothered me because I actually like to do that. It's fun. It's, like, my stage persona, I guess. Like an alter ego. The only thing is, when I sang ''Jolene,'' maybe it kind of confused viewers about who I was, because it's totally different from ''Dirty Diana.'' But I was just trying to show variety. But I like it. I really think it helped me stand out in the competition. It really helped me with my confidence.

Her telling you to dirty yourself up?
Yeah. I mean, the terminology's kind of funny. And a lot of people probably don't like it, but I get it. [Laughs]

So you never felt like, ''Hey, lay off. Can't I just be me?''
The thing is, it kind of is me. Well, sort of — like half and half. I'm half the dirty, half the sweet. So you put them together and that's me. I just rhymed. Wow. [Laughs]

So next week is Motown week, which seems like it would have suited you great. Do you have thoughts about what you would have done?
Probably an upbeat song, something really fun with that Motown sound in there to really bring out the soul in my voice. It would have been a really fun week for me, definitely. I think I probably would have made it through, maybe — you know, unless I just completely sucked. I love Motown.

Do you have favorites left in the competition?
I like everybody's voice. I think everybody's bangin' and dope. There are a lot of guys this year. I mean, there are [only] three girls now. I want my girls to stay around for a little while. It would be really nice to see them stick around, do one for the ladies.

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Jorge Nuñez: The EW American Idol exit Q&A

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