Matt Giraud: 'I'm Willing to Pay My Dues'

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Now that we've gotten to the bottom of that, we can talk about Ryan making Adam choose between the two groups last night. What was going through your mind? Come to my side! Come to my side!
MATT GIRAUD: I really didn't care what side he was gonna come on. If I was him, though, I probably would have sat down. I would have pulled an Archuleta and not said anything. But Adam was just being real. He'll tell you what he thinks. He's not afraid of hurtin' you. Our feelings weren't hurt. Kris and I joked about it with him. ''Why didn't you pick us, dude?''

You Final Five really did seem genuinely close. How did that happen?
We're all really different, and we could all do things that the other ones couldn't do. I genuinely think that none of us thought that we were better than any of the others. Obviously some people were aware of how popular they were. [Laughs] But I don't think we went around thinking we were better than anyone. We respected each other.

Do you feel like the judges pimped out certain contestants more than others?
It might seem like that, but you know, the judges like who they like. It seemed like they liked Adam a lot or Danny a lot every time, and I was like, Man, I wish I could get like that. I wish I could just come out there every week and they'd just love me. But I'm satisfied with my little rollercoaster, 'cause every time I would have a bad one, I'd try to come back real big.

Are you planning on moving to Los Angeles now?
It all depends on what kind of opportunities I have. I don't think there's much left for me in Kalamazoo except family and friends. In terms of musical career, there's not much left there. If there are some bands that would maybe like me to open for them, I would be out here in a heartbeat. I'm willing to pay my dues in the industry.

Who would you like to hook up with?
I'd love to open for Gavin DeGraw or the Fray, go on the road. That would be a dream come true.

And is that the kind of music you still envision putting on an album?
That kind of music, but with a jazzy twist.

What can we expect to see from you on the Idol tour? Will you and Scott [MacIntyre] be doing dueling pianos?
Well, if Scott wants to do some dueling pianos. I think I might do ''Georgia On My Mind.'' I'm just now trying to think about what I want to do. All I know is I want to see a piano come out of the stage with smoke. [Laughs]