by Gina Scarpa

 

This week, on American Idol, Paige Miles, Tim Urban, and Lacey Brown found themselves in the bottom three following their Tuesday night performances, which featured songs by The Rolling Stones. Seacrest sent Tim to safety, then let Lacey know it was the end of the road for her. The look on her face was not surprise but certainly a sadness that her time on Idol has ended. Lacey spoke to RealityWanted and reporters in a press conference call about the feeling she had Wednesday morning, conflicting advice from the judges, and what made her come back to American Idol after getting cut in season 8.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: After you didn't make it to the Top 36 last season, what made you want to come back?
A. Lacey: I'm one of those people who gets very competitive. I decided it's way too fun of an experience to not try again. Everything about this has been such a blast for me. So I just decided, I'm going to do it twice.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You reacted really well to the news last night and looked like you were at peace with the decision. Is that what you were feeling?
A. Lacey: I woke up (Wednesday morning) and had the strangest feeling I was going home. I hadn't been tipped off by anything, hadn't read anything, but I talked to a few of the other contestants and said, "Look, I'm going home," and they were like, "You're crazy. Why would you go home of all people?" They were really supportive and sweet, but something about it was off, so it wasn't that I made peace with it, I'd just gotten used to it.

 

 

Q. You said you came back this season because you had some things to work on. What were some of those things?
A. Lacey: There were a couple technical issues with my voice. Because it's different and not a lot of people sound like me, I needed to figure out what songs work with my voice. I tried out last year with a Patsy Cline song and then I tried Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi, and different things that seemed to work, but I needed to find more songs like those. Also I wanted to work on technical things like my falsetto. I think everyone should try to grow. There are big artists you hear on the radio and see on TV who have vocal coaches, so when you make it, you've still got to grow.

 

Q. Do you think you got conflicting advice from the judges? Do you think audiences got a good sense of who you are as an artist?
A. Lacey: The criticism this year has been confusing, and therefore I would change week to week, which would leave the audience questioning who I am. I'm a very different artist with a very different voice that's not suited for a lot of different genres, but I see myself doing more of a pop/folk mix as an album. I would love to do that if I get the chance. There aren't a lot of voices like mine on the radio, so I take pride in the fact that I'm a little bit unique, and I try to embrace that.

 

Q. Can you pinpoint what you think your downfall was?
A. Lacey: I would probably say energy. They kept asking for energy in my songs, and I kept trying to give it, and they kept saying it was a sleepy performance. They wanted to see more energy because I'm a happy and bubbly type of personality, and they wanted to see that transfer into my music. The issue I was having was I love to sing ballads. I love the emotion of the song. I'm very artsy and that side comes out when I sing, and I kept picking songs I loved to sing and really felt. And maybe it didn't transfer as well on stage. But I wouldn't have changed any of it because that's who I am. Not every song I sing is going to be uptempo.

 

Q. Was it harder to get further this season and get cut?
A. Lacey: Honestly, it was hard both times. They were equally hard. I will say hard is different from overwhelming. I've gotten to the top 12, and that is not a bad place to be. I'm very proud to be where I'm at.

 

Q. You said you had a feeling you were going home. Do you think that every contestant in the top 12 feels that way?
A. Lacey: I definitely don't think that. When Michael Johns got voted off (Season 7), it was a huge shock to him and a huge shock to everyone else. I think it's an individual feeling, and I can't even describe that feeling. It wasn't a downer moment. I wasn't upset. It wasn't comfortable. It wasn't bad. I wish I would have been wrong about that feeling, but I had it, and I don't think everyone does.

 

Q. Did the judges say anything to you after your elimination?
A.Lacey: All the judges came up afterward. I think they genuinely care about the contestants. Sometimes it's hard to hear their critiques, but they're there to help you. It's a fine line between taking what they say personally and taking what they say to fix yourself. When they came up afterward, they had nothing but nice things to say, like it's just another step into your career, you have great vocals, you're very unique. They want to see us succeed and they don't want us to feel like all hope is lost, because it's not. This is a great opportunity to jump-start my career.

 

Q. Some of the contestants in previous weeks say they didn't expect to go home and even expected other people to go home. Were there some factions in the top 12?
A. Lacey: Not at all. There's two different approaches you can take to being voted off. You can be happy with the situation and make the most of it, which is the route I'm trying to take. Someone's got to go home every week, and if it's you, then it's you, and it's out of your hands.

 

Q. Who are you hoping will win?
A. Lacey: That's a hard question because I'm a little too close to answer that. Every one of the contestants are unique and artists in their own right. I can see any of them winning. It's up for grabs. Someone's got to win it, so we'll see who that is.

 

 

Be sure to tune in when the Top 11 take the stage on American Idol, Tuesday at 8/7 on Fox.

 

(Image courtesy of Fox)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more American Idol links, visit SirLinksALot.net