by Gina Scarpa

 

On the season premiere of The Glee Project, Ellis and Damian found themselves in danger after failing to stand out during the group challenge, a video shoot to Katy Perry's "Firework". Bryce rounded out the bottom three, for making unwanted suggestions to choreographer Zach Woodlee during the shoot.  Even his solid Last Chance Performance for Glee creator Ryan Murphy, casting director Robert Ulrich, and Zach couldn't save him and he was the first to be cut from the competition.  Today, Bryce spoke to RealityWanted and reporters in a press conference call about his Glee Project experience! 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I was really surprised that you were eliminated first and I was wondering if you were surprised.
A. Bryce: Thank you. I've heard that a lot and it honestly makes up for it. [Laughs] It's a huge compliment when people are surprised that you went home instead of being like, "That makes sense" I actually thought I was going to be the one that went home based on some things that happened off camera. If it hadn't been for Damian not knowing the words, which Ryan [Murphy] didn't know, it would've been a pretty easy song for him to sing. Lyrics made it difficult for him. Mine was the only song that I really had to push and stretch. After watching the episode, I thought I did a really good job. Ryan wasn't that impressed, and Zach didn't like me that much. It was seeing it on paper that was shocking. I didn't know how it was going to go down. That was a little hard to be the first to find out. I was the guinea pig. I had a great send off and it made me look good in the end.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Even thought you weren't there very long, was it a good experience for you?
A. Bryce: The experience was worth everything on a million different levels... seeing what it's like to be behind the camera, meeting the wonderful people, the cast the crew. The whole audition process was so fun. I never expected any of it. To get to feel I was picked based off of who I am is such a big compliment. I needed that lately! I really needed that. It made me look cocky and confident ont he show. I didn't choose the heartbreaker thing. We obviously didn't choose those. I get down on myself so I really needed this show. After I was done, I started writing again. I wouldn't trade it for a heartbeat.

 

Q. Robert, Zach, and Nikki seemed very supportive. What was it like to work with them?
A. Bryce: Robert is basically heaven on earth. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and sincere. He's exactly how he comes off on camera. Nikki is great, too. She's beautiful, sweet, great at what she does. She's not afraid to give you a little bit of a push to do it right. As nice as she is, she won't baby you. The same could be said for Zach. He's a very interesting, entertaining guy. He's a character himself. He could be on Glee. I don't think he liked me too much off the bat but I feel like we kind of came back around a little bit more later on.

 

Q. It seemed like you were eliminated more for your attitude than your talent. Do you regret asking to make that change?
A. Bryce: What I've heard, felt like and saw, I didn't see the attitude in what I did. I cuold see that it would be annoying to ask somebody to change something during filming. I didn't see where it looked like i was giving him grief, to say. My part would have been weird. It was different even before that. The part that you saw, me changing, wasn't even the original thing. The original thing got changed the day we were filming. What he changed it to was weird for me so I suggested another thing which was, I guess, annoying to him. Maybe he was working so much and had so much to do that anyone giving him extra work to do was frustrating. I was just that person.

 

Q. You said that you expected to be the first out. Do you think it should've been you or somebody else?
A. Bryce: Ooh, that's tough. Okay. I expected to be the first one gone. I think a lot of people thought that it was going to be somebody else. The amount of surprise... I can understand why they'd want the first person to be a shock. It should be interesting and surprising every, single week. The majority of the people I talked to were surprised that it wasn't Ellis, so yeah.

 

Q. Who did you want to win?
A. Bryce: I got really close, even though it didn't really show me being close with anybody... I was close with everyone and I was close with Matheus and Sam the most. Having said that, I think Sam has one of the best chances of winning and I think Cameron, too.

 

Q. How do you feel being on The Glee Project changed you?
A. Bryce: It was my first time ever dancing professionally or singing cover songs professionally. It was a bunch of "firsts". I really got to experience, first hand, what it was like to compete against some of the most talented people in the world. I kind of went into it on a whim. I ended up learning so much about what you need to do to get noticed and stay in a competition and what it takes to be an artist. Now, I know what those Glee kids have to do. They do not have an easy job! The dancing, the singing, the recordings, it's just a massive amount of work. I have a lot more respect and appreciation for what goes into it. I regained a lot of confidence from it and feel like, before, I wasn't sure if I was good enough. After this, I got a lot of confidence back.

 

Q. What's next for you?
A. Bryce: I've wanted to be a recording artist and songwriter. That's my main goal. That's what I wanted to do since I started music. I write my own songs, I've played in multiple bands, and now, I'm doing my own music. I feel like I'm really good at it and people keep reminding me of that because I keep getting noticed. I really want to continue writing and recording songs until somebody is smart enough to notice that I might be somebody worth signing.

 

Idina Menzel will be the guest mentor on the next episode of The Glee Project, airing Sundays at 9/8c on Oxygen.

 

(Image courtesy of Oxygen)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa