by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night on The Glee Project, McKynleigh found herself in the bottom three for not opening up enough and performing fully in front of the cameras. Up against Alex and Matheus, her name was not on the callback list and she was eliminated from the competition. Today, we caught up with the talented singer in an exclusive interview about her time on The Glee Project.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your performance experience prior to The Glee Project?
A. McKynleigh: I was in my first talent contest when I was 3 years old. It was a rapping contest. I've been performing for about 16 years.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for the show? Were you a big fan of Glee?
A. McKynleigh: Yeah, I was a huge fan of Glee. I actually found out abou the audition from one of my friends in my theater class. She was like, "You're trying out for The Glee Project next weekend." I was just planning on driving her and then, I decided to audition. It just went from there.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: The mentors and Ryan [Murphy] kept saying that they felt like they needed you to break out of your shell. What was going on with you internally?
A. McKynleigh: It was a weird feeling because, all my life, I've performed and been told that I have a lot of personality. I was told that I have that connection. I've done a lot of talent competitions. I was told the opposite of what they told me. It was like a weird inner monologue that was like, "What's wrong with me now? What's changed?" I was wondering if these people that told me things while competing were completely out of it. I understood it towards the end. The connection with the camera was what I wasn't getting. I had been doing stage stuff so it makes complete and total sense. It was unfortunate and like I said on the show last night, maybe it's going to take me a little longer to get what they want me to get.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Which challenge was the hardest for you?
A. McKynleigh: I would think that the biggest challenge was last night's - Dance Ability. I wouldn't consider myself the best dancer but I can pick up choreography pretty quickly. I'm trained in a lot of different styles so I can pick it up and get it. Like Zach said, I have the dance stuff. I knew how to do it but I wasn't emoting the character that I needed to portray. I am not a hip hop, rapper person. Nobody was on the show. I tried not to be like that because that's not what I want to be or what I want to do. Being put into a rap, I was like, "I can't do this. This is ridiculous. I'm going to fail miserably." I think I had already defeated myself. I think that was the most difficult thing.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you feel like "Last Name" was a song that gave you the ability to showcase your talents to the best of their abilities?
A. McKynleigh: I think so. The last time I was in the bottom three, I had "Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin. Apparently, Faith Hill had covered it. I had never heard the country version of it. The whole time I was there, I wanted them to give me a country song so that I could show them that this is what I do. Country is what I do. Lindsay has Broadway, Alex has R&B, Sam has rock, and I have my country. When they gave me "Last Name", I was on top of the moon. That was the type of the song that I wanted and to show them why I was there.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you feeling like it might be you that would leave?
A. McKynleigh: When I found out who was in the bottom three with me, Alex and Matheus... I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but I think that is the toughest bottom three that there has been. I knew all three of us were going to bring it and we had really good choices for our songs. I was kind of in the mindset that, "I'm going to go out there and sing my best. If I don't get to stay, at least I know I have a song that I can give it my all with." I just kind of made peace with the fact that it was an opportunity that slipped through my fingers but at least I got the experience.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What has the fan reaction been like? Do you get recognized?
A. McKynleigh: I have been recognized from being on the show and it's so weird! Everytime somebody comes up to me and asks if they can take a picture with me or get an autograph, I wanna be like, "I'm not that big of a deal!" It's weird! I get recognized a lot. I'm on vacation right now and I got recognized two days ago in a beach shop. It's a dream come true. It's all kind of surreal.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's next for you?
A. McKynleigh: Right now, I'm transferring to Northern Kentucky University and going into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program for Musical Theater. I'm going there next month. Right now, I'm focusing on school and getting my degree. We'll see what unfolds from this. I'm not going to stop performing and fall off the map.

 

The Glee Project airs Sundays at 9/8c on Oxygen.

 

(Image courtesy of Oxygen)

 

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