by Gina Scarpa

 

Jackie Tohn didn't have an issue writing hooks that were well received on Platinum Hit but found herself in the bottom group three out of six songwriting challenges. Last night was the last time she'd be there, as the judges ripped her apart for her country song and Scotty escaped elimination. Today, we talked to Jackie in an exclusive interview about her experiences on Platinum Hit and what's coming up next for this songwriter.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: After American Idol, where were you at in terms of doing more reality television?
A. Jackie: After Idol, I didn't have an opinion one way or the other. It was a great experience with great exposure. It got me touring and I never really thought about reality tv. Platinum Hit came along and it was like, "Wait a minute, songwriting competition?" On Idol, I was a fish out of water. I like to sing but I'm a singer/songwriter. Part of what I'm offering, or 50% of what I'm offering, is songwriting. On this show, I was able to do what I wanted to do.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Which songwriters in the competition stood out to you?
A. Jackie: Johnny was probably my favorite style of songwriter. He's the one that stood out. Jes is a good songwriter and we've been good friends for years and years.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Oh, that's cool. It must've been nice to have her there.
A. Jackie: It was really every man for himself, though. It was interesting. We were only on the same team once and she had Johnny.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you surprised at any of the things said about you when you watched the episodes back?
A. Jackie: No, not especially surprised. There are certain people, who shall remain nameless, who are mean and try to make up for their lack of ability with a big mouth. So was I surprised that Nick said those things? No.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You did very well in most of the hook writing challenges. How difficult was it to write under such time constraints and with a set theme in mind?
A. Jackie: To write a hook in 30 minutes is fine. I've done that before for fun. For me, that wasn't the stress. The stress for me was once you write a hook... one second ago, your hook was better than nine people. You don't get to celebrate for very long. You're like, "Yay! ... Oh crap."

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: If you could've done this week's challenge over, would you have gone R&B instead of country?

A. Jackie: Yeah definitely. The R&B mistake was based on who my teammates were. You have ten seconds and Scotty said to do country and I was like, "Okay."

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think it was fair that you were eliminated instead of Scotty? You said repeatedly that he was too into the music to contribute to the lyrics, which is the most important part of a country song.
A. Jackie: Yes! He was working more on the music, country was his idea, it was his idea for me to sing with a twang. I'm a strong woman and I could've said no but there are things that I did say no to. I had to concede on some things.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you feel being on the show helped your musical career?
A. Jackie: Sure, absolutely! I think if I wrote a hit and sent it to Keith Naftaly, he would listen and be excited to do so. Getting your name out there... I did really well the year after Idol, then had a slow year, and now it's picking back up again. It's interesting to watch the ebb and flow.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's next for you?
A. Jackie: I have an album out on iTunes, called 2.Yo, and I'm really excited about that. I'm going to make a new record in 2012. I'm gonna do a really cool, live stage show. I'm most comfortable on stage. I just wanna encourage people to go to my website and check me out all on my various social networking sites.

 

 

Platinum Hit airs Fridays at 8/7c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

 

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