For those missing Elise Testone already, here are some final thoughts from the woman who will finish sixth in this 11th season of “American Idol.” Testone talks about her experience, getting eliminated, the judges and any regrets.
Elise Testone finishes 6th on American Idol.
When did you audition for Idol before?
I did audition one time when I was younger (24) and that didn’t work out. I always felt I wanted to be ready for the responsibility of the fame and kind of learned those life lessons. You know, just knew who I was more before throwing myself into the hands of others.
During that time, I was getting a lot of pressure from my friends and family. I had so much pressure. I was like “Alright I’ll do it.” But I just went in there with the wrong attitude like I’m going to do it my way and if I don’t make it, it wasn’t meant to be. I just felt like I wasn’t’ ready for something like that. And I wasn’t into it at the time.
Do you have a theory on why you didn’t seem to connect with the viewers?
Well I think the huge, majority of voting really comes from middle America so if I can’t win them over, it’s just kind of like not going to happen, you know. But that’s just a theory. I really don’t know. I felt like I was honest and sang with my heart and passion and that’s the best I can do so.
You don’t think it was a younger demographic possibly?
I mean that could be true, but I don’t know, I feel like I still connect with [the younger audience.] Maybe that’s wrong, but as a teacher, I had a lot of yougners students and I felt probably closer to them than people my age. But Id on’t if they saw that, given the little time they could see me there.
What great piece of advice did you get on the show?
Being reminded of really catching the essence of the song and being in the moment of the song, and that’s something I know but you always need to be reminded of that. I did kind of let that slip away sometimes thinking about pleasing people and thinking about being judged and trying to fit in some sort of line when really I’m kind of a singer who sings outside of the lines.
Were you surprised to be eliminated? Or did you somewhat see it coming beforehand?
I was a little bit surprised because in my heart I didn’t feel like it was time to go, but it wasn’t a total shock, because I’ve been in the Bottom Three that many times, it’s kind of inevitable it was going to happen sometime. I guess I just felt sort of like a fighter and that I was going to push through.
Did the judges comments help you in the end or wear on your confidence overtime?
Some stuff they said was really great, but sometimes I didn’t agree with. I think that’s what was frustrating about it. People are getting to know me and this was their first impression of me and I felt like sometimes their criticism didn’t line up or was discrediting to the things I have achieved and worked hard to achieve. That was hard. I’m confident in myself and that’s why I did speak up sometimes b/c I believe in certain things and I don’t want to just keep my mouth shut and smile, you know what I mean? I was never trying to be rude or argumentative, it was just honesty.
Is there anything you would have done differently during the competition, if you had the change to go back? Would you change anything?
I’ve been saying that I wouldn’t, and I believe that, but just earlier [Friday] I was thinking I would’ve sang “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston, because then right off the bat, it would’ve been a better first impression for America, I guess that’s the true answer. But, also maybe doing that [other] song helped me in some sort of weird way. Who knows? You don’t really want to mess with what happened, because you never know how it would have affected you or changed you.
Was there any week in particular you felt was the hardest for you?
The second week, Whitney Houston week was probably the hardest. It was still sort of the first impression. I felt like I was misunderstood or taken the wrong way, and I didn’t like that. Being misunderstood is probably the worst feeling that I ever have.