Interviews with Season 7 American Idol finalists

I was fortunate to time the American Idol tour in Detroit, Michigan with a visit home to Ann Arbor. Luck was on my side, as an opportunity for an interview prior to the show was arranged. My good luck continued as the five Idols sent out for interviewing included my favorite Jason Castro!
After meeting at the media access door, we followed our contact to the exclusive Olympia Room, where we were seated in private booths. It felt like I was meeting all of them individually for lunch, except that we were under time constraints of about five – ten minutes apiece. I like to have long lunches, so it was hard to cut short what I wanted to unfold slowly.
The Idols rotated from booth to booth, while the media representative stood watch, making sure rules were being followed (no autographs, no photos and no singing) and to move them along so that everyone could have a chance to interview all of them. Because there were so many reporters, the time was shortened so I missed David Cook. He did not make it to three of us, which was a little disappointing but I heard him do a radio spot for a local radio station two booths over.

Syesha Mercado
Syesha sat at my booth first. She had on large gold earrings, hair loose and to the side, dressed in a yellow top. First impressions: she is very striking and self-confident; I asked her if she was surprised about the standing ovations and rave reviews for her performances of Beyonce’s Listen. “No. I’m not being cocky when I say that; I put my whole heart and soul into the song, I think I connect with the audience and make them feel it.”
I told her I had One Rock and Roll Too Many on my ipod; my favorite performance of hers, which I thought was her turning point on the show. The note she hit in the line “ringing the bell” was my favorite part, her tone pure and beautiful – when I told her that, she sang it (I did not ask her!) and she hit it again! Her voice reminds me of a songbird. Simply amazing!

Fashion tidbits: She likes open-toed shoes but hailing from Florida, she is the most comfortable in flip-flops. Favorite purse: A gold 9 West bag.

Jason Castro
Jason was introduced next. Wearing manpris, blue T-shirt, cream-colored boat shoes and trademark dreads, he slid into the booth. I told him I had already met him and his girlfriend Mandy in May at the Red Bar in Grayton Beach, Florida. I had been wondering what he had for dinner that night, he said it was the Manicotti. Mandy went back to the Red Bar for dinner a few days ago, I am sure with more privacy than when they ate there together. He said that in LA, celebrities are commonplace; no one thinks much of seeing them out at dinner. When he was in Grayton Beach, it was the first dinner out in public since leaving American Idol. He was surprised at how many people wanted to meet him – it was crazy - the line of people was quite long! I told him my husband had gotten a great picture of him there and that he liked his peace charm that was in his dreadlocks. I asked him if it was still there – he looked down and searched through his dreads (this was so cute as he inspected each one), yep, it was still there! The dreads looked blonder than when I saw them last.
I asked if Mandy was still in Destin and he said she was leaving on Friday to go home and then will meet him in New York while the tour is there. He said the tour was hard on relationships and that he felt lonely sometimes.
Perking up when I said I loved Hallelujah, I asked if he would sing it during tour. Jason said he was recording Hallelujah on Friday for an independent film being shot in Mexico, called Tierra de Tigres (Land of Tigers.) When he pronounced Tierra Tigres, he rolled his r’s and I asked him to repeat it – I was thrown off a little because of the accent he gave it. Truth be told, it was somewhat sexy!
Since my son is a fan of Jason’s and baseball, he wanted to know if Jason had met the other Jason Castro, who was drafted by the Houston Astros. He said he had not met him but had heard about him. I think he needs a jersey of his!
His faith is a big part of his life and it saw him through the American Idol experience. He said it has everything to do with where he is. “You have to give it all up; then it will come back to you bigger than before. I had not imagined all of this but fame does not give me satisfaction, my faith does and it gives me hope.” I would have liked to talk more about this with him; I could feel his passion for it but I was given the sign by the media rep for only one more question.
I asked him what venue he was most looking forward to playing in and his answer was what I expected. He said he would prefer a smaller, intimate setting with good people and good music.

Fashion tidbits: His favorite shoes are Sperry Topsiders, which he was wearing during the interview. He has had several pairs of them; he said he read on the box of a pair of Topsiders the “Ocean is the last frontier.” Describing his love for the ocean, it was apparent the words resonated with him.
The last thing he said to me was “What was your name again? Rhonda?" I’m hoping he asked so he wouldn’t forget!

Ramiele Malubay
Ramiele was the next Idol to join me in my booth. Petite and pretty, she was wearing a large camouflage sweatshirt. She has her hair cut in a very current style, which many girls are copying ala Jennifer Anniston, when she was the trendsetter of all things hair.
She is the idol who wears her heart on her sleeve; she had been shown crying on the show several times. Remarking she probably cried too much, I told her I thought it endeared her to many people. She talked about her friendship with Danny Noriega, whom she adores, and said they would be going on tour in the Philippines early next year.
Another Idol who was missing their significant other, she is looking forward to seeing her boyfriend Austin, who lives in California, when the Idols get to New York. Sounds like quite a reunion will be happening there! She answered several questions:
Favorite song: Right now, it is Right is Rain by Adele
Who would you like to open a concert for: Either Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston.
If you have 30 minutes of free time on tour, what do you do: Sleep!
Sum up the American Idol experience in 20 words or less: This is the most emotional, crazy, spiritual journey you will ever experience in your life. You find out so much about yourself.

Fashion tidbits: Her favorite shoes are her black Vans with white shoelaces.
Favorite purse: Brown leather Big Buddha!

Carly Smithson
Carly was the last in my booth for the afternoon. She is stunning in person in an Elizabeth Taylor kind of way, fair skin, blue eyes with her long dark hair loose on her shoulders. Wearing a sleeveless shirt, her tattoo was clearly visible. She had mentioned in her exit interview that she hadn’t had time to get it finished; it was still a work in progress at the interview. It made me think about her legs – why did she always wear tights? Was she hiding other tattoos?
“No, I don’t have any tattoos on my legs, I wore the tights because of my ugly knees.” I said, “I’m sure they are not ugly, everyone has parts of their body they don’t like.” She told me that she wore a skirt at the beginning of the season and after seeing her knees, the stylists told her not to wear one again. After that, she decided to wear tights to cover up her knees. She said “See, look at them,” rolling up her pant legs for me to see. “I have Murray’s knees” – now I’m not sure if that was a reference to an inherited body trait or an Irish term but I didn’t think her knees were that bad!
I told her Blackbird and Superstar were my favorite performances of hers. She said a couple of fans got blackbird tattoos in honor of her and her song. We talked about her beautiful dress she wore during her performance of Superstar. She said she loved that dress so much that when she saw it, she knew she had to have it even though it was more than the budget she was given on the show, so she paid for the difference with her own money. The dress gave her more confidence and it showed in her performance.

Fashion tidbits: Her favorite shoes were a pair of red pumps that she ended up giving to a fan who told her how much she loved them. They just happened to be the same size that the fan wore!
Favorite purse: When Carly went off American Idol, her husband Todd surprised her with a lamb purse by Gwen Stefani. She loves that purse!
She stays in touch with Amanda Overmeyer and recently talked to her. She misses Todd, who she hasn’t seen in person since July 7. All of the Idols are using the internet and webcams to stay connected, and several are making video blogs that they are posting on their myspace.

Our time was quickly up, which signaled the end of the interviews. Even though I did not get to interview David Cook, I was in the same room with him and that will have to do for now!

Rhonda Cloutier lives in Santa Rosa Beach. You can reach her at IdolBeat@gmail.com.