Exit Interview: Amy Davis
It was a technical issue that caused the subpar performance that led to Amy Davis' swift American Idol elimination. That's what Amy Davis says and since I didn't exactly understand her during her exit interview with the press, I'll let her speak for herself.
"I do not regret my song choice," she says of her rendition of "Where the Boys Are." "It's really a technical issue on just my part, of why it was a bad performance. There was nothing I could do about that, I did the best I could, and it was just a fact of me not being able to hear myself. It's not an American Idol issue or a sound issue on their part, it's the way my brain works, I've been using in-ear monitors for the last two years, consistently. And so the way my brain works is very mechanical, it's not very creative and go with the flow like a lot of musicians work. And my brain is just trained to use the in-ear monitors that just blares my vocal in my ear, so I can stay on pitch.
She continues, "Obviously, when I came to American Idol I knew I wasn't going to be able to use my in-ears, so I tried to retrain my ears to use the floor monitors and I know that[s very technical, but that's the way I am, a very technical person, and I just could not retrain my ears quick enough to stay on key. So it was my bad skills that I couldn't improve quickly enough."
So there you are. If you understood that.
Davis says she wasn't one of the female contestants laid low by a flu bug this past week, but that even without illness, being on the most popular talent show in the land is still an exhausting process.
"I can't tell you how much it takes out of you, on every level, like you said, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually," she says. "I mean every level you're working so hard and getting so much for just a great amount of the time, with very little down time to recoup. So it does take a lot of you, but American Idol is so huge, it's the biggest platform for a musician or a performer that you've got to give every ounce of energy you've got, to get something in return. So it's a wonderful opportunity, but yes, it absolutely takes a toll on you."
Other highlights from Davis' exit interview with the press:
On the most surprising part of being an American Idol contestant: Honestly, the most surprising part for me was to see celebrities. I'm from Indiana, I'm just outside of Chicago, but I am on the Indiana side and you just don't see a lot of celebrities in Indiana. And to come out here to Hollywood, I remember I saw Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton and I was just completely star struck. I think Patricia even looked at me a couple of times, because the first time she actually had eye contact with me I was looking at her like, whoa there's Patricia Heaton, I'm seeing her in person, normally I watch her on Everybody Loves Raymond. So that was surprising how star struck I was.
On what she learned from Idol: One of the things I learned was how a huge television show is put together, got to see all the behind the scenes of the people that do the work, the stage guys, the sounds guys, publicity, legal all of that, I got a really good introduction and crash course into what it takes to put on a huge TV show. And there are some many people involved and it's magical seeing all of these people, such a huge team of people working together, as a team, to make it happen. And I just have so much respect for them. It was just a really cool thing. Sort of like when you were a kid watching Mr. Rogers and he'd go into a manufacturing plant to show you the behind the scenes of how something was made. That's kind of how I felt watching all the people create American Idol.
On her advice for future Idol contestants: Advice for the next top 24 is to just, number one, stay true to who you are, of course; you've always got to do that. But number two, just pay attention to everything that is going on around you, try to take as much of it in, take notes. Just try to stay grounded so that you can take as much as you can from the show, when you ultimately leave, whether it's as the second place contestant or as the next American Idol.
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