It took 90 seconds for LaKisha Jones to go from briefly spotted audition round afterthought to suddenly hot American Idol favorite. It was Feb .  21, the second night of Idol 24 performances and LaKisha Jones' version of "I Am Telling You" moved Paula Abdul to even more tears than usual and had Simon Cowell briefly suggesting that this season's competition might be over.

On Wednesday (May 9) night, less than three months later, the competition was over for Jones, a 27-year-old belter with a gospel edge. She'd survived Latin Night and Bon Jovi Night, but the music of the Bee Gees did her in. Talking to reporters the next day, Jones admits that starting off so strong may ultimately have contributed to her demise.

"It did ,  because I believe that everybody wanted that 'I Am Telling You' moment every week," she explains.  " When you're singing different genres of music, and because it's such a different style of music, those styles don't necessarily have that big song that everybody is expecting every week. I think I did the best with what I was given, and I went out there every week and I gave it my all."

That first big night came just days before Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar, buoyed by her own strong rendition of "I Am Telling You" in the feature version of Dreamgirls. But Jones wasn't done visiting the ghosts of Idol past. For Country Night, she sang "Jesus Take the Wheel," a hit for Season Four winner Carrie Underwood and the night before Idol Gives Back, she was inspired by Fantasia's coronation song, "I Believe." Asked what her thought process was in singing songs made recognizable by two previous American Idol winners, Jones' answer is simple and difficult to argue with.

"I was thinking that they were two winners," she says.

You might think that Jones would be disappointed at going so far in the competition and ending up in fourth place, just short of the ultimate prize. Again, her answer is simple and difficult to argue with.

"The only thing I can say is look at Chris Daughtry," she laughs.

Other highlights from LaKisha's Idol exit interview:

On kissing Simon Cowell: "His lips were really soft and thin."

On soldiering through vocal difficulties to perform on Tuesday: I knew on Tuesday, I'm hoarse right now. I was hoarse on Tuesday, and I tried to sing past my hoarseness and give it my all. Of course, with American Idol, you can't say, 'My voice is jacked up and I can’t sing this week.' You can't say that, so you have to just do what you've got to do. I kind of knew last night, that those weren't the best songs, but I did the best with what I was given."

On her relationship with Sanjaya Malakar: "Man, Sanjaya was like a little brother that got on your nerves all of the time. He'd be jumping all over the place, and he has this energy. And I could be like having a moment and he’s jumping all over the place. I'm like, 'Sit down somewhere.' But I appreciate the fact that he trusted my judgment, he took my advice, and that he was also there for me when I needed him."

On her young daughter's reaction to her ouster: "Oh my gosh, she's happy. She's four now. I was crying last night.  She wiped my face and said, 'Mommy, I’m not mad.' I just thought that was really cute. It was almost as though she was telling me, 'You know what, I'm proud of you. I'm not mad.' So it works for me."

On the first thing she plans to do with her first big paycheck: "A new home for me and my daughter. I don't ever want to rent again.  I want to have a home. It don't even have to have anything in it.  I just can't wait to get the keys and open the door and let my baby run through the house."

Comments

I STILL CANT BELIEVE BLAKE BEAT LAKISHA SHE'S SO MUCH BETTER THEN HIM,HE MUST HAVE ALOT OF FRIENDS VOTING HE BETTER GET VOTED OFF NEXT WEEK

Erin SPODEN | May 12, 2007 9:12:30 PM | #

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I always found Lakisha to be over rated. She had a lot of potiental but "peeked" in week three. I still believe had Simon not kissed her last week, she would have went home with Chris, and not Phil.

As far as the arguement between her and Blake... well I think its trivial. Neither one are in Jordin/Melina's league.

SoCalKris | May 13, 2007 4:17:38 PM | #

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Ithink Lakisha needs to be herself and stop tryingto be
fantasia.she needs to stop messing up jennifer hudson and jennifer holiday song.
because she can't sing like
they can.all she does is holler!

classyy52 | May 14, 2007 9:41:16 AM | #

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she and melinda deserved to win they both got the boot though

lakisha fan | May 18, 2007 10:39:28 AM | #

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