From past seasons of American Idol, who were your idols and how did they inspire you?
John Park: My favourite Idol winner was Kelly Clarkson and I just vividly remember her finale show when she sang “A Moment Like This,” and she was crying onstage. It was just an incredible moment for me when I was a kid.
What is your most memorable experience from the show?
JP: Most memorable is just meeting the other contestants and really becoming good friends and also working with Rickey Minor and the band. I mean, just working with the top of the top crew and band and coaches. It was just incredible, just the whole, just meeting new people and meeting incredible people.
Adding to your previous answer, who are one or two folks that you really clicked with and who you plan on keeping in touch with after all this?
JP: I want to keep in touch with a lot of people, but Tyler Grady, who was eliminated last week is someone that I continue to keep in touch with. Also, Casey James, who is currently in the show, and Lee Dewyze, who is also from Chicago so we’ll be keeping in touch, also.
Simon made his comment that your band was going to get its lead singer back, and I thought that it was unnecessary. There’s a difference between giving feedback and criticism and then just being downright mean.
JP: Well, he is basically saying that I might go home. He, of course, dramatizes so that people at home watch it and they can get a kick out of it. I don’t really mind it because I understand where he’s coming from. That’s just how he is on TV and after the elimination happened and I sang my last song, he came up to me and he shook my hand and he said good job for coming this far. And so he’s not that mean a guy actually.
There was a lot of talk of you as being one of the favourites early on and in Hollywood Week. What do you think happened when you reached the Top 24? Do you think it was song choice, nerves? What do you think happened?
JP: Yes, song choice and nerves. I definitely got distracted by the cameras and the fact that the judges were going to criticize me in front of 30 million people. I think that kind of took away from my concentration on just singing the song honestly and I couldn’t do my best to interpret the song my own way.
What are your plans now?
JP: I’m going to head back to Chicago and see what kind of open doors there will be for me. I’ll probably go back to school this upcoming quarter, which is happening in about two weeks. So I’ll just take some time off to decompress. Everything is really up in the air. I want to finish school at some point and pursue music.
What was the nicest and meanest thing that any of the judges said to you?
JP: Let’s see. The meanest thing was Simon said that I was going to go home and it came true. But that was as blunt as it could get. All the judges said nice things to me like that I had a great voice. That was just really nice. And after I got eliminated how they told me that I sounded great, that I should be doing this for the rest of my life, and that I do have talent.
At what point in the competition do you say to yourself “All right, John, I’ve made it far enough. I’ll still be happy even if I go home this week”?
JP: I thought that many times really. Because I’m usually pretty laid back and I usually have a positive outlook on general things. Even during Hollywood week after the group audition, I thought I was going to go home because our audition was a train wreck and I told myself, “Even if I go home today, I’m going to come out such a stronger person as a better performer, just more confident in general.”
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American Idol airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV/Fox
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