Elise Testone's Cocky American Idol Exit
"American Idol" singer Elise Testone, who was recently booted off the show, has said on Friday that she was proud of her performances on the show, despite her not receiving enough of the support of the show's audience to stay in the competition.
Testone, 28, was the oldest of the remaining contestants, and she stated that she had hoped she would make it through to the next round. Following her exit she said, "I was a little bit surprised because in my heart I didn't feel it was time for me to go. But it wasn't a total shock because being in the bottom three that many times it was inevitable it would happen sometime. But I guess I just felt like a fighter and that I was going to push through."
Her final performances were criticized by the Idol judges, who did not appreciate her renditions of Queen's "I Want It All," nor her showing of Jimi Hendrix's "Bold as Love."
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"I think the majority of voting comes from middle America so if I can't win them over it's not going to happen. I felt if I was honest and sung from my heart and my passion, that was the best I could do," Testone said.
"Those were the best choices for me, but probably the majority of people at home want to be able to sing along," she added.
"I felt like sometimes the criticism didn't line up, or it was discrediting the things I have achieved...so that was hard.
"I am confident in myself, and that's why I did speak up sometimes because I believe in certain things and I don't want to just keep my mouth shut and smile. I never was trying to be rude or argumentative. It was just honesty."
There are now only five remaining contestants in this season's American Idol; Hollie Cavanagh, Skylar Laine, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez.
SEE VIDEO OF ELISE TESTONE ON HER AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATION
SEE VIDEO OF ELISE TESTONE'S LAST PERFORMANCE "I WANT IT ALL"
