Source: USA TODAY
As Angie Miller walked off the American Idol stage Thursday night, her mind was already focused on her future.
“My first initial thought was, ‘Okay, I got voted off. What’s next? What’s the future going to hold?” says the 19-year-old from Beverly, Mass., whose exit Thursday paved the way for next week’s showdown between Candice Glover and Kree Harrison.
During a conference call with reporters Friday, Miller admitted she found her elimination “definitely shocking,” saying she felt confident in her performances on Wednesday. “I was hoping and dreaming to be a part of that finale,” she said.
However, Miller felt she and Harrison, her roommate during the show, would be fighting for the same spot after Glover’s performances. “Candice killed it,” she says. “She did amazing. I knew she was going to be in the finale, obviously. So, yeah, I think it was between me and Kree. Which was terrible, because she’s my best friend in the competition. It stunk that we had to leave each other.”
Miller said that, while she was on Idol, several family members and friends got tattoos of the singer’s motto — Dream Big — to show support for her. “It’s the most random thing,” she says, “but it means so much, because it’s so permanent and so real.”
Miller also said she hopes to sing original music during the upcoming American Idols Live tour and considered doing another song during her Idol run, adding, “The show isn’t over — you’ve still got to watch the finale!”
On the judges’ fondness for her performances at the piano: “Honestly, at first, it was upsetting. I felt like they thought I was only good when I was playing the piano. I was like, ‘I promise you I can be just as good without it!’ I feel like I had to work to prove that to them.”
On the kind of music she hopes to make: “I’m not going to go into the Christian genre, I’m not going to go into pop. I want to have music that has meaning and is real. … I don’t want to have dance-party music, but at the same time, I don’t want to put people to sleep. i want to incorporate the soulful piano sound with a lot of edge. … I know the message that I want to send out, and I know the music I want to do. I can’t wait to show it to people.”
On Kree Harrison: “Me and Kree have been roommates since Top 20. … I can’t imagine going through this competition without her. It was weird, waking up this morning without her, now that she’s not my roommate anymore. … Kree’s like a mom, she really is. And she never thinks about herself.
On Candice Glover: “Candice is just the funnest person to be around. I wish America could just sit in a room and talk with her for five minutes, because they’d understand how hysterical she is.”
Her favorite Idol moment: “My favorite moment ever on Idol is still in Hollywood Week when I was able to do my original, You Set Me Free. … I feel like that was the moment it really started for me. I was able to show America who I was as an artist, as a songwriter. That’s when everything changed.”
On the prospect of Idol without judge Randy Jackson: “He’s been a huge part of the show. I feel so blessed to have been on a year with him, to be a part of his journey. I’m grateful that he was a part of mine. … It’ll definitely be weird without him. He’s the only one who’s been here forever.”
Who she’d pick as a judge for next season: “It would be so cool if someone who had been on American Idol came on as a judge. That would be fantastic.”
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