Source: USA TODAY
Sure, Angie Miller was shocked when she got eliminated from American Idol Thursday.
But the biggest surprise of the night? Learning Randy Jackson was leaving the show, too.
“I didn’t find out till press later that night,” says the 19-year-old third-place-finisher from Beverly, Mass.. “I didn’t hear a word about it until after the show.”
Miller could have a few more surprises up her sleeve as she moves into the next phase of her career. She hopes to sing an original song on this summer’s American Idols Live tour, and the girl who was known for her earnest piano performances doesn’t rule out an element of the hard-rock music she loves finding its way into the album she plans to make.
“My brother’s in a hardcore band,” says Miller, adding that she grew up with metal and screamo as part of her listening mix. “I think that’s why I like an edge to things. I also like the sound of a real band.”
Miller says her former roommate, country singer Kree Harrison, has a hidden musical side, as well. “Kree is secretly into rap music,” she says. “It’s the funniest thing ever.”
Miller ended her run on Idol with a teary farewell performance of Colton Dixon’s Never Gone. Her first cover of the song came even before Idol, after she saw Dixon perform it on last summer Idols Live tour then posted her own YouTube cover.
“I listened to it in my room, and I wanted to make a cover of it,” she says. “I learned it, and then he commented on it. I started talking to him, his band and some of his friends. They had no idea I was trying out for Idol. Then it just happened, and that was the connection.”
Miller says Dixon and his friends have offered to show her around Nashville — perhaps when this year’s Idols Live tour ends there August 31.
“They offered that a while ago, just to say, ‘Hey, if you’re ever in the area, we’ll hang out with you and show you around,’” she says. “I would love to see them and meet them there.”
Miller says she hasn’t decided where she’ll settle long term, though. “I want to be wherever is best for my music career. I want to get signed and have an album. I just want to be wherever is best for that, to make my music and get it out as fast as possible.
“I’ve heard different people saying, ‘Come to Nashville!’ and ‘Come to L.A.!’ I guess we’ll see.”
Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.