AI6: Interview with Leslie Hunt: The One that Got Away

Yardgnome · 03-05-2007, 02:55 PM

This week I was able to participate in a media conference call with eliminated contestant Leslie Hunt. She had many interesting things to say about her experience on American Idol. I have a much different opinion of her after this interview. She will definitely be missed in this competition.

I’m curious to hear why you think that maybe you were eliminated this week.

L. Hunt: I have no idea. I have speculated it could be a little bit of how I’m just not really that mainstream. I chose a couple of songs that just aren’t top of the charts, but I just don’t know because I don’t know the show very well. I just auditioned on a whim and ended up going really far. I’m not really familiar with the formula, what works and what doesn’t. I had some people helping me, but for the most part was on my own.

You and AJ ended up singing the same song and both going home. Do you think that was a bad luck song?

L. Hunt: I don’t know. It got Alaina through in L.A., but I don’t know. I know that other contestants have done it in other seasons, even so far as the same song in the same night. I guess I don’t know. It could be cursed. It could be the curse of “Feeling Good”.

You have a reference on the Idol Web site to having your life being saved in Brazil. I’m just curious if you had a near-death experience and if you could tell us about that.

L. Hunt: Yes, I had an adverse reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccination. Basically, my system started to shut down, my organs started to fail and my brain was swelling because I was getting the Yellow Fever times 30, so I definitely should have died. I’m the only person that ever survived that sort of thing, and I was in Brazil, so that was definitely like near-death. I don’t remember any of it. It pretty much changed my outlook on things, as you can imagine.

I was going to ask you one thing, but after hearing your answer to Corey’s question I’d like you to tell me a little bit about what a life-changing event that was, surviving that Yellow Fever in Brazil. How has it changed your outlook on life?

L. Hunt: I just don’t know if I would have auditioned for American Idol had I not suddenly been reminded that I am mortal. It’s easy when you’re in your early 20’s to rest on your laurels and be relying on your youth for all the time in the world. I realized that because I do have lupus and my system is very sensitive and strange that I don’t have all the time in the world. If I’m going to do something I really have to dive in. I thought, what a better way to do that than American Idol because it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s very fast, in the grand scheme of things.

You look very healthy, you seem like a robust person.

L. Hunt: Yes, I am, actually. Against all odds, I really am. I have found this mediation that is like a miracle thing. It doesn’t have any side effects and it makes me feel like a million times better. I ended up finding that way late in life. If I would have found it sooner I would have been way better off. Yes, I definitely have lupus. It’s very mild compared to some other people.

First I have to tell you that I thought you were hysterical with your whole utterly flapless thing. I thought that entire thing was funny. You’re great.

L. Hunt: Nice. I’m happy you enjoyed it.

Just going on that, you said that being at home, performing with your band, what was it like being at home and maybe a more intimate setting, performing with your own band and then moving on to American Idol, where it’s in front of a million people?

L. Hunt: I don’t even feel like it’s the same craft. I don’t even feel like they’re in the same family. It’s so, so strange to go from something so intimate where you can have an exchange with the audience members and look into their eyes and affect them on an intimate level and then having to look into this camera, into this machine and just imagine. I felt like it was so foreign to me and I might have been distracted by that to where I couldn’t perform as intimately and as emotionally as I normally do.

Do you have any regrets about the process at all?

L. Hunt: I would have liked to have had a chance to rock out a little more. To choose two really big songs, I don’t know that did me justice because I kind of had an epiphany after watching myself do “Feeling Good”. I was just like I’m white, I’m totally white. Nobody told me. This is the first I’ve heard. My roots are more like piano vocal stuff, so maybe I should go back to my roots. That was my plan for this next week, but too bad for me.

I wanted to make sure the timeline of a couple of things. When did it happen in Brazil?

L. Hunt: It happened exactly a year ago.

How long ago were you diagnosed with lupus?

L. Hunt: I was diagnosed at six-and-a-half.

You’d known it for long. It must be a very mild one.

L. Hunt: It was really bad when I was a kid. Then when I hit puberty it kind of got a little better. It got really bad again. It’s kind of come and gone. Right now it’s in this really long stretch of nothing.

The other thing I was going to ask is when they put the little signs of what you are on there, they put dog walker. … big income thing, are you strictly a dog walker and a singer or do you do some other day jobs, too?

L. Hunt: Not really, not lately. I was a student for a little while and then about a couple of years ago I started dog walking and gigging. I also worked in a grooming shop as a bather. I did that for a long time and dog walker, pet sitter, too. I do a lot of vacation care for people, sitting their dogs. I’ll have like seven dogs at my house at one time.

One other thing: you said you weren’t familiar with the show. Had you seen it at all before you auditioned or just a couple times?

L. Hunt: I saw the episode where Kelly one.

That was it?

L. Hunt: Yes.

Not a lot to go on.

L. Hunt: I bought some DVD’s.

Did you?

L. Hunt: Yes.

After you got to L.A. or after you accepted for L.A.?

L. Hunt: Right after I bought my plane ticket to go to the cattle call to go to L.A.

I wanted to start out by finding out what your plans are in the future.

L. Hunt: Well, it all depends on what comes knocking. I’m really hoping that some things will open up for me, some different opportunities. If they don’t, then I’m just going to kind of pursue what it is that I think I should be doing. This whole experience has really inspired me to write. I used to write really actively and then I kind of slowed down a little bit in the past year or so. I’m really excited to get back into it.

Would that include possibly returning to the band that you’ve been performing with around town?

L. Hunt: Our main guitarist is the backbone of that. He actually moved down to Mississippi, so that’s not going to happen, but some of that material I’ll be able to bring to a different band. I’d love to start up a new band, but I don’t know. It’s kind of daunting to start at ground zero.

Just lastly, Gina seemed quite upset with you being voted out.

L. Hunt: Yes, we’ve grown to be incredibly close. She’s been my roommate here. It’s like when you’re sleeping in the same room with someone for a whole month, we hung out a little bit back home, that’s a friendship that’s going to last a lifetime. I think that if the tables would have been turned I would have been sobbing hysterically as well. It was an even feeling between us.

Some of what you did the other night was a little different in terms of style, which I liked and I’m sure some people do, but do you think when it’s different or not as familiar with people or larger voting base, that can hurt?

L. Hunt: Yes. It was a risk that I kind of felt like I should take just because I feel better and more in my element when I’m doing things that are true to me. Why whip out the big guns later? Why wait to tell people what I’m all about until it’s too late? It’s like, wait a minute, I didn’t know she liked jazz. It was a risk I was willing to take because I thought … really big deal in this show and I was willing to set myself apart. I just I just don’t know America that well.

Just on a different topic, what do you think of having the dedications before each performance?

L. Hunt: It was really hard. They didn’t show some of the clip, but when I was actually doing that interview for that package I couldn’t even get out some words. It’s just really tough because I miss my grandpa a lot and it kind of added to the drama of the whole thing. It kind of distracted me to be able to perform. I should have dedicated it to somebody with low emotional ties.

Do you think that might have influenced viewers, how people were dedicating and the emotions?

L. Hunt: Yes, maybe. I feel like it’s definitely a theme among the girls to shed a tear or two, just to dedicate to somebody that means a lot to you. You mean like my dedication versus other people?

Yes, just in general because it seemed sometimes they’re looking beyond the singing. That’s another element of you guys that shows.

L. Hunt: Right. I don’t know. I would just hope that it would translate. My grandpa and I had a very positive relationship. He was a big role model in my life; I really looked up to him a lot. I miss him. It’s a tragedy that he passed away when he did.

You know, I realized last night that I see so little sense of humor from so many performers. You were funny several times. They showed little clips where you said funny things earlier and then your remarks about why …, nobody likes … anyway or something like that.

L. Hunt: Right.

First of all, is this typical of you? Do you have much more of a sense of humor than people realize? Is it hard to use that sense of humor in that kind of setting?

L. Hunt: Yes. I mean, that’s one of the things. My sense of humor is very much intact. I’m hugely goofy. I spend a good majority of my life laughing and making other people laugh. That actually does translate well on the stage in normal settings. In this setting I found it to be easy to get stifled. It’s easy to fit into the mold and compare yourself to other people and be like gosh, my laugh is so much louder than everybody else’s, or that was kind of off-color, I wonder if I offended this person. You never know with that sort of thing, so I don’t know.

Just one other thing. When some of these voices unleashed, like Lakisha’s voice and Melinda’s voice and that, what was your reaction? You’re sitting there, you’re competing with these people and yet all of the sudden, these huge voices.

L. Hunt: I know. I’m honored to be in the midst of them. Now I’m not, obviously, but when I was it was like those are the people that I’m going to be very happy for. I feel like that’s such a God-given talent. It thrills me that people that have that kind of gift. I can’t wait to partake in what they have to offer.

I was wondering, you were talking about how you felt honored to be in the midst of these other singers. Do you have a particular wish for one of them to win?

L. Hunt: You know, there’s just no way I could say that. I really feel pretty evenly about everybody. I know certain talents that some people have and certain little qualities that I enjoy in every single one of the performers that are still in it. I can’t really predict anything like that. I’m sorry.

As a follow-up question, it’s just seems like you have more talent than some of the contestants who are left.

L. Hunt: Thanks.

Especially Antonella.

L. Hunt: Yes. I don’t know. I guess there are certain kinds of hype that come with her. That’s not really something that I understand. It doesn’t excite me that she has pictures like that. Who doesn’t? It’s like whatever, get over it. It’s a singing competition.

As far as you’re a better singer than her in my opinion.

L. Hunt: Right. I knew getting into this that it wasn’t just about singing. I just had a feeling. I did a little research before I got involved. Even though I didn’t see any episodes, I did a little research about who was eliminated and then when. I made a point to research what their voices sounded like and their song choices and things like that. There’s really no formula. If someone has a personality, sometimes that will take them way farther than a good voice.

After the show did you have a conversation with Gina? Can you share with us a little bit about what you two talked about?

L. Hunt: You know, we didn’t get to talk right away because they basically swoop you up and take you to different places because it’s still a TV show. I basically talked with her all throughout the night. We were both pretty hysterically still into the night just because it was so surreal and you’re put through so much. She says that she’s really sad to see me go, both as a friend and as a fellow musician. We have very similar backgrounds as far as our experience in performing, so we have a mutual respect there and on a friendship level.

I know you didn’t want to predict anything, but what do you think her chances are? Do you have a sense that she’s in for the long haul here?

L. Hunt: Man, I hope so. She’s fabulous. I think if it’s not through American Idol, she deserves something great. I hope for the best for her and everybody else. We’re exceptionally close, but it doesn’t mean that I hope for better things for her than anybody else. Everybody is very deserving.

I just wondered if you thought that you guys should be allowed to blog during your experiences at American Idol.

L. Hunt: I can see why we’re not allowed to. Now I’m allowed to. Now I can kind of respond to my fans and stuff, which is awesome, but I can see just because it could get really hounding. To tell you the truth, they actually really discourage you being online at all because of what it can do for your self-esteem and for your performance. I guess in past seasons people literally read a really, really negative comment about them online and then walk onto the stage a second later. It doesn’t do anybody any favors. Sometimes when you’re in the spotlight it’s just a good idea to turn a blind eye, to keep things in perspective.

Yes. You said you did some Idol research, which I find funny. At the beginning of this season there was all this hype about how the judges were crueler.

L. Hunt: Yes.

In your research, do you agree with that?

L. Hunt: All they really sell are the best of and worst of DVD’s, so they never really show full episodes. They basically show the people that got first and second in seasons one through four, their auditions and all the stuff behind them. There are some random bad ones, so it really didn’t give me that good of a taste. I actually have no frame of reference for that. That’s what people are saying, but I don’t know. They don’t seem too bad to me. They pretty much say stuff that’s right on.

Did you have any sense that you might be going home yesterday, any sort of triggers or anything that made you think that might happen?

L. Hunt: I guess I just looked around me and was like well, it’s going to be tough because there are certain people that you can assume are safe just because they’re so darn popular. I had a little bit of a feeling, but for the most part I was very, very surprised.

Last week the judges kept reiterating the importance of song choice and showing your best personality in your performance. Do you think in your case your elimination was just the song choice or you just weren’t able to show your personality?

L. Hunt: You think it was about my song choice or my personality? Is that what you said?

The judges kept saying in your performance you should be able to show your personality, your identity. Do you think that was the case?

L. Hunt: I don’t think so. I don’t think there was really anybody else in the competition like me. I have a different way about me. If it was anything, I don’t even know if it was the song choice either. I just think that other people grabbed people more. It’s really hard to speculate about because it’s me and it’s hard for me to look at myself like an outsider.

If you knew that AJ was doing the same song, would have you changed your song choice?

L. Hunt: I knew, I actually knew all along because we communicated with each other while we were rehearsing. I had all these other songs in mind, but I just kept wanting to do “Feeling Good” so, so bad just because it’s a song that I’ve done so many times. I just love it. I don’t know. I took the risk and I did it anyway. It might have hurt me; I’ll never know.

Thank you to FOX for allowing us to participate in this AI media call.

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breezez_air · 03-05-2007, 05:49 PM

SO made she left.

calamari · 03-05-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Just going on that, you said that being at home, performing with your band, what was it like being at home and maybe a more intimate setting, performing with your own band and then moving on to American Idol, where it’s in front of a million people?

L. Hunt: I don’t even feel like it’s the same craft. I don’t even feel like they’re in the same family. It’s so, so strange to go from something so intimate where you can have an exchange with the audience members and look into their eyes and affect them on an intimate level and then having to look into this camera, into this machine and just imagine. I felt like it was so foreign to me and I might have been distracted by that to where I couldn’t perform as intimately and as emotionally as I normally do.

Wow -- I'm with ya, yardgnome, on having a totally different opinion of her now. I was not a Leslie fan, and it was largely because she sounded as if she were trying to force her voice to be bigger, and she had no idea how to relate to the camera. But she gets huge, huge points for understanding what happened and what aspects of the AI performance she didn't understand how to manage -- I have a lot of respect for people who learn from running into setbacks, rather than preening around about how no one recognized their greatness.

She comes across as so likable and grounded -- I hope all these adventures alerted the right record label executive to her talents.

bbnbama · 03-05-2007, 06:15 PM

She was always one of my favorites BECAUSE of her quirkiness....I'm going to miss her!

roses4me · 03-05-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by breezez_air

SO made she left.

I'm not sure I understand this, but anyhoo...I'm going to miss her, too. She's a breath of fresh air. She should get into television with a great personality like that.

echo226 · 03-05-2007, 11:51 PM

She's fun and a class act. Lot's of humor and strength in adversity, which I admire a lot. I personally find humor life and sanity saving.

She was one of my favorites from the beginning as well ... and that was before I knew she was from the Chicago area.

Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to see her perform around town.

Thanks for participating in and sharing that interview with us, Yardgnome.

echo226 · 03-05-2007, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by breezez_air
SO made she left

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roses4me

I'm not sure I understand this, but anyhoo...I'm going to miss her, too. She's a breath of fresh air. She should get into television with a great personality like that.

I think it means breezez_air is so MAD that she ( Leslie) left.

Leo · 03-06-2007, 06:05 AM

Quote:

L. Hunt: Yes. I don’t know. I guess there are certain kinds of hype that come with her. That’s not really something that I understand. It doesn’t excite me that she has pictures like that. Who doesn’t? It’s like whatever, get over it. It’s a singing competition.

Not holding back much, is she?

Thanks for that... revealing interview.

graycat11 · 03-06-2007, 02:43 PM

Leslie seems like a very honest, straight forward person, very mature for a 24 year old.

Think she'd do well in a comedy sitcom, she's attractive, has a great sense of humor.

breezez_air · 03-08-2007, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echo226

.

I think it means breezez_air is so MAD that she ( Leslie) left.

CLASSIC type-o- add 'e' to everything

03-05-2007, 02:55 PM	#1
Yardgnome Being VIP Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Harnessing my evil for good. Posts: 5,259	AI6: Interview with Leslie Hunt: The One that Got Away This week I was able to participate in a media conference call with eliminated contestant Leslie Hunt. She had many interesting things to say about her experience on American Idol. I have a much different opinion of her after this interview. She will definitely be missed in this competition. I’m curious to hear why you think that maybe you were eliminated this week. L. Hunt: I have no idea. I have speculated it could be a little bit of how I’m just not really that mainstream. I chose a couple of songs that just aren’t top of the charts, but I just don’t know because I don’t know the show very well. I just auditioned on a whim and ended up going really far. I’m not really familiar with the formula, what works and what doesn’t. I had some people helping me, but for the most part was on my own. You and AJ ended up singing the same song and both going home. Do you think that was a bad luck song? L. Hunt: I don’t know. It got Alaina through in L.A., but I don’t know. I know that other contestants have done it in other seasons, even so far as the same song in the same night. I guess I don’t know. It could be cursed. It could be the curse of “Feeling Good”. You have a reference on the Idol Web site to having your life being saved in Brazil. I’m just curious if you had a near-death experience and if you could tell us about that. L. Hunt: Yes, I had an adverse reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccination. Basically, my system started to shut down, my organs started to fail and my brain was swelling because I was getting the Yellow Fever times 30, so I definitely should have died. I’m the only person that ever survived that sort of thing, and I was in Brazil, so that was definitely like near-death. I don’t remember any of it. It pretty much changed my outlook on things, as you can imagine. I was going to ask you one thing, but after hearing your answer to Corey’s question I’d like you to tell me a little bit about what a life-changing event that was, surviving that Yellow Fever in Brazil. How has it changed your outlook on life? L. Hunt: I just don’t know if I would have auditioned for American Idol had I not suddenly been reminded that I am mortal. It’s easy when you’re in your early 20’s to rest on your laurels and be relying on your youth for all the time in the world. I realized that because I do have lupus and my system is very sensitive and strange that I don’t have all the time in the world. If I’m going to do something I really have to dive in. I thought, what a better way to do that than American Idol because it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s very fast, in the grand scheme of things. You look very healthy, you seem like a robust person. L. Hunt: Yes, I am, actually. Against all odds, I really am. I have found this mediation that is like a miracle thing. It doesn’t have any side effects and it makes me feel like a million times better. I ended up finding that way late in life. If I would have found it sooner I would have been way better off. Yes, I definitely have lupus. It’s very mild compared to some other people. First I have to tell you that I thought you were hysterical with your whole utterly flapless thing. I thought that entire thing was funny. You’re great. L. Hunt: Nice. I’m happy you enjoyed it. Just going on that, you said that being at home, performing with your band, what was it like being at home and maybe a more intimate setting, performing with your own band and then moving on to American Idol, where it’s in front of a million people? L. Hunt: I don’t even feel like it’s the same craft. I don’t even feel like they’re in the same family. It’s so, so strange to go from something so intimate where you can have an exchange with the audience members and look into their eyes and affect them on an intimate level and then having to look into this camera, into this machine and just imagine. I felt like it was so foreign to me and I might have been distracted by that to where I couldn’t perform as intimately and as emotionally as I normally do. Do you have any regrets about the process at all? L. Hunt: I would have liked to have had a chance to rock out a little more. To choose two really big songs, I don’t know that did me justice because I kind of had an epiphany after watching myself do “Feeling Good”. I was just like I’m white, I’m totally white. Nobody told me. This is the first I’ve heard. My roots are more like piano vocal stuff, so maybe I should go back to my roots. That was my plan for this next week, but too bad for me. I wanted to make sure the timeline of a couple of things. When did it happen in Brazil? L. Hunt: It happened exactly a year ago. How long ago were you diagnosed with lupus? L. Hunt: I was diagnosed at six-and-a-half. You’d known it for long. It must be a very mild one. L. Hunt: It was really bad when I was a kid. Then when I hit puberty it kind of got a little better. It got really bad again. It’s kind of come and gone. Right now it’s in this really long stretch of nothing. The other thing I was going to ask is when they put the little signs of what you are on there, they put dog walker. … big income thing, are you strictly a dog walker and a singer or do you do some other day jobs, too? L. Hunt: Not really, not lately. I was a student for a little while and then about a couple of years ago I started dog walking and gigging. I also worked in a grooming shop as a bather. I did that for a long time and dog walker, pet sitter, too. I do a lot of vacation care for people, sitting their dogs. I’ll have like seven dogs at my house at one time. One other thing: you said you weren’t familiar with the show. Had you seen it at all before you auditioned or just a couple times? L. Hunt: I saw the episode where Kelly one. That was it? L. Hunt: Yes. Not a lot to go on. L. Hunt: I bought some DVD’s. Did you? L. Hunt: Yes. After you got to L.A. or after you accepted for L.A.? L. Hunt: Right after I bought my plane ticket to go to the cattle call to go to L.A. I wanted to start out by finding out what your plans are in the future. L. Hunt: Well, it all depends on what comes knocking. I’m really hoping that some things will open up for me, some different opportunities. If they don’t, then I’m just going to kind of pursue what it is that I think I should be doing. This whole experience has really inspired me to write. I used to write really actively and then I kind of slowed down a little bit in the past year or so. I’m really excited to get back into it. Would that include possibly returning to the band that you’ve been performing with around town? L. Hunt: Our main guitarist is the backbone of that. He actually moved down to Mississippi, so that’s not going to happen, but some of that material I’ll be able to bring to a different band. I’d love to start up a new band, but I don’t know. It’s kind of daunting to start at ground zero. Just lastly, Gina seemed quite upset with you being voted out. L. Hunt: Yes, we’ve grown to be incredibly close. She’s been my roommate here. It’s like when you’re sleeping in the same room with someone for a whole month, we hung out a little bit back home, that’s a friendship that’s going to last a lifetime. I think that if the tables would have been turned I would have been sobbing hysterically as well. It was an even feeling between us. Some of what you did the other night was a little different in terms of style, which I liked and I’m sure some people do, but do you think when it’s different or not as familiar with people or larger voting base, that can hurt? L. Hunt: Yes. It was a risk that I kind of felt like I should take just because I feel better and more in my element when I’m doing things that are true to me. Why whip out the big guns later? Why wait to tell people what I’m all about until it’s too late? It’s like, wait a minute, I didn’t know she liked jazz. It was a risk I was willing to take because I thought … really big deal in this show and I was willing to set myself apart. I just I just don’t know America that well. Just on a different topic, what do you think of having the dedications before each performance? L. Hunt: It was really hard. They didn’t show some of the clip, but when I was actually doing that interview for that package I couldn’t even get out some words. It’s just really tough because I miss my grandpa a lot and it kind of added to the drama of the whole thing. It kind of distracted me to be able to perform. I should have dedicated it to somebody with low emotional ties. Do you think that might have influenced viewers, how people were dedicating and the emotions? L. Hunt: Yes, maybe. I feel like it’s definitely a theme among the girls to shed a tear or two, just to dedicate to somebody that means a lot to you. You mean like my dedication versus other people? Yes, just in general because it seemed sometimes they’re looking beyond the singing. That’s another element of you guys that shows. L. Hunt: Right. I don’t know. I would just hope that it would translate. My grandpa and I had a very positive relationship. He was a big role model in my life; I really looked up to him a lot. I miss him. It’s a tragedy that he passed away when he did. You know, I realized last night that I see so little sense of humor from so many performers. You were funny several times. They showed little clips where you said funny things earlier and then your remarks about why …, nobody likes … anyway or something like that. L. Hunt: Right. First of all, is this typical of you? Do you have much more of a sense of humor than people realize? Is it hard to use that sense of humor in that kind of setting? L. Hunt: Yes. I mean, that’s one of the things. My sense of humor is very much intact. I’m hugely goofy. I spend a good majority of my life laughing and making other people laugh. That actually does translate well on the stage in normal settings. In this setting I found it to be easy to get stifled. It’s easy to fit into the mold and compare yourself to other people and be like gosh, my laugh is so much louder than everybody else’s, or that was kind of off-color, I wonder if I offended this person. You never know with that sort of thing, so I don’t know. Just one other thing. When some of these voices unleashed, like Lakisha’s voice and Melinda’s voice and that, what was your reaction? You’re sitting there, you’re competing with these people and yet all of the sudden, these huge voices. L. Hunt: I know. I’m honored to be in the midst of them. Now I’m not, obviously, but when I was it was like those are the people that I’m going to be very happy for. I feel like that’s such a God-given talent. It thrills me that people that have that kind of gift. I can’t wait to partake in what they have to offer. I was wondering, you were talking about how you felt honored to be in the midst of these other singers. Do you have a particular wish for one of them to win? L. Hunt: You know, there’s just no way I could say that. I really feel pretty evenly about everybody. I know certain talents that some people have and certain little qualities that I enjoy in every single one of the performers that are still in it. I can’t really predict anything like that. I’m sorry. As a follow-up question, it’s just seems like you have more talent than some of the contestants who are left. L. Hunt: Thanks. Especially Antonella. L. Hunt: Yes. I don’t know. I guess there are certain kinds of hype that come with her. That’s not really something that I understand. It doesn’t excite me that she has pictures like that. Who doesn’t? It’s like whatever, get over it. It’s a singing competition. As far as you’re a better singer than her in my opinion. L. Hunt: Right. I knew getting into this that it wasn’t just about singing. I just had a feeling. I did a little research before I got involved. Even though I didn’t see any episodes, I did a little research about who was eliminated and then when. I made a point to research what their voices sounded like and their song choices and things like that. There’s really no formula. If someone has a personality, sometimes that will take them way farther than a good voice. After the show did you have a conversation with Gina? Can you share with us a little bit about what you two talked about? L. Hunt: You know, we didn’t get to talk right away because they basically swoop you up and take you to different places because it’s still a TV show. I basically talked with her all throughout the night. We were both pretty hysterically still into the night just because it was so surreal and you’re put through so much. She says that she’s really sad to see me go, both as a friend and as a fellow musician. We have very similar backgrounds as far as our experience in performing, so we have a mutual respect there and on a friendship level. I know you didn’t want to predict anything, but what do you think her chances are? Do you have a sense that she’s in for the long haul here? L. Hunt: Man, I hope so. She’s fabulous. I think if it’s not through American Idol, she deserves something great. I hope for the best for her and everybody else. We’re exceptionally close, but it doesn’t mean that I hope for better things for her than anybody else. Everybody is very deserving. I just wondered if you thought that you guys should be allowed to blog during your experiences at American Idol. L. Hunt: I can see why we’re not allowed to. Now I’m allowed to. Now I can kind of respond to my fans and stuff, which is awesome, but I can see just because it could get really hounding. To tell you the truth, they actually really discourage you being online at all because of what it can do for your self-esteem and for your performance. I guess in past seasons people literally read a really, really negative comment about them online and then walk onto the stage a second later. It doesn’t do anybody any favors. Sometimes when you’re in the spotlight it’s just a good idea to turn a blind eye, to keep things in perspective. Yes. You said you did some Idol research, which I find funny. At the beginning of this season there was all this hype about how the judges were crueler. L. Hunt: Yes. In your research, do you agree with that? L. Hunt: All they really sell are the best of and worst of DVD’s, so they never really show full episodes. They basically show the people that got first and second in seasons one through four, their auditions and all the stuff behind them. There are some random bad ones, so it really didn’t give me that good of a taste. I actually have no frame of reference for that. That’s what people are saying, but I don’t know. They don’t seem too bad to me. They pretty much say stuff that’s right on. Did you have any sense that you might be going home yesterday, any sort of triggers or anything that made you think that might happen? L. Hunt: I guess I just looked around me and was like well, it’s going to be tough because there are certain people that you can assume are safe just because they’re so darn popular. I had a little bit of a feeling, but for the most part I was very, very surprised. Last week the judges kept reiterating the importance of song choice and showing your best personality in your performance. Do you think in your case your elimination was just the song choice or you just weren’t able to show your personality? L. Hunt: You think it was about my song choice or my personality? Is that what you said? The judges kept saying in your performance you should be able to show your personality, your identity. Do you think that was the case? L. Hunt: I don’t think so. I don’t think there was really anybody else in the competition like me. I have a different way about me. If it was anything, I don’t even know if it was the song choice either. I just think that other people grabbed people more. It’s really hard to speculate about because it’s me and it’s hard for me to look at myself like an outsider. If you knew that AJ was doing the same song, would have you changed your song choice? L. Hunt: I knew, I actually knew all along because we communicated with each other while we were rehearsing. I had all these other songs in mind, but I just kept wanting to do “Feeling Good” so, so bad just because it’s a song that I’ve done so many times. I just love it. I don’t know. I took the risk and I did it anyway. It might have hurt me; I’ll never know. Thank you to FOX for allowing us to participate in this AI media call. Last edited by Yardgnome; 03-09-2007 at 10:51 AM.

03-05-2007, 05:49 PM	#2
breezez_air Chakos::Linkletter::Epley Join Date: May 2006 Location: London, England Age: 19 Posts: 1,032	SO made she left. __________________ I don't wanna get fat like you Don't even believe in the F Word...FAT ...Perhaps you meant PEE AYTCH AY TEE Yeah...I did - Stacy Ann and Whitney- ANTM 10

03-05-2007, 06:15 PM	#4
bbnbama Rock Stars! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: In my own little world where all things are Idol...... Age: 43 Posts: 10,754	She was always one of my favorites BECAUSE of her quirkiness....I'm going to miss her! __________________ Reality is the beginning...not the end....Wallace Stevens

03-05-2007, 11:51 PM	#6
echo226 FORT Aficionado Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Stuck in the Middle Posts: 4,127	She's fun and a class act. Lot's of humor and strength in adversity, which I admire a lot. I personally find humor life and sanity saving. She was one of my favorites from the beginning as well ... and that was before I knew she was from the Chicago area. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to see her perform around town. Thanks for participating in and sharing that interview with us, Yardgnome. __________________ "The way to become boring is to say everything." Voltaire " The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. " Mohandas Gandhi Last edited by echo226; 03-05-2007 at 11:54 PM.

03-06-2007, 02:43 PM	#9
graycat11 FORT Fogey Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 3,506	Leslie seems like a very honest, straight forward person, very mature for a 24 year old. Think she'd do well in a comedy sitcom, she's attractive, has a great sense of humor.