Chris Richardson left the competition on Wednesday with Phil Stacey. I guess you could say they share 6th place. Here are excerpts from his exit interviews.
- He was really surprised that the judges liked his Mraz cover, “Geek in Pink.”
- Randy was the most supportive judge. He appreciated his singing style.
- When he was asked to stand with Blake, he knew he was going home. Plus, he saw the band setting up with instruments none of the other contestant’s used in their performances.
- He just got out of a long relationship. He is not dating anyone right now–rumors about his dating Lauren Conrad from “The Hills” are not true.
Read more after the jump.
- Did his fight with Simon over his “nasally” tone cost him some votes? Who knows? At least at the end of it I got to say what I really wanted to say, and that was about the Virginia Tech thing and that my heart and prayers went out to them. Despite what happened, it was just odd timing. And it might have [cost me some votes], it might not have. You just gotta roll with it sometimes.
- Was he ever suprised by the judges critiques? I remember back in the earlier rounds, I didn’t think that [Jason Mraz’s] “Geek in the Pink” would roll over too well with the judges. I went out there skeptical. I was like, “I wonder if they’d like something different?” I did it, and they seemed to really love it. I’m glad I did that now.
- Which judge was most supportive? Randy was really supportive of the style of music that I did. He always seemed to dig it. And even on bad nights, he always had something positive [to say]. … Paula would always have something uplifting to say.
- How did he feel about being pitted against Blake during the results show? Well … it made [for] good television. … They’re smart producers, and they know what will shock people and what will get people interested in the show. … If they would’ve let me go with someone else, it would’ve been just fine too. I was just telling [Blake] to go ahead and sit down, ’cause I knew I was going home and he was staying.
- How Chris and Blake become so close: It started in Hollywood week. It’s just one of those things where you sort of click with somebody. Me and him had a lot in common ‘ music tastes, music style, personality traits and loyalty of friendship. … We just bonded, you know?
- What was he thinking when he was standing in stage with Blake? Me and Phil sort of came to peace with the fact that we thought we were going home. When [Ryan] called me and Blake’s name, I knew I was going home. You start to put pieces together. I looked around and saw the band setting up and the guitar player grabbing a 12-string guitar, you know, and I’m the only person with a 12-string guitar [in my song]. You put it together. I just think if you go out there and you prepare for the worst and hope for the best, I think you’re not so much let down. Everybody knows by now that Blake’s my best friend, so I was glad to go and have him be in my place.
- Is he dating anyone? Lauren Conrad from MTV’s “The Hills”? I just got out of a three-and-a-half-year relationship back home, and that’s about it. All the other rumors and stuff going around, all that stuff is just rumors. Those people are just my friends or acquaintances. But other than that, I’m single but still respecting the fact that I just got out of a relationship.
- How does he survive the emotional roller coaster of the show? You’ve always gotta stay in touch with everybody from back home. They’re the ones that keep you grounded and remind you where you came from. Just talking to my mom on the phone and hearing a refreshing voice keeps me energized and keeps me wanting to do the best I can do.
- What advice does he have for Idol contestants? Just be yourself. Don’t settle for what they tell you you should do. Make sure you always stay true to yourself, because if you try to change because three people tell you to change, you’re only fooling yourself.
- Did he feel comfortable singing ”Wanted Dead or Alive”? Yeah. I planned on doing this song before I even came into the competition, when I found out Bon Jovi was going to be on. Somebody had to do it. And you know what? I’m my worst critic, man, but I thought I did a pretty good job at it. I went and looked at the performance and it suited rock week.
- More so than everyone else’s performances? I think I was the only out there who had the ”rasp” to my voice. I would sing really loud just to hoarse my voice up a little bit, just to have that rock edge. I thought it was odd that Simon said the same thing to both me and Phil ‘ how he didn’t think this would keep us around. Then we both ended up going home. So me and Phil sort of knew. We knew who [Simon’s] favorites were too. We knew who he would try to dwindle out the competition, and who he would try to keep in the competition. I would always go out there preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.
- Did he want to win? Well, even now, there’s a part of me inside that really wanted to win. I wanted to stick around longer. But the fact of the matter is that every Wednesday is a hard day for everybody. I remember calming everyone down before they pulled me and Blake up on stage, you know, when they stood me and him up. I knew. You can just tell ‘ the judges favored Blake over me, and that was fine. And so did the voting. And that’s what ultimately decided everything.
- Did the fact that he was not a hard rocker hurt him this week? I always try to show people that I’m versatile and every week that comes around, I just try to show people that I can sing this or that style of music. It’s very hard to show who you are as an artist through cover songs, but I enjoyed doing it. I would have loved to have gone out there and done my own rendition of ”Wanted Dead or Alive.” I would have loved to have switched it around. [But] for Bon Jovi’s fans, it’s a memory to them. I just always thought about it like that, and I didn’t want to mess with the memory. I didn’t want to go out there and do too much to it. I had to keep it straight. I’m sure there could have been better songs to sing with a little bit more soulful lyrics, but as I said before, my album is going to be rock and soul.
- Will his style be anything like Justin Timberlake’s? I just take the comparison as a compliment. Being mentioned in the same sentence as Justin, it’s cool. When I come out with my album, hopefully people will see that and they’ll be like, ”Wow, I didn’t expect that.” Or they’ll be like, ”Well, I know who Chris Richardson is.”
- What does he think about being called “nasally”? You know what’s funny about that? That was the only thing during the whole competition that they could say that I did wrong: that I was ”nasally.” And if that’s all they can say about me, then I’ll take it. I would always go up and talk to our voice coaches and say, ”I don’t really know why they keep saying I’m ‘nasally.”’ It’s not like I go out there doing it on purpose ‘ it’s the way that I sing. And even when I made the comment about ”nasally” being a form of singing, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that a lot of people have made it with that nasally quality ‘ like Justin Timberlake, Adam Levine, and Rascal Flatts.
- Are we ever going to see the Blake and Chris variety show?
You will all just have to see! - And finally, about the last four on Idol right now: What’s your assessment? I think they’re all capable of winning. It all comes down to voting. The four have gotta come out and bring their A-game. There’s some belters out there and some very original material. Blake’s very original, but then again, the girls can sing their butts off.
