Devin Velez (DV)<\/strong>: Not really unfairly. I think that I am a little at fault, though I didn\u2019t forget my lyrics. I think that when you\u2019re in a group, because one person is representing everyone else, it should have been my job to be a brother to the other two. We could have discussed learning the lyrics a lot better. If we knew that we were going to be so unsure of our lyrics getting on stage, we probably should not have done the song.<\/p>\n
But what happened happened, and I tried to save the song to the best of my ability, but it wasn\u2019t my job to do so. I know that, though my solo performance went well, since our group performance was following the solo, that\u2019s what America remembered freshly in their minds.<\/p>\n
Q: Now that you\u2019re off \u2018American Idol,\u2019 you want to win Prom King at your military school. How do you go about winning Prom King, and what are your chances and when do they decide?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know, man, it\u2019s difficult. Prom is June 1, so I\u2019m hoping that with all this publicity, I don\u2019t get too busy. I am still a kid and I still do have my last teenage years ahead of me, and I want to live them up. My dream has always been to just win Prom King, and I won Homecoming King this year while I was still there, before I came to \u2018American Idol.\u2019 It\u2019s always been my dream. So if this dream was achievable, I don\u2019t think that one\u2019s too far out of reach now that I\u2019m going back home.<\/p>\n Q: Are you ready to concede that a girl\u2019s going to win this year? <\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: You know, you can never be sure. I know that the odds are scary right now, but if the guys step it up, they do have a chance. I think that with all the people that are left, it\u2019s really scary the way this competition is going to go, just because the talent that\u2019s left is amazing. These people are some of the best singers I\u2019ve ever heard.<\/p>\n Q: When are you going back to Chicago? When you do, are you going to go right back into classes at Rickover, and are you going to continue to work at Starbucks?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: I\u2019m stopping in New York for a couple of days and then I\u2019m going back home. But when I do get back, I\u2019m hoping to go back to school. I\u2019m not sure how that transition\u2019s going to work, just because we did have to sign me out temporarily and I had to miss time for \u2018American Idol.\u2019<\/p>\n As for Starbucks, I want to for money reasons-it was my job. That was another passion of mine, but I don\u2019t know how that\u2019s going to work out because it might be a little hard. Now that people know who I am, I\u2019m not just going to be writing caramel macchiato on cups, but I might be signing them and passing them off, and that\u2019s going to get crazy. So I\u2019m debating whether I\u2019m going back to be a barista or not.<\/p>\n Q: What about your plans for college this fall, do you still want to go to music college this fall?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: It depends on how the \u2018American Idol\u2019 tour goes, if I have time when I get back. I can always enroll into college, but I would still love to get my degree in music education there at VanderCook, I think it\u2019s been my dream for the last year and a half, and I keep in contact with those people. I\u2019ve fallen in love with the team there. The students and the faculty are just really good, and I think I\u2019d learn a lot from that school. So yes, I\u2019m definitely thinking about it.<\/p>\n Q: Being far into the competition now, which week did you find the most challenging and why?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: The most challenging, I\u2019d have to say, was when I sang \u2018Temporary Home.\u2019 That theme was past ‘Idol’ songs. It was interesting just because there were so many song choices, and yet I didn\u2019t feel that I could have done any of them justice, as the meanings weren\u2019t that great. When I heard \u2018Temporary Home,\u2019 I had an emotional connection with the song meaning. But I don\u2019t think that I had any moments to shine in the song, so that week it was really not that great for me. It was the first week that I was in the bottom two, so I think that was the most challenging.<\/p>\n Q: Is there any week that you would have chosen to do a different song for any reason, looking back now?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: No, even with the week that I first was in the bottom two, when I sang \u2018Temporary Home.\u2019 While I didn\u2019t have any moments to shine vocally, I\u2019ve always had a personal connection with that song. I\u2019m a firm believer in staying true to who you are, and I make decisions as an artist after thinking them through. So the fact that I\u2019ve gotten to where I\u2019ve gotten, it was my doing and no one else\u2019s, and I wouldn\u2019t go back and change anything.<\/p>\n Q: What critique do you think you\u2019ll remember the most from any of the judges, or even Jimmy?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: It\u2019s from all of them, which is stay true to yourself. I think that I\u2019ve been pretty consistent in doing that on the show. I\u2019m the same before the show, I was the same on the show, and I\u2019m going to be the same after the show. \u2018American Idol\u2019 hasn\u2019t changed me. I have grown as a person, but I haven\u2019t changed who I am. I think that America fell in love with me for a reason, and I don\u2019t want to change, not just to let them down, but also not to let myself down. I think that you should be proud of who you are and the decisions that you\u2019ve made as a person. So I can say that I have no regrets on the show, and if I could go back and change anything, I wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Q: Who are you going to keep in touch with from the show?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Oh man, I\u2019d have to say Burnell, Curtis, Angie, Kree, Janelle, Amber and Candice. Oh wait, that\u2019s all of them! Yes, there\u2019s no way I can narrow it down. These people are my family. We\u2019ve been together for three months. I\u2019ve fallen in love with these people. Most of the top five guys, I\u2019ve had as roommates, and the girls and I have gotten closer and closer throughout the weeks. I think that\u2019s the saddest part about leaving the competition; it isn\u2019t leaving the stage, but it\u2019s leaving your brothers and sisters. <\/p>\n Q: You have such great fans, the Devineers, what would you like to say to them?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: I\u2019d like to say thanks for the love and support no matter what. I know that everyone was really, really upset when I left home last night, but I just want them to know that as long as I have my Devineers and the support from my parents, I think that anything is achievable. I know that I\u2019m going to go far in life, not just because of \u2018American Idol,\u2019 but because of the great support that I do have. <\/p>\n Q: When you were told to go backstage after the group number, how did you guys deal with that?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: It was a little difficult, because right when you get off stage as an artist, you\u2019re your worst critic. You\u2019re always thinking about all the negative things that you had during the performance and how you could have changed things. You\u2019re trying to play it back and changing it in your head. I really was okay. I did feel a little embarrassed just because this far into the competition, we shouldn\u2019t be having little mistakes like forgetting the lyrics. <\/p>\n I totally agree with Nicki Minaj when she said that it felt like it was Hollywood Week, but mistakes do happen and the pressure does get to us. We\u2019re still human. But it was a little disappointing just to see that once you\u2019re so far into the competition, that that was the mistake that we made. That\u2019s a mistake that shouldn\u2019t even be; right now, we should just know our lines and know our parts. But what happened happened and I know that stuff like that shouldn\u2019t happen again. I think that that was a wakeup call for all of us, whether we went home or whether we stayed.<\/p>\n Q: In regards to the trio performance, after you performed Burnell said he didn\u2019t want to throw anyone under the bus and you said you tried to save a couple of people during the song, and it seemed like you were both pointing fingers at Lazaro, but obviously wanted to be polite. Would you mind talking about that a little bit? Do you think Nicki actually overreacted a little bit?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Looking back at the video, I know where Nicki was coming from. I agree with the first half of her critique when she said that it felt like it was Hollywood Week, that it was a joke, that stuff like that should not happen and that she was going to pretend that she didn\u2019t hear it. I agree with that.<\/p>\n But hearing that, yes, it is a little cutting while you\u2019re on stage. It\u2019s hard to be up there seeing your team, and seeing your team get criticized like that is hard. But what happened happened and we\u2019re growing, and I think that it was a great wakeup call. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen again on the show.<\/p>\n Q: Did you have a feeling that you\u2019d be saved, or did you know you\u2019d be going home?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: I kind of knew the writing was on the wall, man. Nothing of course was definite until the moment of, but even the night prior I was getting this feeling. I was like, all right, now I think I\u2019m going home. I wasn\u2019t sad about it, and I\u2019m still not sad about it now. It\u2019s weird because people are expecting me to be all mopey and crying, but my thing is making top ten was winning for me, everything after that was falling action. It\u2019s a great accomplishment.<\/p>\n Some of the contestants on the show that are still left, they\u2019ve auditioned two or three times. This is my first time auditioning and I\u2019ve made it this far. It\u2019s a great accomplishment and I\u2019m so blessed to have made it this far.<\/p>\n Q: After you sang for the judges save, Mariah Carey was egging on the audience yelling out, \u201cSave him, save him.\u201d Randy Jackson hesitated for a while before even making the announcement that they weren\u2019t going to save you, so what was going through your mind in that exact moment?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: It wasn\u2019t that tough. Like I said, I think it was already set in stone. I felt like it was just going to happen. I thought I was going home, and sooner or later we all have to go home, so it was my place to go home.<\/p>\n I think that they\u2019re going to save the save for someone really, really special. Not that I don\u2019t think that I\u2019m special. But with all the talent that\u2019s left, if someone is in the bottom two that doesn\u2019t belong there just because they have one bad song day, I think that they should use that save on that person. <\/p>\n Q: You mentioned that this was the first time you ever tried out for \u2018American Idol.\u2019 Now having gone through the whole experience, was there anything that really surprised you that you didn\u2019t think would happen? <\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Yes. I think that looking back at the show, after watching every episode of every season, you see the top ten you see the photo shoot and the commercials. You\u2019re like, these people are just rolling in money and they\u2019re sleeping in and getting room service. The biggest wakeup call was we get no sleep, call times are super early and we have to go through hair and makeup, and dress rehearsals, and run throughs and press.<\/p>\n Our schedules are really, really tight. So one of the things I\u2019m taking away from this is a lot more respect for people that work on television programs like this. They work so hard to make us look good and it just looks so nice and sweet on TV, but there\u2019s a lot of effort that goes into it.<\/p>\n Q: Have you ever seen an \u2018American Idol\u2019 summer tour before?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: I haven\u2019t been one to one of the tours in all 12 seasons, but you know what, I am so excited to do it. I think it\u2019s every performer\u2019s dream to do that, to perform across the country and have fans shouting out your name and singing with the people you love. I think what I\u2019m looking forward to most is singing with the same people that I was a couple of weeks ago, except we\u2019re not competing in a competition. So the fact that we\u2019re going to just be able to sing and not have anybody go home, and we\u2019re going to still be together. I think that\u2019s going to be the greatest experience ever. <\/p>\n Q: Everyone\u2019s been declaring this season a girl\u2019s to win, and there\u2019s just been so much talk about how fantastic they are. Do you think that automatically put the guys at a disadvantage voting wise, and do you think that has a direct correlation to why the remaining three guys are all ending up in the bottom?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Oh, there\u2019s an explanation for that. Of course I can\u2019t speak so much on it just because I\u2019m not America, and I don\u2019t know who votes for what. But I do know that though the judges aren\u2019t voting, I know that their critiques do have a very big influence on America\u2019s votes.<\/p>\n As for the guys being in the bottom three, I think that our group performance is what put us there and I think it was well deserved. I think that we weren\u2019t prepared and we went up there and it was unprofessional, and so because of that we were in the bottom three. I wouldn\u2019t change that for anything, just because I don\u2019t want to be treated unfairly. The fact that we weren\u2019t prepared showed that that\u2019s how serious it can be, where you can go home. But, yes, the girls they have power. They\u2019ve been consistent with their performances and the vocals. None of them have gone home yet, and that\u2019s crazy. But they\u2019re fighting strong.<\/p>\n Q: The week before you were sent home, Jimmy Iovine said he believed the judges were being too nice and easy on the contestants. Then the viewers noted that Nicki started to be especially aggressive and critical in her commentary. Do you think Nicki\u2019s behavior was a result of Jimmy\u2019s complaint, that maybe she was trying to be a little harder on the contestants?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: It could have been. You never know what you\u2019re going to get with Nicki Minaj. But I know that I love her as a judge and I love that she\u2019s always truthful.<\/p>\n Q: When you got eliminated and when you originally landed in the bottom three, Mariah Carey was especially emotional and she cried during your save song. What was your relationship like with her?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Our time with the judges isn\u2019t that not much. It\u2019s a little bit during rehearsals and maybe backstage before we go on, but it\u2019s not like we get to sit down and talk. But after I got voted off, I actually had a conversation with her. She was saying things like how she was so proud to see the artist that I have been becoming, and that if nothing works out that later on down the road, that she would love to contact me. Hearing things like that from Mariah Carey, it\u2019s crazy because she is so big this woman in the industry. So hearing that was a little reassuring and I\u2019m a little more at peace, just because if nothing happens, I know that I always have that to fall back on.<\/p>\n Q: Did you get any advice or have any conversations similar to that with Nicki, Keith and Randy?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Nicki might have had to step away earlier because I didn\u2019t get to say bye to her, she had prior engagements. But Keith gave me a big old bear hug, and he was just being Keith and I love him. He said that he was sad that I had to go, and he said to keep going. He added that no matter what, we were still one of his idols, that I was an idol in their eyes. Randy said the same thing that Mariah did, where if nothing happens that they would love to contact me sometime down the road, just because I had true talent. So hearing that from such great people, it makes you feel good as an artist but also as a person. I enjoyed every moment of the results show.<\/p>\n Q: Devin, do you have any final remarks?<\/p>\n DV<\/strong>: Yes, I want to say thank you guys for having me. The fact that I\u2019m leaving the show doesn\u2019t mean that this is the end of Devin. I\u2019ve spoken about this before, that I\u2019m not changing who I am for America and I\u2019m not changing who I am for family or friends. I\u2019m not changing who I am unless I want to change, and right now I don\u2019t. I think that America fell in love with me for a reason, and I\u2019m going to continue to give them 100 percent. So whatever life brings, just as long as I have my Devineers out there and my God, I think everything\u2019s going to be all right. So thank you guys for this awesome opportunity and keep voting for me in life. Just support me in life. That\u2019s all that I ask.<\/p>\n Written by: Karen Benardello<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Interview:](\"http:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Interview-Devin-Velez-Talks-About-Competing-on-American-Idol.jpg\" "\\"Interview")
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