Amanda Overmeyer Leaves ‘Idol’ - But Keeps Hope
This week Amanda Overmeyer was eliminated from “American Idol”. Does this mean that she will give up her dreams? Amanda has stated that she won’t give up hope – but that she won’t spend her entire life trying to chase after it either.
“I’m very ambitious and driven by nature, and I’m going to take calculated risks to achieve success, but the definition of success varies from person to person,” Overmyer said yesterday. “I wouldn’t have it in me if this is only 15 minutes of fame. I’m not going to chase it my whole life trying to get it back; I’ll take it for what it is and move on. But hopefully it’s not, and hopefully I can make a career out of this.”
Overmyer, 23, was a standout in the competition from the beginning, with her raspy voice, biker-chic look and nonchalance toward the judges’ sometimes harsh critiques. Once, Simon even had to tell Overmyer that it was “okay to smile.”
“When the judges gave their comments, I just wanted to be respectful and listen. But the comments weren’t going to sway me one way or the other as far as what I was going to do,” said Overmyer. “The objective of being on the show was to go up there and show America me, perform like me, look like me and see how well it would take. The comments from the judges are based more on the idea of trying to win - and I had a different agenda.”
Overmyer wasn’t surprised to be kicked off, given the judges weren’t particularly fond of her performance Tuesday of the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” “[I thought] that more than likely I would be done. Yesterday [Wednesday's show] wasn’t the most traumatic thing that has happened in my life. I just got voted off a [reality] television show.
“I was thankful to be there and privileged to have that many millions of Americans vote for me to keep me on until [the Top] 11. …I’m cut from a different mold from everyone else in the competition, so I found it very warming that I had that much support.”