Michelle Delamore was one of the AI Top 24 that you thought just might make it to the Top 10.

Decent voice.

Good stage presence.

Presented herself well.

And then she tried to sing Creed’s song “Arms Wide Open.” last Wednesday.
It was the end of her AI road.

It just didn’t work.

Unfortunately, even she knew it. Thought so before she even went out onto the stage.

In her conference call exit interview last Friday she explained it this way:

Did she question using the song?

“I did. As a matter of fact, I think part of what messed me up a little bit is that I questioned it before I got on that stage.

“When you’re not sure of the song that you’re performing, it’s going to be noticed and people can feel that.

“I would have done my next song. I would have reversed it. I wanted to do “Come Together” by the Beatles, Michael Jackson style. I feel like it has so much drive and so much intensity, and it’s a song that I feel. I thought it would be so much fun to perform.”

Well, we’ll never have the chance to hear that one.

Here is part of Michelle’s interview:

How did she develop her stage presence?

“I’ve been singing on stage since I was 5 years old, mostly at church. That’s been my platform and my playground, practicing at church, I definitely think that’s helped me. I do a lot of gigs at home”

On Kara taking back her compliment from performance night:

“It was a little bit disappointing, but I’m really a perfectionist, I know that I didn’t do my best, I know Wednesday wasn’t close to my best performance.
“I understood where she was coming from. For me, when she actually said that, on the stage that day — it was my best performance ever — I was really shocked, cause I didn’t feel like that was my best performance at all, so when she took it back, I thought she was going to stay true to what she said, but I knew that it wasn’t my best performance.”

What was her thought process picking the Creed song?

“After my first performance, I had done Alicia Keys, and the judges all thought that I needed to take a risk, and do something that they wouldn’t expect me to do. That’s why I chose to do Creed.

“I just wanted to make sure that I did the right thing. I was too caught up in my mind. I should have, more than anything, just stayed true to who I am as an artist. I still feel I gave my own style to it, but I should have maybe chosen another song. Everything happens for a reason. I really love the song. The lyrics really went with what was going on in my life at that moment.”

Was she more comfortable from Week 1 to Week 2?

“The first week, just knowing that you’re going to step out on that stage … I’ve watched every single season of American Idol and when we first walked into the room where the stage is, and saw the lights, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, is this for real?’ Everything I ever watched for the past 8 years. I’m about to step on that stage and make it happen.

“There were nerves, but there was so much excitement and adrenaline rush, I was driven mostly by that. I was very confident in my song choice, so I was more excited than anything.

“Second week, I was a little bit unsure of my song choice, and I think that’s what came through. That’s why you saw a difference in one performance to the next.”

Does she think her lack of screen time hurt her?

“I wasn’t really bummed. Actually, before the show started, they made a whole commercial and it said, ‘meet Michelle’ and I thought that was amazing! So I was excited about that.

“Then I saw that they really didn’t show me so much. I figured they know what they’re doing and I knew that I really didn’t have a story. I kinda have a normal lifestyle at home, not so much tragedy. I don’t think that makes for good TV, so I understood.”

Her favorite moment on Idol.

“Working with Dorian (Holley, vocal coach). He worked with Michael Jackson, and if you saw ‘This is It’ — I saw the film five times. Michael Jackson is my idol, he’s my inspiration. I said, ‘One day when I become specialized, I pray to God that I can work with this man.’ And when I walked into the room and I saw him, I just started crying, I got so emotional, cause I felt like a dream of mine just came true. This is as close as I’ll ever get to Michael, and he really helped take me to the next level and that to me was the highlight of the whole Idol experience.

http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_9/performances/michelle_delamor_with_arms_wide_open/?ref=ai9_contestants_profile_judge_comments