'American Idol' eliminee Dexter Roberts: I'm going to try to step out of the box and do something crazy

American Idol eliminated Dexter Roberts, a 22-year-old from Fayette, AL, and determined its Top 6 thirteenth-season finalists during Thursday night's live results show on Fox.
 
Dexter became the seventh finalist sent home from American Idol's thirteenth season after he received the fewest home viewer votes cast following last week's performance show, which featured the Top 7 finalists performing songs they had selected for one another in a brand new theme dubbed "Competitors' Pick." The country artist sang "Muckalee Creek Water" by Luke Bryan.


Dexter tried his best to get through his final performance of "Lucky Man" by Montgomery Gentry after his elimination. Jessica Meuse had landed in the bottom two alongside him.

During a Friday conference call with reporters, Dexter talked about his American Idol experience. Below is a portion of his interview. To read another portion, click here. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.

I know from reporting on American Idol in the past, sometimes it's hard to make that transition to TV, right?  You can sing in a bar, you're okay onstage, but TV, wow!  What was the biggest challenge for you making the transition to being on television?

Dexter Roberts: Well, just getting used to doing the interviews, really, getting used to having to be on TV. And, I don't know, just the whole in general being on TV was something different. And remembering all your lines and your stuff is real different.


When you watched yourself on-camera, which I'm assuming you watched the playback, what was your reaction to that?  That must have been an unusual experience.

Dexter Roberts: Oh, the playback from last night?

Yes, or any night really.

Dexter Roberts: Oh, any night.  Well, I didn't watch last night.  I didn't have time to.  I tried to get all my stuff packed up. But yes, I went over each night that I saw and, again, I was like, "Man, what can I do next week that I didn't do this week? And what can I improve on just to make myself do better?" So, that's what I did each week.

So you had no like, "Oh my God, here I am," moment?


Dexter Roberts: Not really.  I really didn't care what I looked like.  I just wanted to sound good and I just wanted to make the crowd go crazy.

What inspired you to audition for American Idol?

Dexter Roberts: Well, it was a dream of mine.  I told my grandma, I said, "I'm going to be famous one day. I'm going to go into something, do something for somebody or just become famous, or I'm going to sing. I'm going to do something." 

And all my buddies and everybody that I've sung to, sung in bars, and sung just at weddings and parties and stuff, I was like, "Guys, you need to try out for American Idol." And I didn't think I was ever good enough, but one day I was like, "Man, I'm just going to try out," because I just wanted to see if it worked, which sure enough, it did.

I understand you're going to be heading for the woods with a teepee?


Dexter Roberts: I get that question a lot today.

What else are you going to be taking into the woods with you?

Dexter Roberts: Well, man, that was just a phrase that I was telling my mom, because I missed Alabama so much and missing just the country life.  And I told her, I said that, "The only grass I've seen has been in between the sides of this concrete and I've not seen much grass or dirt." And I said, "When I get home, I'm going to get me a teepee to go out in the woods and just stay for a few months."

In regards to the tour, the dates were just announced. What are you looking forward to most when you hit the road this summer?

Dexter Roberts: Just to be able to hang out with all my friends again on tour.  I'm really looking forward to seeing who wins, really, because everybody's so good, you just don't know who's going to win.  But I'm just really looking forward to being with everybody and being able to get out there onstage and not have to worry about getting judged.


Whom did you bond with most on the show?

Dexter Roberts: Oh man, it's hard to tell.  I bonded with everybody, really.  But it's probably going to be [Caleb Johnson] and [C.J. Harris]. They are the most, probably, I bonded with.

Did former Idol winner Taylor Hicks give you any good advice when he was on the show?  He was such a big supporter of you Alabama kids.

Dexter Roberts: Yes, he came in there. I remember I talked to him in the tent and he told me, "Just go in there and just have fun, man, just be yourself and kill it."  And it is true, he was really rooting for me.

Do you have a wishlist of artists whom you'd love to sing with in the season finale? Is anybody hinting about that?


Dexter Roberts: Yes, I'm going to try to step out of the box and do something crazy.  So, I don't know, I'm going to work on it.  It's going to be a surprise to you.

Same thing with the tour, right?

Dexter Roberts: Yes.

Advice given to you seemed confusing at times. For instance, when Randy Jackson was mentoring you, he said, "Put that Dexter spin on it."  That's always nice, but did they give you a little bit more to work with during those mentoring sessions that viewers didn't get to see?

Dexter Roberts: Oh, well, I wish they did, because I was confused just as much as ya'll were. (Laughs)

Did the show differ a lot from what you expected it to be or was it what you had actually anticipated?


Dexter Roberts: Well, man, there's a lot of stuff that I didn't -- because I've watched the show as time passed, but I've not been on it fully.  And I was like, "Man, I'm just going to go out and try out."  And I went through all this, I didn't know, there were so many different steps in American Idol that you had to go through. 

I thought you just went up there and auditioned and that was it.  But, no, you've got to go through a lot of stuff, a lot of not being able to sleep, and it's hard work.  And everybody that's been on American Idol, you know, it's passed down to everybody, because I understand what you went through.

What about the summer tour, have you ever seen that in person yourself?

Dexter Roberts: No, I've never seen that.  I'm looking forward to it.

I was wondering what your plans are for the future?  Do you, for instance, think you might move to Nashville to pursue a music career?

Dexter Roberts: Oh yes, ma'am.  I'm going to go up to Nashville and hit the road, so I'm going to try my best to launch a big album and to start my career.


Oh, so you do plan on moving to Nashville?

Dexter Roberts: Yes. 

Above is a portion of Dexter's interview. To read another portion, click here. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski