'American Idol' eliminee Lee Jean: Being in the bottom three was tough for me and I was nervous

American Idol determined its farewell season's Top 6 singers and eliminated Lee Jean and Avalon Young in the process late last week on Fox.


The two contestants ousted from the competition were Lee, a 16-year-old student from Bluffton, SC, and Avalon, a 21-year-old server from San Diego, CA, because Idol's judges chose to save the other bottom-three member.

Judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. saved Sonika Vaid, a 20-year-old student from Martha's Vineyard, MA, after all three singers performed. It was Lee and Sonika's first time in the bottom three, but Avalon had been in that spot once before.

On Friday, Lee talked to Reality TV World about his American Idol experience. Check back with us soon for more from his conference call, and to begin reading our interview with Avalon, click here.

Reality TV World: We saw a scene earlier in the season when Tristan McIntosh picked the song "Clarity" but mentor Scott Borchetta totally shot the idea down, which made her cry. She ended up with a great song choice that week, but did you ever experience a moment like that? Did you ever feel conflicted about singing a song you wanted to do vs. what head honchos on the show wanted?


Lee Jean: Yeah, me being young, I'm not necessarily completely aware of what kind of artist I want to strive to be. So, whenever I would go in with some songs, I would always try to keep an open mind, because I never know what they're going to throw out. Maybe it might sound good!

So, I never had any real, like, struggling conflicts about whether I should sing this song or this song, because I always put in songs that I love. So, if it was one song over the other, then I wouldn't even really mind because I'm just comfortable performing in general.

Reality TV World: Everyone this season is talented in her or his own way, but obviously La'Porsha Renae has been a standout from the start, even to the point where Kelly Clarkson blurted out she should win the show when she was a guest judge. Did you feel like you were basically in a competition for second place? If so, was that a little disheartening?

Lee Jean: Everything is just so completely random. You never know who America's going to pick or why they're going to pick them. But honestly, I never personally felt like I was in a competition with La'Porsha let alone anybody else in the competition, because like, it was always just a competition with myself.

I was just trying to further and better myself every week. I love everybody to death, and so honestly, whoever wins -- whoever it may be -- I'm glad that they won because whoever wins, deserves it.


Reality TV World: Jennifer Lopez mentioned that your nerves kind of showed through your bottom-three performance a little bit, that she thought it was necessary for you to maintain your composure during that critical time. Were you especially nervous for that performance? Harry Connick Jr. also said you sang a little sharp, which can also be a direct result of nerves.

Lee Jean: Yeah, I would definitely say that I was nervous, and I don't say that often. So that's a statement. Definitely being here and just being in the bottom three, that was a little nerve-wracking for me because it was not something that I was used to. I'm 16 and I'm inexperienced, so just being in the bottom three, it was tough for me.

But I feel like the performance that I gave and the performance I put out was definitely something that was from the heart. No matter the nerves or the pitch or whatever was wrong with it, I still feel like everything that was right with it was right for a reason.

Check back with Reality TV World soon for more from Lee's post-American Idol interview. Click here to begin reading what Avalon told us following her ouster.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski