'American Idol' eliminee Sonika Vaid: I was invisible before I started singing

American Idol eliminated Sonika Vaid during Thursday night's broadcast on Fox, determining the Top 4 singers on the reality competition's farewell season.


After receiving the lowest amount of home viewer votes the prior week, America sent Sonika home. Sonika had landed in the bottom two with Dalton Rapattoni, a 19-year-old vocal coach from Dallas TX. It marked Sonika's third time in the bottom but Dalton's first experience being in jeopardy of elimination.

The contestants who received the most votes were Mackenzie Bourg, a 23-year-old musician from Lafayette, LA; Trent Harmon, a 25-year-old waiter from Amory, MS; and La'Porsha Renae, a 22-year-old call representative from McComb, MS. These artists therefore automatically advanced into the Top 4.

During a Friday conference call with reporters, Sonika, a 20-year-old student from Martha's Vineyard, MA, talked about her American Idol experience. Below is a portion of what she had to say. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.

What's next for you? What do you see yourself doing from this point on?


Sonika Vaid: Prior to this, well, I'm still in college. I'm a biology major and I definitely plan at some point to finish my degree and get my degree in biology. But I think for right now, I'm going to focus on music. I think this whole experience has really opened my mind up to the idea of doing this professionally, and I'm really excited about it.

And I've always wanted to work with people like Disney, like, I've grown up watching Disney movies and watching Disney Channel. And I just love the music that they put out and just their whole vibe almost. I love Disney Channel.

And also, I plan on writing songs, because prior to all of this, I've written a few songs but never released them. And now I'm definitely going to take my songwriting more seriously and really think about maybe releasing a few singles or even an album one day.

How much experience did you have before auditioning for American Idol?

Sonika Vaid: Prior to Idol, I had not had any experience. I mean, when I would sing for [my] high school, it was just very, very quickly. It's just very quick and I didn't really focus on, like, performing -- it was more about being heard.


Because that was the way, in high school, people started to realize who I was. In the beginning of my high school career, I felt like I was invisible, and I kind of was because I was so shy and low-key. But when I sang for the first time, it made people realize, like, "Oh, she sings!" But yeah, prior to all of this, I just sang in chorus like once a year in school.

You said you had an inkling you might be going home this week. Did that make it more difficult for you to prepare your two songs? It's unfortunate you worked so hard on two songs and didn't get to sing them.

Sonika Vaid: Well, I think every single week I prepare myself to get cut. But I always try my hardest to put my effort into the songs that I get every week because there's always an opportunity of, "Oh, you're getting saved," or, "Oh, you're not in the bottom!"

So, I prepared myself for everything, I think. And yeah, I still take the songs into account and really perform them to the best of my ability during rehearsal, when I practice on my own and yeah. I love making things my own too, so that's always something I do. (Laughs)

Was the process of choosing songs difficult for you? How did you go about that?


Sonika Vaid: Choosing songs, it wasn't that difficult for me. I mean, there were moments where -- because I sung some pretty well known songs, where I feel like I could've gotten mixed feedback, and I probably did. Like, I sang Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" and that really could have gone in either direction. I mean, people could've hated it or loved it. So that one was obviously a hard choice.

But for the most part, I just picked songs that I really feel, that I connect to. Even if I can't say that the story of the song is true to me, there's just some songs where I relate to the melody or the chords even. It doesn't have to be the words necessarily. So, yeah, I usually don't have too hard of a time picking songs.

Did you have any songs picked out for next week if you stuck around?

Sonika Vaid: Yes I did. Next week, there's the judges' picks, [mentor] Scott Borchetta's picks and then my hometown song. So, my hometown song, it was actually up in the air. So, there's two songs. One was going to be "Come Away with Me" by Nora Jones, and I was going to play the piano for the first time. That's something I had not gotten to do on the show.

That would've been cool. And then the other one was "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban. And that was for my grandfather, who had passed away when I was in eighth grade. It's more so a dedication song, that hometown song, but yeah.


And then Scott's pick for me was "Flame" by Cheap Trick. And then the judges' pick for me was "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. So, I feel like I would've had some fun with that. All of the songs! They were all great choices.

Was your hometown welcome going to be in Weston, MA, or Martha's Vineyard, MA?

Sonika Vaid: It was going to be in Weston.  

Since you love Disney, did you feel like a princess in some of the dresses you wore on the show?

Sonika Vaid: Yes! Even for the dark songs. I mean, when I sang Evanescence, they put me in this beautiful gown that made me feel like I was going to the Oscars. The wardrobe team is just insane, and the dress that I was going to wear for "Love Me Back To Life" was just breathtaking. So, I'm a little sad that I didn't get to wear it because it's really beautiful. They worked really hard on it too.


To read what Sonika Vaid told Reality TV World, click here. Check back with us soon for more.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski