'American Idol's Kristen O'Connor says Chris Daughtry gave her great advice: "Don't be that guy who... You'll regret it"

American Idol ousted Kristen O'Connor during last week's live results show on Fox, determining the thirteenth season's Top 12 finalists. 


Kristen, a 24-year-old nurse tech from Sebastian, FL, became the first finalist sent home from American Idol's thirteenth season after she received the fewest home viewer votes cast following the week's performance show, which featured the Top 13 finalists performing songs which they believed best represented them as individual artists.

Kristen's elimination became official after Idol judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban announced they weren't going to prevent her departure by using the one "The Judges' Save" of the season. Kristen, one of the judges' "Wild Card" picks, had been in the bottom three with M.K. Nobilette and Malaya Watson.

During a Friday conference call with reporters, Kristen talked to Reality TV World about whether she was surprised to get eliminated and whether she thought the judges would save her. To read what she had to say, click here. Below is another portion of her interview. Click here for more.

In terms of Idol boot camp and working with past alums Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert, do you think they offered you a perspective that you couldn't have gotten anywhere else?  And was it helpful to talk to people who had been through the same process?


Kristen O'Connor: Oh my gosh, yes.  Absolutely.  I think that that was so beneficial not only -- I mean, I learned so much.  I don't even know what aired.  I haven't gotten to see a lot of the episodes, but I had a really long interview with Adam Lambert, and it was just like kind of a relaxed interview. 

I asked him about how you deal with things people say about you on the Internet, because I know he dealt with that, and he was like, "Oh, girl.  You know I did."  There was a lot of controversy about him when he was on the show, and he was like, "Kristen, you just can't read that stuff.  People are going to say things.  They do it to everyone." 

He was like, "It's hard."  Up to this point, none of us have ever experienced -- or most of us have never really experienced -- anything like that.  So he was like, "You can't read it."

That advice is definitely helpful for me going through this, and he helped me with song choices.  He was, like, just giving me the way that he approached choosing songs, and if I had gone forward, it was definitely advice I was going to take. 

And then Chris Daughtry -- also, I don't think it aired -- he played us a song, an acoustic song just for us.  We had a little jam session.  It was awesome.  I had chills.  It was amazing.  Oh my gosh, I think I had the highlight of my life when I got to sing for him because he loved it, and he was like really excited about it. 


His advice for me -- Honestly, after I sang, him and the staging director were like, "Oh, my gosh, we don't even need to help you.  You just killed it."  I'm sad that America didn't see it because everyone behind the scenes, I felt, really did.  So it's such a bummer, but he had some really good advice for me.  It was like staging and movement I was working on while I sang for him, and he was like -- What did he tell me?

He was just telling me how to take the microphone off the stand, a better way to do that more fluidly.  Because at one point, that was what I was going to do when I sang my song.  Honestly, I feel like I learned so much from them, and just to hear the way they approached -- also, he gave advice. 

[Chris] was like, "Do not be that guy who's like -- if it's not your personality to hold up your number like, 'Oh number three whenever they're telling [America] to vote," he's like, "Don't do it.  You're going to regret it.  If it's not you, don't do it." 

So yeah, it's awesome to hear things from him, and he talked about his first audition and going back and watching it, and he's like, "[Simon Cowell] gave me so much crap when I sang, and then I didn't understand it." And then he's like, "Now when I go back and watch it, the only thing that was good about this is the way I sounded -- if you close your eyes -- but everything about it wasn't good."

He's just talking about what he had learned from his experience and from going back, and now I can relate so much, because I go back and I'm like, "Yeah, I could've done [better]." And there are so many things.  I just learned so much and I'm so grateful for the experience and I just hope America will continue to follow me and to see how much I've grown and to see what happens.


Throughout the whole season, what would you say was your favorite moment of all?  Was it when you first found out that you were advancing, or what was the best moment?

Kristen O'Connor:  I think it was after I sang "Turning Tables" during Rush Week last week.  The judges gave me some phenomenal comments; I think I had some of the best of the night.  It felt amazing.  Jennifer Lopez told me, "I could see you recording records tomorrow." 

Keith commented on my range and honestly, the moment that's going to stick with me, is when I sang that song and just the energy and the crowd.  They went nuts, and just that feeling of singing in front of people that love you, it was an incredible feeling.  And that feeling is something that -- that's what I live for, and it's something I'll never forget.

You mentioned being a music major when you started college.  What was that experience like and why didn't you stick with it?

Kristen O'Connor:  Well, it was a great experience.  I was on a music scholarship and everything.  The reason I decided to change my major is because I'm very self-sufficient.  I've worked hard for everything I have, and I don't come from a lot of money or anything like that. 


So I had to pay my way through school myself.  I worked all through school, and so for me, I knew that I had to get a degree in something that was going to -- I was going to be able to pay for when I graduated, because college was a lot of money and I had to pay for it myself.  And with a music degree, a lot of times it's hard. 

This industry is tough, and as far as security goes, I felt I had to do that.  Also with nursing, nurses work three days of the week -- three twelve-hour shifts -- but during college, I was in school all day long and then working all night and then studying all night. 

I mean, for me, working three twelve-hour shifts a week and then having four days to do music is less stressful than what I had been going through when I was in college.  So that was always the plan, to graduate and then to continue to pursue music while working as a nurse to pay the bills. 

And nursing is also something that I feel -- and honestly it sounds cliche -- but I really do feel like I'm doing something important and it's something I can feel good about doing.  I enjoyed it.  I enjoy helping people, so yeah. 

I mean, I decided to do that because I just felt that it would be a good backup, I guess -- a good backup and something I'd be proud of doing if, for some reason, music doesn't work out.  But there was never a question in my mind that music is what I want to do, it's what I'm going to continue to do absolutely.


You were roommates with Jessica Meuse, and I don't think America got to see a good side of her during Hollywood Week and what not.  What can you tell us about Jessica?

Kristen O'Connor:  Yeah, we were all kind of surprised by the way that that was all shown.  She was my roommate.  She is so sweet.  Definitely, I think that they were kind of giving her that hard-look kind of thing.  I don't know.  I think Hollywood Week is no joke. 

Hollywood Week is extremely stressful, and some people got dealt a bad hand, and she was one of those people.  She just kind of ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time quite a few times.  So I mean, she's definitely not about the drama.  Honestly, she's a sweetheart, and she's a great roommate and she's a true musician.  Yeah, she's a nice girl.

You said something about maybe wanting to get into Broadway or acting.  Did you ever do the "American Idol Experience" in Orlando since you lived in Florida?

Kristen O'Connor:  I never did.  I had been to that park only just when the attraction opened, but yeah, I never had the chance to do it.  But it was always something I would have done had I gotten the chance because it seemed like a lot of fun.  And I know a couple of the girls that are in the Top 12 now, they did do that, and that's how they got their golden tickets.

Really? Which girls got their golden tickets that way?


Kristen O'Connor:  I'm pretty sure [Majesty Rose] and [Emily Piriz].

Any closing remarks, Kristen?

Kristen O'Connor:  I just want to say thank you all so much for taking the time to talk with me today.  To all my fans and to everyone please continue to follow me on twitter.  It's @imkristeno and also Instagram, same thing, and then on my new official Facebook fan site.

Definitely, this isn't the end, and also I have a YouTube page.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to post on that, but I have YouTube videos up.  You can watch me singing some songs, and hopefully I'll be able to post some new videos, and I'm definitely going to continue to write, so please stay tuned. 

I have so much more to share with you guys and I can't wait.  I can't wait to do that and to show you who I really am as an artist and as a person.  Thank you all for your time.

Above is a portion of Kristen O'Connor's recent conference call with reporters. To read what she had to tell Reality TV World specifically, click here. For more, click here.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski