Gina Glocksen may have been blindsided by her elimination from American Idol's sixth season on Wednesday night, but the 22-year-old Naperville, IL native said she's just glad she was able to stay true to herself.

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"I think [viewers] focused on my signing talent and the song choices.  And if that was the reason why they didn't follow through with voting for me, then I'm okay with that, because I was just continuing to be myself," Glocksen told reporters during a Thursday conference call.  "I think my fans in America knew that this was going to be a tough week for me... But I think my fans were just proud of my last two performances.  They were probably my two strongest out of the whole season, and kind of thought that I'd be safe, so they decided not to vote so much.  And I think that kind of killed me, because every vote counts."

After performing "Stand By You" and "Paint It Black" the previous two performance episodes, Glocksen was sent packing based on her Tuesday night rendition of "Smile" -- a pop song originally used in the soundtrack for the 1936 Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times -- not exactly the easiest tune to show-off her rocker image.

"I am not regretting anything.  I'm not.  I was happy that I had a chance to sing that song, because it kind of showed America that I also have a voice and not just a rocker image.  I also have a voice to sing with," said Glocksen.  "Actually I love rock music.  And if there's anything that I wanted to bring to the show it would be a chick rock singer.  I think that the thing about me is that I'm very versatile with the genres.  I sing in a cover band since I was 16 years old, so I know how to cover each genre pretty well.  But I'm more comfortable, I think myself, as a rocker girl."

Like with all Idol hopefuls eliminated from the competition, Glocksen had the opportunity to perform "Smile" again following Wednesday night's live results show.  But this time, she tried to make it more of her own.

"I never thought that I'd be singing that song again on the show," explained Glocksen.  "But as I was signing it, it kind of clicked after the first couple lines that I sang like, 'Wow, I'm just actually singing about myself.'  And I kind of changed one of the words, 'When there's clouds in the sky, I'll get by,' instead of 'you'll get by' because I know that there's always tomorrow.  And yes, that song is definitely going to be a very special song to me for the rest of my life now."

Wednesday night marked the first time Glocksen was among the bottom three vote getters.  When Idol host Ryan Seacrest revealed it was Glocksen who was eliminated instead of Haley Scarnato, a 24-year-old from San Antonio who performed, the live studio audience began to boo.

"It made me feel so blessed and very much loved.  You never know how many people love you in the audience.  It's hard to see all the signs that say, 'LaKisha or Jordan or Melinda, you're my Idol.'   There were like two or three that said, 'Gina, you rock.'  I treasure those signs and posters," said Glocksen.  "But to have that crowd in the uproar of booing, it was bittersweet because I'm great friends with Haley and I'm glad to see her still there, but I also wish that I were still there."

Idol's sixth season was the fourth time Glocksen had auditioned for the competition, and she said it was following her third attempt that she decided to drop-out as the singer of the band she had previously been performing with.

"I just kind of realized that the bar scene wasn't for me," she said.  "It wasn't helping singing shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday when I knew that I kind of wanted to audition for Idol again, and I didn't want to blow out my vocal cords before I got on the show."

The added focus on auditioning for Idol paid-off as Glocksen advanced through Hollywood Week, the semifinals and all the way into the Top 10.  One of her biggest supporters and harshest critics throughout was Idol judge Simon Cowell.

"I kind of considered Simon as a parent," she said.  "Parents will kind of, I guess maybe like the tough love kind of thing, they'll tell you what you don't want to hear, so you'll do the opposite.  And I think he'll say that I had a bad performance, just to make me stronger, because he did like me and he does see something special in me.  And I think he just wanted to push me to that next level."

Glocksen said it was difficult reaching that next level due to the amount of work all the finalists put in.  She explained their "weeks pretty much run Thursday to Thursday," with song choices made on Thursday, rehearsals for three days, mentorship on Saturdays, the Ford music-video shoot on Sunday, more rehearsals on Monday, the performance show on Tuesday, results show on Wednesday, and then the cycle starts over again for those lucky enough to still be around.  It was even more difficult for Glocksen, who had to abandon a key aspect of her image for Idol 6's first two performance episodes at the advice of producers.

"I've had my tongue ring in for three years, and to take it out for a couple shows, it kind of seemed funny to me.  It's who I am, and that's why people like me.  It's why people don't and I'm okay with either one," she said.  "I never second-guess anything.  This is what I signed up for; we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed our contract to join American Idol.  If you think about it, it's only six months out of your whole life, and it's just an amazing experience.  So I wouldn't regret anything."

Since she made the Top 10, Glocksen said she plans to tour with the other Idol 6 finalists this summer.  She then hopes to move to Los Angeles and "try to get a record deal."

"I want to make music, my own music because I've been singing covers for so long, and just try and sell albums," she said.

Glocksen said all of the finalists "got along" with each other, which made it even more difficult for her to predict who out of the eight remaining singers would be crowned Idol's sixth season winner.

"I really think everyone is at equal chances now... you never know what America is going to do; you just have no clue," she said.  "I would pick whomever America chooses.  I'm game for everyone; they're all my favorites."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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