Erika Van Pelt’s elimination last night on American Idol 2012 may have been semi-expected for most of us, (I was still holding out hope for a “Whip My Hair” performance by DeAndre) but Erika took it pretty tough. Could you blame her?
Van Pelt was up early this morning for her post-Idol elimination interviews and she told her home state news just how she was feeling. Spoiler: not so good.
South Kingstown’s Erika Van Pelt, eliminated from “American Idol” on Thursday night, described herself Friday morning as “still devastated” and “reeling” from the abrupt end to her tenure on the show.
Speaking on FOX Providence TV’s “Rhode Show,” the 26-year-old onetime karaoke singer also expressed her appreciation for Rhode Island’s backing during her run, including a show-watching — and voting — party at Warwick Mall.
Erika did close out on a very positive note though when she mentioned she was looking forward to the summer American Idol Tour. Van Pelt will also continue to have her past three Idol performances available on iTunes.
Best of luck out there for Erika in the post American Idol showbiz world. She’s clearly a very talented singer.
Good Luck Erika with all you do! Much Love from Massachusetts!! American Idol is GARBAGE! Clearly America proves once again they dont vote based on talent!
I agree…American Idol is so disappointing anymore , it really is a popularity contest. Erika not the best…but by far not the worse
You’re so correct. The two girls who get most of the attention on this site are Jessica and Hollie, small and young. Erika could sing well but to her disadvantage on a voting show, she is 26 and full figured. Never had a chance. I felt bad for her but loved her Pat Benatar hair. More edgy now.
I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in this outcome..clearly all the teenboppers are voting and texting once again. Why dont they change the way votes come in??? To still have Heejun in the competion is so absurd and someone like Erika is sent packing….something has to be done with this voting. I have never been so disillusioned with AI before. I think this is it for me. The most talented person hardly ever wins.
If Erika is better than Heejun why AI judges never save her? The judges has the reason why they never use their power to her. Like Ashton you all have said she is a great Singer but not to the judges.
I still cannot believe that Hee Jun is still in this competition. And Deandre? How could he possibly be in the bottom 3? He is great!
Erica is still number one in Rhode Island! HeeJan should have gone home, but we all know its the teenage girls who decide!
Come on! HeeJan is hardly heartbreaker status…sometimes people vote for odd contestants to goof on them or the show. If this site is any indication of the true concenus of the public, the girls are wild for Jessica and Hollie. Who knows.
Erika should not have left. It should have been Hee Jun. I have been wishing he would be voted off from the beginning, you can’t even understand the words to the songs he sings.
I hope to hear more from Erika.
Thank you!
not to worry, erika. there is a record contract out there somewhere. as we’ve seen in the past, the winner is not often THE WINNER.
Hee jun should have gone home! I thought you did amazing! Hee Jun is just not good. You deserved to stay, Erika! And to the people saying “it’s all run by teenage girls”, i’m 15 and I think Heejun sucks. On the other hand though, Phillip is my favorite. But i havent voted once so i dont count towards that scenario!(:
I like you. You seem pretty smart for a 15 y/o. And thank you for not throwing DeAndre’s name in there just because he was in the bottom three. He was still two rungs up the ladder and doesn’t deserve to be blamed for knocking her out of the contest.
I think Tommy is the blame for Erika’s misfortune. Before Tommy she looked younger and cheerful. After Tommy; older and too business professiona. I’m sure the new look took away many votes
I agree with you totally. Her make over made her look more sophiscated and definetly more mature. I thought she sang better last night than a lot of people. I don’t think she would have won but I would have eliminated 3-4 more people before her.
Wow, can’t believe Erika was below either of the two guys. Erika’s singing was clearly better…..I guess the nel look didn’t go over too well.
Sorry Erika, I should have voted…….
Finally a person who knows where the blame really lies. Don’t be too hard on yourself though Lil. A lot of people should have voted and voted and voted and voted. Too much complaining about people who do vote and not blaming yourself for not voting. I would like to nominate this post for some kind of award. Probably the best post of the entire year…maybe the entire 11 years.
All these people are like the ones who don’t vote for president and then complain about who got elected and what they are doing in office.
She seems like a nice enough person. She’s also a decent singer. At the same time, I could never seem to get into her. If Heejun & Deandre are the next to leave, I’ll figure they’ve got the top 7 right. Then no matter who wins I’ll be happy with it.
I don’t think Erika was going to win anyway. I’m not so sure there’s much difference between coming in 10th and coming in 8th.
Aside from the pleasure of hearing her sing for another couple weeks, which I will miss.
SHE HAS BEEN IN THE BOTTOM THREE EACH WEEK. IF THEY WOULD HAVE SAVED HER SHE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE AGAIN NEXT WEEK SO IT REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A WASTE OF A SAVE. SHE WAS OK SHE CLEARLY IS NOT THE BEST SINGE BUT NOT THE WORST EITHER I DON’T THINK SHE WOULD HAVE WON BUT SHE WAS WAY BETTER THEN HEEJUN HE IS JUST AWFUL AND HE NEED TO GO
Why are you typing in caps? And why hasn’t this been eliminated according to the commenting rules?
Its not really a matter of who sings best now….its a matter of having a following who will vote for you…she really didnt have one….dont get me wrong i thought she sang well…..i think she is like casey last year….people thought he would be ok and voted for someone else to keep them from being eliminated…..and it backfired……i hope heejun goes next but honestly he has a huge following…. so look out elise holly or diendre…..
If Heejun wins I’m gonna never watch this show again! You’re right about the following, most adults may vote once or twice, but the kids with nothing to do will call non-stop for 120 minutes!
There is a contest right now in Europe where a contestant can only be voted for once every 2 hours. I’m not saying Idol should make it that long between votes, but it can be done. It’s just that Idol wants bragging rights for how many people voted (or in reality how many votes were cast by a handful of people) and also wants the kickback it probably gets from AT&T.
OMG, everyone is so afraid this dude will win, don’t think so. It’s like when people voted for Kate Gosselin on DWTS, they’re just goofing on him. Erika was good, but not good enough to win. Heejun will jump back into obscurity very soon.
Maybe I am just getting to old for this show? Erika was far better than the guys in the bottom. I think both of them should go! And Elise is so mad looking all the time.
It would be nice if only one vote per phone. Maybe it wouldn’t be the younger set sitting for the 2 hours votinng. I am ready for So you think you can dance.
Me too Stephanie!
Make that three who are ready for SYTYCD!
I’m number four
I agree that Heejun should go just because he admitted he isn’t even trying to be a star. I don’t know if he was sincere in saying that but I think he and Phillip thumbed their noses at the mentor’s advice and that is not only disrespectful but it’s a bad decision all the way around. The reason they are on American Idol is because they couldn’t make it on their own in the music world and they needed a kick start. Now they think they know more than people who already are successful in the music industry and did it without any help from a talent contest like this. They need to use what ever advice comes their way and learn from it. They need to at least have enough respect for the people trying to help them to NOT make a mockery of them on live TV. I really didn’t like that at all. I can’t see why more people aren’t outraged about that. Yes I know Phillip’s image is just fine the way it is but he would never have worn gray on gray except to be in defiance of the advice he received. If you think it’s cool to be still in the rebellious stage at his age then OK but I think it’s a little childish and immature if you ask me.
But why do you people have to lump DeAndre in there with Heejun every time. The kid has way more talent than Heejun and from what I see Phillip and Heejun are good buddies and you should put Phillip with Heejun if anybody. And also DeAndre hasn’t shown the disrespect that Phillips and Han have so I hold a lot of respect for him just due to that fact.
Just sayin!
I agree with you about Philip. I actually like the guy sometimes but his “I will do my own thing” was a huge turn off. As Jimmy said, to succeed in the industry you need to collaborate. Plus, like I mentioned in a post a while back (hard to keep track), the advice to not wear gray on gray was not at all bad! There was very little reason to defy it except rebellion.
P.S. Obviously I am not a teenager anymore. I value people who listen to reasonable advice over people who just want to do their own thing. Just saying.
I agree with you in the fact that Heejun should go…but Phillip I think is fine – who cares of he’s buddies with Heejun? What has that got to do with anything. I don’t think Phillip was being anywhere near disrespectful as Heejun. Yeah he wore plain clothes but he looked good…so what’s the big deal? Just cause some big shots giving you advise doesn’t mean you have to follow it especially of its changing who you want to portray.
Disagree. Phillip is on the show to be heard and hopefully start a career. He’s not on ANTM. He is opting to be known for his voice and musicality, not to be on the cover of GQ. I see no disrespect in his choice to be himself.
In response to @Taymaro once again..you shouted out Phillip for not listening to mentor to change his look… Erika listened and look what happened to her.
She’s talented and has CLASS!
Though I kinda knew Erika would never have won due to the very stiff compitition, I do agree she’s a very good singer with great personality. When she changed her look, that was so very good for her in many ways! Not only is she super hot, but she looks like a super star! I wish her luck in this tough business. This is only a minor step in the road…
I hope you will do well outside AI Erika. Please outdo HeeJun. 🙂
Erika should NOT have been the one sent home last night. The people I expected to get the boot was either, Heejun, Deandre, or even Elise. The judges praised Elise like crazy and I really didn’t think she was that good. Sorry Elise. AMERICA … VOTE FOR TALENT ! This should not be a popularity contest. You are suppose to select who is a great singer/performer. Music you wouldn’t mind listening to.
No way should Erika have left this week. She gave one of the best performances in my opinion. Heejun should’ve gone home. People are voting for him because of his personality — definitely not because he is a good singer.
I think AO just want’s to cater to the teenies. Who are they fooling to keep Hee Jun oven Erika? Watch The Voice instead folks. It won’t be long before AO is hardly watched. Will AO listen? Do they even care??????
Outta Here
Who is AO. Do u mean AI
At least you were consistent with AO. 😉
good luck erika…you are one brave girl… keep on singing coz you have a nice voice and groove…
please STOP blaming heejun… america voted so why pick on him?
So sad… I really like her, now only Skyler, Hollie and Jessica was left.. Heejun or Deandre should’ve left..
she left the show with a good performance
I am shocked Erika was in the bottom 3, or anywhere close to it. As I had her pegged as one of the top 3 performers this week. Add the fact that Deandre and HeeJun got more votes than her, tells me that there are a lot of people whose voting has nothing to do with talant of the performance EACH week. I think the judges knew they jumped the gun too early with their save last seaon. That is the ONLY reason they did not use it on Erika this season. Which is a shame, as she was amazing this week.
Hang in there Erika, you’re great! Once again American Idol misses the boat on real talent, Heejun is terrible, he should be gone. As far as Randy Jackson goes, he could have used a little more class in his final decision. Always remember, not many Idol winners top the charts, look at Chris Daughtry. By the way we saw you on Access Hollywood, excellent and it’s only the start for you.
I partially blame the stylist for Erika’s “unpopularity.” Her clothes have been very unflattering!