Erika Van Pelt sat down with MTV News to discuss her elimination last week on American Idol 2012 and she doesn’t hold back.
Erika told MTV that she was surprised by her elimination and even “felt a little robbed” by being sent home. Of course this was the second time Van Pelt had been eliminated by America’s vote which makes me think any time she had as a finalist after that first elimination was a gift from the judges. Not only that, but Erika gets to be part of the summer tour and earn a nice little paycheck for that experience. Erika Van Pelt might have been better than some of the other singers still in the competition, but she wasn’t going to win this season so I’m not sure I could agree with her “robbed” assessment.
Speaking of those judges, Erika added that the singers received conflicting feedback from the judges. She was told by JLo to move around more during her Billy Joel performance while other singers were praised for their standing-still deliveries.
“I think a lot of your fate rides on what sort of light [the judges] shed on you,” Van Pelt said. “For me, I was doing ‘New York State of Mind,’ which is a ballad, and every time Billy Joel has ever performed it, he’s been sitting behind a piano, he’s not dancing around, and [Jennifer Lopez] made some comments about me on planting my feet and getting my body into it more. I just wasn’t feeling it. I don’t feel like I need to jump around to sing. There are a few other contestants on the show that do nothing but stand there and sing, and they don’t say anything to them. [At] the very least, they get standing O’s, and they like that. I just felt it was a constant struggle for me.”
Maybe I’m reading too much in to this, but it’s coming off a little like sour grapes to me with complaints of judges favoring some over others. We all know that happens on American Idol. And of course this was a constant struggle for her. Did I mention she had already been eliminated once and the judges brought her back? She’s been hanging by a thread since the Top 25 performances. I wasn’t surprised by her elimination last week and I think she had more than her fair share of chances to connect with the audience. It just wasn’t happening for her.
Check out the video of Erika’s interview with MTV News below along with a second video clip of her complaining about the feedback process and even admitting that she doesn’t accept criticism well.
Source: MTV News