March 21, 2008
Getting cut from American Idol on Wednesday wasn’t the end of the world for Amanda Overmyer. The nurse from Mulberry, Ind., is ready for what’s next and she hopes that it’s singing rock ‘n’ roll. But being a star isn’t a priority. Of her 15 minutes of fame, she says, “I’ll take it for what it is and move on.” Overmyer spoke to reporters Thursday, the morning after her elimination, and revealed what she told Kristy Lee Cook up on the Idol stage, what it means to be the “quintessential rocker chick” and whether or not she plans to invite any of the Idols to her upcoming wedding.
You showed a positive attitude about leaving the show. Are you optimistic about where you’re headed?
[Wednesday] wasn’t the most traumatic thing that’s happened in my life. I just got voted off of a TV show. I was thankful to be there and privileged to have millions of Americans vote for me just to keep me on [that long] … I’m cut out of a different mold of everyone else on the competition; I found that very warming that I had that much support.
What did Kristy Lee Cook say to you up there?
She thought it was her and I told her to chill out and stop worrying, that it would be alright.
What were your favorite and least favorite performances?
The two that I did on the big stage were equally my favorite just because I was more in my element there with the crowd in front of me. My least favorite would have been all the group numbers we had to do … I didn’t like performing them and doing all the choreography and stuff but as far as recording them and doing all of that, I actually was very strong at it. I have a choir background from high school.
Do you think the distinction of being a rocker chick hurt you or helped you in the competition?
Being my own personal style helped me as far as being the quintessential rocker chick, I guess, but as far as the competition itself I wouldn’t say that it necessarily helped me because young kids aren’t going to relate to me as easily as they do the other ones.
Now that you’ve had some major exposure, are you motivated to be a big star? Or are you okay with going back and having your old job?
I’m a very ambitious and driven person by nature and I’m going to take calculated risks to achieve success, but … success to me is a strong healthy family and success in whatever job you do and I wouldn’t have it in me if this is just 15 minutes of fame. I’m not going to chase it my whole life trying to get it back. I’ll take it for what it is and move on. Hopefully, it’s not. Hopefully I can make a career out of this, but it’s not going to be that unicorn that I keep chasing.
You have a wedding coming up. When is your wedding and would you invite your fellow contestants to attend and maybe sing?
I’d surely invite at least a couple of them and I don’t have any date at all. It’s been all pending with what happens.
Was your fiancé your rock throughout the whole thing?
I was more his rock through the whole thing because he was home alone and I bet that was pretty hard, being alone in a house while all the excitement is going on 2,000 miles away.
So what’s your plan for the immediate future?
I thought about it as far as what I’d like to do but I haven’t had any talks with management or anything like that on what the best way of going about it will be. I mean, I have zero experience in this industry and I’m completely as green as they come so I’m not going to venture to say this is what I’m going to do because I don’t know what the best way to go about it is so I’ve got to ask some people. But it will definitely be the southern rock genre. I definitely want to get out and tour and do the big biker alleys and things like that, but its just how to get there is what I need to be educated on.
