Amanda Not Rocked by Exit: "I Had a Different Agenda"

If you're looking for Amanda Overmyer to sing a sad song over her elimination from American Idol, get in line with the patient bunch waiting for the gal to serve up a power ballad. Speaking to reporters the day after her dismissal, Amanda acknowledged that Idol "benefits anybody with any kind of distinction because it gives us that platform to start from and get... the biggest exposure we could ever get." But when it comes to making a legit run for the crown, "You have to look at the demographics of the voters and the people watching American Idol versus the demographics of your particular genre. I know that I target an older audience and a different audience maybe than American Idol provides."

Still, Amanda was thrilled to see the support she got from those who did stand by her. "With someone like me, who is completely different [and] cut out of a different mold from everyone else in the competition, I found that very warming," she said.

So, why didn't the rocker nurse zig when the judges urged her to zag and deviate from her hardcore wheelhouse? "I wanted to be respectful and listen [to Simon, Paula and Randy], but the comments weren't going to sway me one way or the other as far as what I was going to do," she said. "The objective of being on this show was to go out there and show America me, perform like me, look like me and see how it would take. The comments from the judges were based on the idea of trying to win, and I had a different agenda."

What's her agenda now that she's out of the race? "I'll give [a music career] maybe a good six months, and if nothing happens I'm going to go back and continue on the career path I started.... Success, to me, is a strong, healthy family and success in whatever job that you do. 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. But hopefully it's not."

And in case you were wondering what Amanda had on tap had she made Idol's top 10 and had to choose a song from the year she was born? Her pick was going to be "On the Dark Side," from the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. - Matt Mitovich