American Idol's Shannon Magrane: "I Didn't Pick the Right Songs"

On Thursday night's American Idol, after a debate between judge Randy Jackson and mentor Jimmy Iovine about the importance of song choice, Jackson reminded the remaining contestants that a great artist should be able to sing the phone book.
But Jackson's message didn't entirely resonate with eliminated contestant Shannon Magrane, who after the show reasoned that the biggest mistakes she made in the competition were in regards to her song choices. "I don't think I picked the right ones," Magrane told reporters. "It's really hard with song choice, especially because I'm 16 years old. You can't pick these big songs that are all about love. America will be wondering, 'Why is she singing these big love songs? What has she gone through?'"
When it became clear to Magrane that her performance of "One Sweet Day" hadn't resonated with America, she still held out hope that the surprise disqualification of fellow contestant Jermaine Jones would mean a second chance for her. "There were tons of options," she says. "[The judges] could have used the save, they could've not sent anyone home, or could have brought someone back. There were so many options I couldn't even think about it."
In the end, the judges decided not to save Magrane, opting to hold on to their one-time rescue card for at least another week. Yet despite being short-lived, Magrane says her journey has left her with plenty of fond memories."My happiest and proudest moment was getting my standing ovation in Hollywood Week," she told TV Guide Magazine. "It made me feel so good, having all three of those iconic people standing up for me. I can remember it right now!"
"It is definitely upsetting knowing that you have come this far and it has to end here," she said, tearing up. "But thinking about it, out of 121,000 people who auditioned for American Idol, I am in the 11. So I am really proud of myself."
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