Idol's Jasmine: Graceful Under Fire
Few
American Idol contestants have polarized fans like
Jasmine Trias has. They either love the 17-year-old Hawaiian cutie — or they can't stand the tone-deaf little so-and-so! Last week marked the end for Trias, who smiled through her tears all the way to the final three. Now that
Fantasia and
Diana are left to fight it out, she has time to take on a few of our nagging questions. Hey, it should be a piece of pineapple upside-down cake for the Mililani girl who faced
Simon's slams and lived to tell the tale!
Simon commented that everyone in Hawaii would have to vote to save Jasmine. Then, she beat out La Toya London! Did Hawaii really do it or was that just hype?
According to Verizon, Hawaii logged more calls during Idol's two-hour voting period than all of the company's 29 coverage states — with the exception of New York and California. So it could've happened. "They said Hawaii voted a lot that week when Simon said that," Trias tells TV Guide Online. "But I think a lot of my support came from the rest of America and Hawaii just boosted it up. I was touched by that."
Why was Jasmine so weepy over La Toya's vote-off? Did she think it should've been her?
"The reason why I cried was I knew I didn't give my best performance," Trias says. "To hear the judges tell me that, I just kinda broke down. I guess America voted for [me] because it's a reality show. I'm only human and it's okay to cry right? It was a weird situation to handle. [La Toya] got voted off, but she had a really good performance, when I didn't. I should've went, but at the same time, we all worked hard for it, so we all deserved to be there. I was happy, I was upset, I was everything. But every Wednesday was like that!"
Did Jasmine resent Paula's cheesy choice of "Mr. Melody" during last week's performance show? That song couldn't have helped her chances.
"Yeah, it was a challenge," Trias admits. "I mean, I love Natalie Cole but I think the song was more of a big-band song. But you know what? It was my first time scatting, so it was fun."
What does Jasmine count among her best and worst hits?
"I would say my best were 'Inseparable' and Barry Manilow week," she recalls. "[Manilow] was the best celebrity judge because he actually worked with us on our songs, and gave us advice on how to perform and sing it. I had some pretty good weeks — and some pretty bad weeks. My worst week was disco week!"
Her dad, Rudy Trias Jr., went from wearing jeans to suits in the audience. Did the show require that?
"American Idol didn't actually do a makeover on my dad," she chuckles. "He would never, ever wear a suit, but he was kind of pressured into wearing a suit. He just wanted to look presentable because he was on TV every single week."
What happened to Jasmine's signature flower behind the ear? It just disappeared after awhile. Did the producers make her ditch it?
"I was kinda my decision," she says. "I wanted to change things up a little. I thought I was going to wear the flower the whole way, but as the show goes on, your style starts to change. You start to transform into a star. I felt I wanted to get rid of the flower — I'm not gonna wear it for the rest of my life!"
