Idol's "Chicken Little" Gets Plucked

Chicken Little ran out of cluck, I guess you could say. (OK, that's it for the nickname jokes.) Last week on Fox's American Idol (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET), no amount of cooing from Paula could save Kevin Covais' goose, as the little-too-adorable 16-year-old sang his final song, a rendition of this reporter's wedding song, "When I Fall in Love" (not that I hold it against him).

If anything, the extrication from the spotlight might  someday  let Kevin's adopted moniker fade away, not that he minded it much. "I'm loving it," he told TVGuide.com the morning after his ouster, "because I'm a fun-loving guy and I enjoy that type of stuff. I'm sarcastic and witty, I have a sense of humor, so I really appreciate it. And it's nothing against me, because one of my good friends, Paris Bennett, made it up."

Besides, we'd like to point out, it just might land the sprite a voice role in any Chicken Little sequel. "I hope so," he responds. "That would be great!"

That less-than-manly nickname isn't the only thing Kevin wouldn't dare alter about his Idol run. "I would [change] not a thing," he says in retrospect. "I was myself, I acted like myself and I did all I could every time out. Why would I want to change anything? I was happy with the results." After a beat, he adds, "Well, not with the results last night, but you know what I mean."

As host Ryan Seacrest suggested during Kevin's send-off, the Long Islander's world has been transformed by his weeks of fame. "And all for the better," Kevin tells us. "This experience has been amazing, and I'm going to take so much out of it. Yes, it transformed my life completely."

In a conference call with reporters, Kevin also had this to say about...

... the "sex symbol" teasing by Ryan and Simon
"As far as [that], 'Chicken Little' and the gangster references, I can tell you that I probably encouraged a lot of that. That was the producer saying, 'Do you want to try this? Will it offend you?' And I said, 'Go for it.' I wasn't offended in the least."

... standing up to Simon
"I think I won respect. As far as [the impact on votes], I have no idea. Maybe people voted for me, maybe some said, 'Oh, he's arrogant' and didn't vote for me because of it. I had taken four weeks of negative comments from him, and I kind of just flipped the script a little bit on him. I think he was trying to test me, and I think I passed the test."

... his pick to win American Idol
"I couldn't predict a winner right now. Honestly, there are so many that could be potential favorites that could sneak in and become a favorite. It's anybody's game."

... life after Idol
"I'm looking forward to going back to high school, seeing all my friends and getting into the school shows for next year."

... life with the ladies after Idol
"Before this, I was confident with girls. The only difference was I didn't have celebrity status. But it's a different situation now. I guess girls will be more eager and stuff, I guess certain girls like a celebrity. So I'll keep an eye out for those girls!"

Find out why do so many people risk making fools of themselves on shows like American Idol.