Danny Gokey was an early favorite on American Idol this season, but his path stopped just short of the finale when he was eliminated on Wednesday.
by POPSUGAR Entertainment
Danny Gokey was an early favorite on American Idol this season, but his path stopped just short of the finale when he was eliminated on Wednesday. This morning, he spoke with reporters about his big post-Idol dreams: the Milwaukee-based singer said he wants to "start a movement" with his music, combining it with the goals of Sophia's Heart Foundation, which he started in honor of his late wife. He also sized up Kris and Adam heading into next week's finale and clarified that no, he's not taking money from LensCrafters for making that heart symbol with his hands. Here are highlights:
- On the pressure of being an early favorite: "I felt like I had so much on me in the beginning of the show that I had to outdo myself every week. . . . I'm still growing as a musician, yet people expect this to come out of me, and I felt at times like I just wasn't there yet. . . . Maybe people got disappointed, like, 'Man, I thought you were better than that.'"
- On his much-discussed "Dream On" scream: "I was actually thinking about that this morning — I was like, maybe that was kind of like the downfall. I really wanted to have a big song that week and I took a big risk. . . . So late in the competition, you don't want to have a performance like that. Everything in that performance was good up to that point."
- On sizing up Kris and Adam for the finale: "Kris, you know, obviously he's really artistic, and Adam has a way on the show of capturing the audience. . . . This competition is not over yet. I feel like it's going to be a very tight race this next week. . . . One thing in my book about Kris is that he's very mellow, and that's one character trait I've always wanted. I'm an intense personality at times. Adam, he's just a great guy. I really can't fault him on anything. I think Adam is who he is onstage and who he is offstage. He's very creative — he lives creative, he dresses creative, he talks from that perspective."
- On what he learned about himself from Idol: "I learned a lot about how pressure has an effect on a person. For me, this whole experience, I learned to overcome things in my life — overcome insecurities, overcome doubts. Sometimes you really didn't want to go out on that stage — I felt maybe unprepared, or 'Wow, is anyone going to like what I'm doing?' When I had the good performances, especially this past week, I was so thankful."
To see what Gokey had to say about making his Idol songs fit his style, what his album might sound like, and what he hopes his musical future will be, just read more
