Booted American Idol contestant Ramiele Malubay chatted with reporters Thursday following her ouster Wednesday night. USA TODAY listened in on the conference call.
Q: Were you surprised last night? And how did you feel when it sank in?
A: I kind of felt like I was going home last night, not to be, like, all negative or anything, because I'm really not that kind of person. I just felt that a lot more when Dolly sang, 'Oh, I'm going home,' but its OK. All of us have to go home sometime. There's only one winner.
Q: What was your ultimate goal? Top 5? Win?
A: My goal was to just get by week by week, because I didn't want to think that I was going to be in first place or second place, because if you think of it that way your experience is totally erased. Every little second can be erased. I didn't want that to happen. My goal was to get as far as I could, and I made it onto the tour, so I'm really excited for that.
Q: Have you considered following Jasmine's (Trias) path and having a career both here and the Philippines (where you were born)?
A: I definitely want to go back home because, I mean, it's home to me. I want to see what I can do over there. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have something over there. Following in her footsteps, she left a lot for me to follow, so I'm really grateful for her being the first Filipino-American Idol to go beyond the show and do big things.
Q: How much has Idol dominated your life since August?
A: It's pretty much taken over my whole life, but it's a good thing. Like, it's actually the first big thing that's happened in my life, and it's been a good experience. It's exposure. It's a future. I'm really grateful for the judges to get me as far as I did to let America judge.
Q: You mentioned you wanted to be the first Asian winner. Did you feel any added pressure to represent Asian-Americans?
A: A little bit of pressure just to see, you know, the fan base would grow and stuff. It was real flattering, it was real exciting, but then again I was, like, I had to do well not only for myself and my parents, but for people of the same race, the people supporting me. And I got as far as I could, and I hope no one is disappointed.
Q: You formed really close friendships with the other contestants. Was it hard to compete against them?
A: Honestly, we never really saw it as a competition until, like, Wednesdays, when someone had to go home. Like, we would, it's really weird, but we would help each other. We're a big family. We're not out to get the other person kicked off or anything. It comes from the heart. We don't sugarcoat things just for the camera.
Q: What did you, Brooke and Kristi say to each other last night?
A: We just hugged each other. We're roommates. We all lived together, along with Syesha. We were just talking to each other. Brooke was like, 'I love you guys no matter what happens.' And Kristi was like, 'I'm here again.' It was like, 'I love you guys.' I kind of knew it was me when Brooke went to go sit down.
Q: What's next for you?
A: I really want to try to pursue something. I'm staying in L.A. for a while and will try to pursue something here. If that doesn't work, then I'm definitely going back to school for nursing, and I also want to try acting.
Q: Do you have predictions for this year's Idol winner?
A: I think that we all went into this being totally different from each other and growing so much more to perfect our differences, our tweaks or whatever. I don't really know who's going to take it this year. It's really weird this year, everyone is so freakin' good. They sing so different but on the same level of greatness. I really don't know who will be taking it home this year, but whoever it is, it wouldn't be a surprise to me for any of them to be the winner.
Q: What did you learn from this experience?
A: I learned to be more of a humble person. I learned to just take things in and appreciate the little things and be more courteous to people. To acknowledge every person that works on the show, because it doesn't work without every single person who works on the show. And I learned so much from the band and the mentor, even though it was just one mentor that we got this week. And the vocal coaches that we get, it's just amazing to be able to work with those people.
Q: You seemed like everyone's little sister on the show. Was that the case?
A: Yeah. I'm older than Archuleta; he walks by me all the time and pats me on the head like I'm his little sister.
Q: After the show, what is it like? Does everyone hang out and party?
A: We usually just get together afterwards and just talk, but with Idol Gives Back there were rehearsals. I saw them, I said goodbye, and when I went back home to pack, they had a card for me, Kristi, Brooke and Sy. It had little inside jokes and stuff. I'm going to miss living with them, but I'm not leaving California, so I'll still see them. Go to shows and stuff.
Q: Did you feel the same pressure as David Cook? How did you deal with it?
A: I'm not sure. He clearly had high blood pressure, and he was fine and he went to hospital and is now fine. Everybody goes about things totally different, and we all break down in totally different ways. I believe that my breakdown was crying every week for everyone leaving. That's how I handle the pressure of letting it all out.
Q: How did you choose the songs each week?
A: I would try to just look at the song and see what I could do with it and if it was in my range and if I felt like challenging myself that week.
Q: What kind of album can we expect from you?
A: I grew up listening to a lot of what my parents listened to, like a lot of '60s, '70s and '80s. I would love to make an R&B/soul album and kind of just make it a little bit more upbeat and add my own flavor to some old songs or covers.
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