Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Alex Lambert admits that he might never be able to look at a banana the same way again.

After all, Ellen DeGeneres compared him to one every time he sang during the American Idol semifinals.

First he was an unripe banana. Then he ripened. Then he got downright mushy.

Mushy or not, he headed home Thursday night in what was apparently a surprise elimination for lots of the American Idol contestants.

“That whole day, I was nervous,” Alex admitted in his exit interview with the media Thursday. “And people are like, ‘Dude, why are you nervous? You have no reason to be nervous. You’re going to be here.’ And then when I got cut.”

That, Alex said, was part of the reason for all the emotion that followed the announcement that he would not be among the final 12 on Idol in season nine.

The ouster followed his strongest performance — a Wednesday night rendition of Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble.”

But Alex admitted that while he’s comfortable with his singing ability, he needs more stage experience.

He was clearly suffering from a bad case of the nerves when the Idol semifinals began.

“Honestly, every time I got up there, I couldn’t even sing my best because I was so nervous,” Alex said. “I have a whole series of songs that sound better than what I sang on the show.”

What he didn’t factor into the Idol equation was the fact that it’s not just a singing competition, but a TV show. Singing matters, but so does performance.

“I didn’t know how to look at the cameras or how to react to the audience because I had never done it before,” the 19-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, said.

He plans to continue to pursue a career in music. He says he can see himself performing acoustic numbers, but thinks he has enough versatility to do well in a number of different genres, including R&B.

“This is the beginning of my career,” he said. “I’ve never been on stage before. I think I did great for not having any experience.”