Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Drew Ryniewicz appreciates the apology from Simon, the fact that he took the blame for her landing in the bottom three on The X Factor this week.

But she doesn’t blame him entirely for her ouster from the show.

Yes, he wanted her to do another slow song (“Billie Jean”).  Yes, he wanted her to perform the song sitting in a chair under a single spotlight.

And, yes, she had considered doing something upbeat, like the other judges kept suggesting she do.

“I don’t believe it’s all Simon’s fault,” Drew said during a conference call with the media Friday afternoon. “I could have told him no.”

Then there was the save-me performance. 

After that, Drew admitted she didn’t expect to survive to sing another week.  Even though it was her first time in that position.  Even though Marcus Canty had been there before, just a week earlier.

“I knew that I wasn’t going through,” she said.  “I could see it in judges faces, the way they were looking at me … Especially after my save-me song. It just wasn’t the greatest.”

But you can count on this.  Drew plans to show her fans she can sing more than ballads.

“You can bet my album is going to have a variety of different tempo songs — upbeat, slow, emotional and non-emotional.

“I don’t think America got to see everything I’m capable of,”  she added later.  “I don’t want to let anyone down.”

And even if Simon was partly responsible for her departure in sixth place, Drew made it clear she appreciated the opportunity to work with him.

“To  be on The X Factor was an unbelievable journey,” the teen from Arizona said, seeming much more composed than last night, when she was in tears over landing in the bottom three.

“I got to work with Simon Cowell. We were like buddy-buddy. Now, looking back at it, it  feels like totally a dream.”