Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Think back to Top 7 week on American Idol.

The judges were put on the spot by Ryan Seacrest. They were asked to name the top three contestants.

One one judge, Mariah Carey, included Candice Glover in her top three.

Candice Glover celebrates her victory on American Idol. (AP Photo)

“But it also gave me a boost to do my best the next week,” she recalled during a Friday afternoon conference call with the media.

And that’s the strategy the 23-year-old from St. Helena Island, S.C., says she used throughout the competition.

If anyone said anything negative about a performance — not that it happened to her often — she’d use it as “fuel” for the next week.

The strategy paid off of course. Thursday night, Candice Glover became the Season 12 champ.

Now she has a single out, “I Am Beautiful,” which was the 10th most downloaded from iTunes as of 5 p.m Friday.

She has an album on pre-order, number six on iTunes as of 5 p.m.

And she has exactly two months to put together that album.

That’s right, in a chance of strategy, Idol has decided not to wait until November to release an album from the Season 12 winner.

Candice’s “Music Speaks” has a release date of July 16.

Rather than being intimidated by the pressure of having to put together a debut album so quickly, Candice seemed to be embracing the challenge.

She said she likes the idea of releasing music while her Season 12 Idol run is still fresh in the minds of fans.

And while she’s only recorded the single so far, she’s been listening to other potential songs from the album.

Candice also knows what she doesn’t want to happen with “Music Speaks.”

“I don’t want to be put in a box,” she said. “I want to do my own thing. I don’t want to just be an R&B diva. I want to keep an unexpected aspect to the music.”

Candice Glover arrives for the American Idol finale Thursday night. (AP Photo)

* She says she was “definitely hurt and broken-hearted” when she got cut from Season 10 and Season 11 of American Idol. And, for a while, she’d say she wasn’t going to do it again. Then she’d find herself checking out the audition dates online and, eventually, changing her mind.

* Candice said she thinks Season 12 worked out better because she cared less about fitting in musically. She says she decided to trust her instincts, even when a song choice went against what people might expect. She cited the week she performed Drake’s “Find Your Love” as an example.

* Even though her show-closing performance of “I Who Have Nothing” was well received Wednesday, Candice insisted she had no idea what the outcome would be Thursday. “The judges give you their input,” she noted, “but at the end of the day, it all depends on your fans.”

* Candice said the performance she was proudest of came when she performed The Cure’s “Lovesong” on Top 6 Week. Randy Jackson called it one of the best ever on Idol. I ranked it number one among the top 10 performances through Top 3 Week on Idol.

* She admitted that she was nervous about singing “Inseparable” with Jennifer Hudson on Thursday night, feared she wouldn’t be able to hold her own with the Season 5 powerhouse and was “afraid I would suck.” She even called her vocal coach and asked to rehearse the song one more time. The answer: Trust yourself. There isn’t time. It, of course, worked out just fine.

* Candice had an inkling all the way back at her audition that Season 12 might be different for her. After she sang, Mariah asked for a mixed tape to listen to. Nicki said if she didn’t make it to the show’s last round, there was something wrong. “I kept that in mind,” Candice said.

* Asked what she plans to splurge on now that she won, Candice pointed out that she already won a new car by making the Top 2. “I do have some bills to pay,” she added.