Idol Chatter & Voice Views

I had the pleasure of interviewing Brooke White about her new album, “High Hopes and Heartbreak,” Wednesday afternoon.

And, of course, on this day, you can’t talk to anyone related to Idol without talking about Paula Abdul’s departure from the show.

Brooke recalled how Paula spent a good deal of time talking to her the night she was eliminated from season seven of Idol. Here’s what Brooke had to say:

“I’m surprised it’s really happening. A couple weeks ago, I really counted it as speculation and a rumor. You know, (maybe) just kind of a media thing.

“But last night, when I was on Twitter with the rest of the world and saw it starting coming in the masses from fans that Paula had said she was leaving the show, when I saw she had posted her own Tweet about it, I was, you know … I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. It’s been eight seasons and, when you think American Idol, Paula is definitely in that picture.

“As a contestant, I have the perspective of knowing her differently than an audience, someone who’s watching her from their living room.

“She comes from that perspective of knowing what it’s like to be on the front line as a performer and putting yourself out there and being criticized at times. And she provided a nice contrast from sometimes getting really beat up out there.

“She kind of had that quality of mercy for us. I think she’ll be missed. The majority of comments I read last night on Twitter were so in her favor and positive. I’m sure that makes her feel good about what she did and what she brought to the show.”

As for her personal interaction with Paula …

“We did not have a lot of interaction with the judges,” Brooke said of the contestants. “But if there was someone we did, it was definitely Paula. I don’t think there was an elimination show that went by where she didn’t come back to see all of us. Especially to comfort the one who was going home.

“When I was eliminated, she spent a good 20 to 30 minutes talking to me. Just giving me encouragement and providing me with just some good insight into the business. And, again, she’s got a really good heart.”

I’ll be posting the part of the interview where Brooke talks about her new album soon.

Anyone who wants a sample of the album can head to her MySpace page to listen to the first two singles, “Radio Radio” and “Hold Up My Heart.”

And here’s a link to the earlier Idol Chatter review of the album. Bottom line: If you liked Brooke on Idol, you’re going to like “High Hopes and Heartbreak.”