Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Didi Benami figures she’s been there before.

Getting booted off American Idol, she said Thursday, is “a lot like my Los Angeles experience. You get kicked down, you’ve got to get back up and start over. It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

By now, most avid Idol watches know at least part of Didi’s story.

The 23-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., attended Bellmont College in Nashville where her roommate and best friend was another aspiring singer, Rebecca Joy Lear.

Rebecca died in a car crash in December 2005, prompting Didi to decide to move to L.A. to pursue her dream of becoming a singer-songwriter, with hopes of sharing her own music and Rebecca’s with the world.

Sounds simple, until a 19-year-old finds herself in L.A.

In the past four years, there have been lots of what Didi calls “ridiculous experiences.” There has been lots of switching jobs in order to survive. There were times, particularly in the 2006 and 2007 time frame, when she didn’t have a place to stay and lived out of her car.

“It’s never predictable,” she said. “It’s never been a stable environment for me, living out here, until recently. It’s just a crazy experience in L.A. You get kicked down a lot. It’s been rough.”

Through it all, music was therapeutic. The place she could release feelings and thoughts she didn’t want to express out loud to people because “I wanted to be nice.”

Then along came that emotional Los Angeles audition for American Idol last summer, followed by her memorable performance of “Terrified” during Hollywood Week.

And if many think Didi left Idol sooner than she should have, she accomplished a primary goal.

By surviving two weeks into the finals, she qualified for the show’s summer tour.

“I don’t have to work as a waitress anymore. I get to do what I love. It’s a relief to know I will be able to make a living at what I love to do over the summer and, hopefully, for the rest of my life.”

Among the other issues Didi addressed during her conference call with the media …

* On Kara’s comment that Didi “lost her way” on Idol —

Didi said she felt it was more of a case of her not doing what the judges expected of her. “I feel like they wanted me to do something specific every week and I kind of went out on a limb several different weeks and I did different things and they weren’t expecting it, and it was kind of a surprise. Just to show that I can do other things.”

On her song plans for Beatles’ Week had she survived Wednesday night —

Didi said she was thinking of singing “Blackbird” or “Across the Universe.” And she was determined to come back strong after Tuesday’s subpar performance of “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.” “I was going to come back next week,” she said.

* On her relationship with other contestants —

Didi said she got particularly close to Siobhan Magnus and Crystal Bowersox. “Crystal actually came down and stayed with me last night,” she said. “It was nice. They’re really amazing, wonderful people and I really enjoyed getting to meet them and getting to know them both, both Siobhan and Crystal. It’s hard when you meet other artists that you really connect with and you want to work with and you’re put in a position to compete against each other when really when you’re singing it’s not a competition, it’s you showing the artist in you.”

* On her tendency to shed tears on Idol —

“It’s funny because the cameras always catch me whenever I am emotional,” Didi said, “which sucks because I am not always emotional. I’ve actually been pretty strong through this whole thing. It’s just whenever something happens or I break down, it’s unfortunately right when there’s a camera in my face.

“But, it’s been an amazing ride, and of course, it’s been emotional because this is something that I’ve always wanted to do and reaching that place that I got to on the show was a really amazing thing for me, and it was a really big accomplishment. That was emotional for me because you work so hard, and you just try to believe and keep the faith and imagine and just know that good things will come, and when they finally do, it’s like almost in disbelief, and it’s a really amazing opportunity, and it brought me to tears.”

* On the expectations of an Idol contestant —

“Wow, it’s like insane, intense,” Didi said. “Llike boot camp for singers kind of thing … It’s like here, get a song, learn it in like very, very little time, sing it on stage in front of everybody. It’s just very like, I don’t know, it’s a lot of pressure and it’s an amazing experience at the same time, so you want to take full advantage of it and you don’t want to mess up.

“It’s really amazing and valuable experience. I’ve learned a lot and I can’t wait to sleep. Never thought I’d say that, but yeah, I’m exhausted. But I’m really, really grateful and glad that I got the chance to do it.”

* On the music she envisions herself making when the chance comes —

“Didi music,” she said. “I’m going to do singer/songwriter type of, like acoustic, low-key, chill, relaxing music. I’m going to put my heart into what I do, like I do every time … A little jazz, a hint of bluegrass, a little bit of everything that I’ve experienced in my life.”

Coming Monday …

Rankings for American idol’s final nine.