Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Effie Passero performs during the American Idol semifinals. (ABC Photo)

The talented singer/songwriter from Modesto, Calif., plans to release an album this fall.

If you’re a fan of American Idol, there’s an intriguing online Ask Me Anything you’re going to want to read.

In it, Effie (operachchick209) dishes on the Idol process in an uncommonly frank fashion.

But you might want to head there quickly. Effie says Idol has strict rules about what contestants are allowed to post on social media.

Guarantee, they’d want at least 80 percent of this redacted.

During the discussion, she talks about who contestants believe producers want to win (Gabby Barrett), expresses her opinions about the voting and judges’ wildcard selection process (she labels both “idiotic”), answers questions about Luke Bryan and Katy Perry and reveals information about the song selection process and contestant compensation.

A couple of tidbits:

Effie calls the contract contestants are asked to sign “terrible.”

“Maybe it wasn’t as detrimental to the rest of them,” she says, “but I’ve written well over 300 songs. Disney and 19 Entertainment would have owned everything I’ve EVER written — not just during idol or post idol. Everything ever.

“And they’d only give you your ownership back if after three record cycles, certain songs weren’t recorded. But what you did put on your albums basically belonged to them. Our entertainment lawyer fought really hard for us and made the contract a *little better, but as a straight-up songwriter I was terrified.”

And one fan posed this question: Do you think America’s vote is actually tallied and taken into consideration? Or is Ryan just reading from a predetermined list of contestants that are going through for marketing reasons?

Effie’s response: “I honestly don’t know. I hear that Ada’s moment with her save was on the teleprompter, so that means that was rigged and planned. I don’t know what else is at this point.”

But asked whether she’d recommend that other musicians try out for Idol, Effie answers with a “yes,” then adds: “The platform alone. The free publicity. The confidence it’s given me to continue forward and KNOW MY WORTH. It’s so amazing — and EVERYONE in production is a dream. The whole crew. It was an amazing experience that I’ll always be grateful for.”

Effie, 26 when she auditioned, was eliminated in the Idol semifinals. And I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t to check out her Soundcloud page, especially the song “Oregon Air.”