Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jacob Lusk seemed the obvious choice to go home on American Idol this week.

He got a lukewarm response from Idol’s easy-to-please judges when he tried singing both parts of the “No Air” Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown duet.

His Wednesday night efforts got a rating of 6 — on a scale of 10 — from Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine.

But if the Then and Now theme didn’t turn out to be Jacob’s brightest moment on the Idol stage, he has bright moments to look back on.

Like Randy Jackson calling his performance of “God Bless the Child” one of the best ever on American Idol.

Jacob took time to talk to the media about his Idol experience Friday afternoon:

* Jimmy Iovine said he thought the pressure was getting to Jacob on Idol. Jacob said it wasn’t as much a matter of feeling the pressure as getting tired.

* Jacob says he has sung higher notes than during his “Love Hurts” performance Wednesday. “I have broken glass, but not with my voice. I’m clumsy.”

* Jacob admits he didn’t have his greatest performance Wednesday and “wasn’t in his element” and that’s why I went home.

* He says there’s an “amazing group” of four people left, so he didn’t want his elimination to be a sad moment. He says he wanted the audience to “rejoice” during a performance that took place with his family on stage after the cameras stopped rolling Thursday night.

* When Jacob refers to tough times in his life, he’s referring to the fact that his parents divorced when he was young, his father died when he was 12, he was picked on and beaten up in school and went through periods of poverty and even homelessness after he moved out on his own at age 17.

* He says his primary focus post-Idol will be putting out an album. But he also wants to pursue an acting career, both on Broadway and film.

* He says he’s hoping to release an album of R&B and inspirational music, noting there’s no Luther Vandross or Teddy Pendergrass out there right now. He’s looking for a middle ground that will hybrid his interest in putting out an R&B album and take advantage of his gospel roots.

* Jacob admits he expected to go home Thursday because he was “out of his element” Wednesday and the other performers did so well. He thinks the voting is close between the remaining contestants.

* About Jimmy Iovine’s sometimes negative critiques of his performances, Jacob says “it definitely hurts a lot to have someone who’s supposed to be mentoring you — it feels like every time you turn around, tearing you down. But what you have to remember is, you’re not doing it for him. You’re doing it for the people out there in America. They’re the people who are voting.” All is good, though, Jacob says, because Jimmy is entitled to his opinion.