Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jess Meuse became the first contestant to sing an original song during a performance episode of American Idol during Season 13.

She just wishes she could have performed more of her own music.

Ryan Seacrest comforts Jess Meuse as she reacts to being eliminated on American Idol. (FOX Photo)

“Trust me, I would have done originals every week if I could have,” she told the media in a conference call Friday, the day after leaving the show in fourth place.

“There are higher powers than myself, and they want cover songs (on Idol),” she added. “It is a popular music show. People want to hear songs they know.”

By now, lots of people know the original Jess did perform — “Blue Eyed Lie.” After all, she sang the song for her audition, again during Top 8 week and a final time as her farewell number Thursday night.

The reception: Well, it’s been pretty darn good. And Jess couldn’t be happier about that.

“That song is so real to me,” she says. “I lived it word for word. It’s like taking my diary and reading it on national TV. For people to actually like it is amazing, beyond words.”

And Idol fans who turned out for the summer tour will probably hear the song again. At least they will if Jess has anything to say about it.

She says she definitely wants the song to be part of her set.

She was on the verge of doing another original this week. In fact, all of the Idols were.

Then, at pretty much the last minute, the originals were swapped out for a dedication song.

Jess Meuse performs on Top 9 night on American Idol. (FOX Photo)

Jess said she tried her best not to let such Idol twists get to her. After all, she said she’s used to playing hours-long sets in bars, so she knows plenty of cover songs.

As for playing the Idol stages after all those gigs back home in Alabama …

“It’s like two different planets,” the 23-year-old said, adding that she agreed with Idol judges that she needed to work on stage presence and thinks she improved in that regard over the course of the show.

“That was probably my weakest spot,” she said. “It’s a matter of going from bars where no one’s watching you to going onto a stage where everyone’s watching you and paying attention to every little eye twitch.”

Probably her toughest moment on Idol came on group night in Hollywood. Her original group imploded, and she wound up performing the incredibly ill-fitting Beyonce tune “Single Ladies” without a firm grasp of the lyrics.

But the judges appreciated her spirit enough to put her through, which prompted a tirade from the mom of another contestant who wasn’t so fortunate. That mom predicted the public wouldn’t support Jess, a singer-songwriter who wound up outlasting all but three of Season 13’s thousands of contestants.

“Just to be blunt, I don’t care about that lady,” Jess said Friday. “I’m a strong believer in just be kind to people. I just hope that she’s happy and her daughter’s doing well. Her daughter is a very sweet girl.”

As for her own future, Jess hopes to release a CD, of course, become a touring artist and work in music production and engineering. Heck, she wouldn’t even mind doing a little acting.

Her dream role? A guest spot on the TV show “Supernatural.”

“Even if I could just be a creepy person in the background looking around for 10 seconds. I’d be down with it. I love that show. It’s unhealthy. It’s an obsession.”