Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Joe Munoz would certainly have every right to feel as though he didn’t get a fair shake on American Idol.

After all, viewers had lots of time to get to know Big Michael Lynche. They watched Kara carry on about Casey James, and Shania Twain swoon and spark over John Park.

Heck, even Tyler Grady got a featured segment in the season premiere before disappearing at the whim of Idol producers.

Joe Munoz?

Did we hear him sing a note before the semifinals?

This much is certain. He entered Wednesday’s show as Idol’s Mr. Who.

Did the lack of airtime bother him?

“I didn’t really have much control over it. That’s really just how they tried to handle the show, so I wasn’t really, like, disappointed,” Joe said during a Friday conference call with the media.

Does he feel like the lack of airtime contributed to his early ouster?

“I don’t think so,” said Joe, “because other people didn’t get screen time at all and they got through. I try not to think about it that much. I just did the best I could and was really proud with what I did.”

What he did was sing a fairly decent version of Jason Mraz’s “You and I, Both” in his first live performance on the show.

He sang fifth, and Kara DioGuardi called it the best vocal of the night to that point. Ellen DeGeneres complimented him on his stage presence. Randy Jackson gave Joe one of his patented “good job, Dog” salutes.

Of course, Simon Cowell had to be grouchy and declare the performance forgettable (which it really was). But considering how badly some of the other males performed, it appeared Joe might squeak through to week two.

Then on Thursday he found himself standing next to Tim Urban, and one of them was going home.

But first, Ryan asked Kara who deserved the boot.

“That was kind of nerve-wracking, actually,” Joe recalled. “I was blocking myself from even listening because I didn’t want to get more nervous than I already was.”

Kara didn’t name him, but it made no difference. Tim was safe, Mr. Who wasn’t.

Still, Joe, a 20-year-old student from Huntington Park, Calif., said he has no regrets about his time on Idol. He still thinks, for instance, the Jason Mraz song was perfect for him.

He said he also admires Celine Dion and Michael Buble and sees himself as a pop artist, moving forward.

Not that he wouldn’t like to do other things as well.

“There are a lot of artists doing a lot of things right now, so I want to be that kind of artist, you know, just being in musical theater, on TV and making records for people.

“I have faith that things will get better after this,” he added.