Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Even if he never records another song, John Park will likely be remembered for that audition.

You know, the one in Chicago. The one where guest judge Shania Twain not only complimented his singing, but his “nice lips” and his “beautiful bottom end.”

Unfortunately, the 21-year-old from Evanston, Ill. — the guy who looked like an early frontrunner in season nine of American Idol — wasn’t heard from again until the semifinals.

And when he returned to the TV screen, what viewers heard wasn’t up to par. Even John Park will admit that.

“I just think I was too distracted during the top 24,” he said Friday, after lackluster versions of “God Bless This Child” and “Gravity” lead to his Thursday night ouster on Idol.

“I think it was mostly song choice and nerves. I definitely got distracted by the cameras and the fact that the judges were going to criticize me in front of 30 million people on live TV.

“That kind of took away from my concentration on just singing the song honestly,” John said. “I couldn’t do my best to interpret the song my own way.”

John considers an earlier version of “God Bless This Child,” performed before a much smaller audience in the first round of Hollywood Week as his best Idol effort. Of course, home viewers didn’t get to see it; the song wasn’t included in the Hollywood Week episodes.

What’s next for John?

He admits, frankly, that he hasn’t charted a definite career path.

He plans to head back to Chicago and “see what kind of open doors there will be for me.”

If he winds up pursuing a career as a singer, he sees himself recording pop or neo-soul music, something in the vein of a John Legan, John Mayer or Gavin DeGraw.

He definitely plans to return to Northwestern University, where he’s a junior, to complete his education.

And he says he’s certain now of what line of study he plans to pursue. During his Idol audition segment, he mentioned that his parents, at least at one point, weren’t keen on his decision to apply for voice programs out of high school, preferring that he go to college and study for a real job instead.

Well, whatever real job John lands, he’s pretty sure it will have something to do with music.

“This experience definitely made me realize I want to pursue music instead of going back to school and studying economics and going in that direction,” he said.

“When I go back to school, I’ll probably study something that’s going to be more relevant to the music industry. And even if it’s not performing, I would like to have a career in the music industry, whether it’s in management, songwriting or what not.”

One other thing. Yes, Simon, Purple Haze — Northwestern’s a cappella group — is getting its lead singer back.

Simon predicted they just might, after John performed on Tuesday’s show.

John says he wasn’t offended.

“He was basically saying I might go home this week. He, of course, dramaticizes it so the people at home watching can get a kick out of it,” John said.

“That’s the way he is on TV. After the elimination happened and I sang my last song, he came up to me and shook my hand and said, ‘Good job coming this far.’ He’s not that mean of a guy, actually.”

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