Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Matt Giraud admits to suffering through a sleepless night after his semifinal performance Feb. 25.

He had performed Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.” And the judges were unanimous — it wasn’t very good.

In fact, Simon called it “verging on a horrible performance.” In fact, Simon said Matt looked like a “wannabe pop star” after looking very cool sitting behind a piano and singing Ray Charles music earlier in the competition.

As it turned out, when the votes were counted, the fans agreed.

Matt Giraud, an early Idol favorite this year, would not get a quick pass into the finals.

“I definitely, like, could not sleep that night,” Matt confessed during a conference call interview with the media Friday afternoon. “People thought I was going to do well, and I kinda felt like I let everyone down.”

So when he got a chance to redeem himself during the wild card round, he reverted to an old favorite, “Who’s Lovin’ You,” written by “Smokey” Robinson and recorded by several artists, including The Jackson Five.

“That’s like that song I just forgot about, (a song) that’s in my bones,” Matt said. “I’ve been singing it for years. I’ve done a couple competitions with it, and it went well … I don’t even have to practice it. It’s just there for me.”

And the second time around, things went much better for the 23-year-old dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

After all, Matt wound up wit the nickname “White Chocolate” while singing in a gospel choir back in Detroit, and the judges had encouraged him to stick to the bluesy, soulful sound that served him so well during Hollywood Week.

Though he hasn’t totally given up the notion of doing a pop-rock song again, Matt said he’ll take the judges’ comments to heart as he heads into the Idol finals next week.

“Paula and Kara both say: ‘Stick to what you’re good at. And make sure you nail what you’re good at,'” Matt explained.

“Sometimes you try different things, and you might like it, but if you can’t nail it, it’s probably not worth it.”

Note: Check back early next week for more of Matt’s interview with the media.