Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol week-eight results show was nearly at an end.

And there was Matt Giraud standing center stage with Adam Lambert, waiting to hear which of them would go home.

Matt Giraud, the 23-year-old dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Mich. The guy who had already been in the bottom three twice. The guy who needed a wild card show and a judges’ save to make it to week eight.

Or Adam Lambert, a contestant who had never been in the bottom three, the guy labeled by most Idol watchers as the favorite to win in season eight.

“I was definitely surprised Adam was down there with me,” Matt said in his exit interview with the media Thursday afternoon. “I didn’t know for sure (who was going home), but I was ready for it.”

He also sounds ready for his post-Idol career.

Hey, the judges might not have liked Matt’s rock vibe. They usually criticized him for song selection when he rocked out. But if he gets the chance to record an album, he says the sound will likely be “electro rock, or some soulful rock, maybe with a twist of blues in it.”

“I’d love to see myself as a lead man with a piano and a band around me,” Matt said, sort of like Gavin DeGraw or The Fray. “I got tons of e-mails and comments from fans about those (rock) songs, and they loved them.”

He also says he’s leaving Idol with a thicker skin than when he arrived.

“I believe in myself now more than ever,” he said. “I’ve learned what I’m best at and what my weaknesses are. I’ve learned to deal with pressure and harsh criticism more than ever.

“I never thought I could take a bad comment. But, now, it’s almost nothing to me when someone tells me I’m horrible because the next person tells me I’m great, and the bad comments just roll off.”

As for the moment he’ll remember more than any other on the Idol stage … well, he says there’s no comparison. It was the first time his Idol fate hung in the balance during the finals, when the judges were debating whether to use their one and only save on him.

The crowd was chanting “save.” So were the other contestants, even though it meant the save wouldn’t be available should they need it the next week.

“I never felt so much love in a room before,” Matt said. “Probably one of the coolest moments in my life. I really didn’t think people felt that passionately about me.”

Besides, being the first contestant ever saved on Idol might earn him a spot on a trivia card someday.

In the meantime, he won’t fret about what he might have done differently in his final Idol performance. After all, it received praise from Simon Cowell, the crankiest Idol judge.

“My dream was to play piano on that stage,” Matt said. “My dream was to play jazz on that stage. My dream was to meet the mentors. I’m not kicking myself because I didn’t win. All hope is not lost.

“Going out with Simon calling you brilliant and comparing you to Nat King Cole is pretty much the best way to go.”