Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Nick Fradiani appeared in shock when Ryan Seacrest prepared to present him with the trophy as the American Idol Season 14 winner. (FOX Photo)

But the 29-year-old from Guilford, Conn., says he didn’t really think he could win the competition until very late.

In fact, not until he closed Tuesday’s show with a performance of his new single, “Beautiful Life.”

“When I ended the show and sang it, it felt big,” he said during a conference call with the media. “And it got so loud. At that point, I thought, ‘I think you have a shot at this now.’ I never gave myself much of a shot until then.”

After all, Clark Beckham and Jax were considered front-runners through most of the competition.

But Jax was eliminated at the start of Tuesday’s show, leaving Clark and Nick — dubbed “Grandpa” by his castmates because of his age — to duke it out Tuesday night, then wait for the results to be revealed at the end of Wednesday’s two-hour finale.

Nick’s victory means he’ll get the record deal that goes with winning Idol and that his single will be featured during coverage of the women’s World Cup competition.

Pre-Idol, Nick secured a master’s degree in secondary education. But his passion was music, and he fronted a band called Beach Avenue.

“I grinded this music thing out for a long time,” he said. “There are lots of times I could have given up and said, ”Just go get a normal job and make some money. Maybe it’s time to get a real-life job.’ But I never gave up on the dream I had and I’m glad I never did.”

He’ll also headline the Idol summer tour that begins in early July and says he hopes to perform some Beach Avenue originals at those dates.

Nick says he’s aware some Idols have won and quickly faded into the background. In fact, that’s been the fate of the two most recent winners — Season 13’s Caleb Johnson and Season 12’s Candice Glover.

He’s hoping the single will provide an early boost, saying “I lucked out with that one. It’s on spot with the mjusic I want to do and the music I was doing with my band before the show.”

So far, so good. “Beautiful Life” was sitting at number 17 on iTunes Top 200 singles chart Friday night; it was number seven on the site’s pop chart.

Beyond that, he has a simple strategy: good song-writing.

“One thing I’m confident in is my songwriting ability and my ear for pop music,” Nick said. “My songwriting is what I consider to be my strong point. So I think Im going to be able to succeed because of that.

“I think you have to back (an Idol victory) up with good songs.”