Sunday, May 24, 2009

Larry King: American Idol Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud

May 23, 2009

  • Idol finalists #3 Danny Gokey, #4 Allison Iraheta and #5 Matt Giraud

Video courtesy of: http://mjsbigblog.com/

CNN Transcript

(Video of the top non-winners singing Pink’s “So What?” )

SEACREST: That is not a clip from “So You Think You Can Dance” or “Dancing With the Stars.” That is “American Idol.” Back with our Idol special. Danny Gokey joins us, Allison Iraheta and Matt Giraud.

All right, let’s start. By the way, Danny, you did a web blog, right? Do you know about this?

DANNY GOKEY, “AMERICAN IDOL”: I think I do.

SEACREST: Let me tell you.

GOKEY: I’ve done so much, I can’t remember.

SEACREST: It’s exclusive commentary from Danny on the Larry King blog at CNN.com/larryking. You should check that out. Danny doesn’t remember he did it.

GOKEY: I actually do remember it now.

SEACREST: OK. Who do you — when you sit here and look at these two, think back to that night, who did you think was going to win?

GOKEY: I said it on the blog, did I not? I called Kris the winner.

LAMBERT joking: You jerk.

They all laugh.

GOKEY: I didn’t mean to. Sorry.

SEACREST: Why?

GOKEY: Just because –

SEACREST: Not to create an uncomfortable moment.

LAMBERT: It isn’t uncomfortable at all.

GOKEY: The way the competition goes, a lot of things just affect it. You know, like I was listening back to what you said, that you said you felt that helped you, the judges. I felt it hurt him, the judges, you know, complimenting him so much. I felt it hurt him. I sometimes feel like — maybe I’m wrong — that people don’t like that. And I thought it would work out in his favor then, because maybe they felt he was — they didn’t give him enough credit.

So people were like, you know, I want to give this guy a chance, so they’ll vote in.

SEACREST: So you made it to the top three and then you’re eliminated. So close to the finale. So it had to be tough for you.

GOKEY: It’s funny because it was a little tough. I’m a competitor by nature.

SEACREST: You’re the antithesis of Kris Allen.

GOKEY: I just basically am a — but I was relieved at the same time. Because I felt like I did very well. I got a lot of exposure on the show. And it was just a great year to be a part of. The competition was thick. And I felt like I did a pretty good job.

SEACREST: And Allison, who did a tremendous job on our show, just a teenager, and the only girl left in that final group. What was it like being in the boys club for you?

ALLISON IRAHETA: Well, I mean, they did pick on me a lot. Elbows Danny. Especially this one.

SEACREST: Who the most? Especially Gokey?

IRAHETA: You’re 12 years old, get away.

SEACREST: He wanted to protect you.

IRAHETA: No, it’s all good because I’d always beat him up later.

GOKEY: It was recorded on TV.

IRAHETA: Oh. That was great.

SEACREST: I look back at the tapes of when we first saw you. You’ve changed a lot. You’ve become much more comfortable with yourself.

[Showing her performing on split screen.]

IRAHETA: Yes, I have.

SEACREST: And with being in front of other people.

IRAHETA: It’s true. I was anti-social and scared of people.

GOKEY: See the quick wit, there it is.

IRAHETA: Definitely. I can totally see that change. When I first walked into that audition room, I was just scared, you know. And it was definitely a confidence boost being in this whole competition.

SEACREST: You had a chance to perform with the legendary Cindy Lopper during the finale. Tell me what you were feeling and thinking sitting there on that stage in front of 28 million people and next to Cindy Lopper.

IRAHETA: I was scared. I was very scared because I’m like, I’m singing her song that’s an amazing song. I hope I don’t mess it up. Otherwise she’s going to beat me up. She’s so amazing, though. She’s like [mimics Lauper's voice] ‘You do what you got to do, and you’ve got to feel it.’ And I remember in dress rehearsal, I wasn’t getting the words right. She’s like, ‘Don’t worry about the words, just sing.’ She’s so amazing –

SEACREST: Don’t worry about the words.

IRAHETA: I’m like, oh my god, the words.

SEACREST: Once the voting stops, you have to worry about the words. And Matt Giraud, he was a recipient of the judge’s save. A tweak to the new season. Take a look.

(Video footage of Matt being given another choice)

SEACREST: How did you feel about that save, Matt? It had to be incredible.

MATT GIRAUD: Well, it felt great, after I got tackled by all these people. No, it felt amazing. I felt a lot of love in the room. I remember I don’t think the producers expected it to be that loud in the room. It’s a cool thing to be a part of. Everyone was like save. The security guards was like –

[Split screen of Matt performing]

SEACREST: When you look back at it, you look back at what you did, Matt, why do you think they saved you?

GIRAUD: I think I had ups and downs, a lot of ups and downs. Kind of like a roll coaster for me on that show. I think they saw something in me from the beginning. that meant a lot to me in the end. I think it wasn’t my time yet to go. So definitely got me to jazz week, which was a big dream of mine.

SEACREST: It was a fantastic moment for the show. We’re still taking your questions, by the way, for our second big Idol show on Monday. You can go to CNN.com/larryking and ask the top ten whatever you want. More in 60 seconds. We’re back.

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