No Hard Feelings for Chikezie
Chikezie Eze's last name doesn't rhyme with easy, but it probably should.
The 22-year-old was giving off a peaceful, easy feeling on the morning after he was eliminated from American Idol, insisting "things couldn't have gone better."
"Last night, I was glad that none of the other guys had to go home," Eze said during a conference call Thursday. "Things couldn't have gone better. I didn't have to say goodbye to anyone. And they didn't have to say goodbye to me, because they'll see me on tour."
Indeed, by finishing 10th, Eze just did qualify for a spot on the Idol summer tour.
Eze's run ended one night after he took heat from judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell for his performance of Luther Vandross' "If Only for One Night."
Eze said he knew Cowell wouldn't like the performance, and he was right—the judgmental judge, while complimenting the vocals, called the overall effort "cheesy."
Eze said he sensed his time was up.
"I knew I was in the bottom three," he said of his outlook going into Wednesday's results show. "I knew I was going home."
Eze, who'd auditioned for Idol before this season and had made it as far as Hollywood week last season, had no regrets about his song selection.
"I'm very happy," he said. "If I'd gotten another chance to do it, I'd do it the exactly same way. I'm so glad I did what I did."
Another thing Eze did during the competition was drop his last name. He did so, he said, because it was so often mispronounced—as "easy," instead of the correct "eh-ze."
As for the future, Eze, whose performance of the Beatles' "She's a Woman" remains one of the season's high points and an iTunes top seller, spoke of general hopes but no specific plans. He seemed to rule out only one option: Continued participation in the Transportation Security Administration's choir.
"I'm weighing my options," said the former luggage screener at Los Angeles International Airport. "And I think it would be best if I moved on."
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