Ray Mickshaw / FOXAmerican Idol's Jorge Nuñez and Jasmine Murray have something else in common other than being the first two contestants to leave the top 13: They are heading to school.
Jorge, who was thisclose to finishing up his law degree before trying out for the eighth season of American Idol, says he plans to finish what he started. But don't worry. Music is in the future for this Puerto Rican singer too. "This show was so amazing and I got so much exposure that I'm going to do both," Jorge said on a press conference call this morning. "I'm going to finish college anyway, but I'm going to keep going with music. Music is my priority now."
Jasmine's priority is to finish high school. The 16-year-old is a junior right now in Starkville, Miss., and plans to do the right thing: "I'm going to finish that and I'm going to go to college definitely. And pursue music. This is really where my heart is."
Unfortunately, Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara's hearts weren't exactly with Jorge or Jasmine last night.
Find out what the contestants thought about not being honored with the magical new "Judge's Save"…
The judges could've (should've? would've?) invoked the new rule of the "Judge's Save," where they can save a voted-off contestant from elimination—but only once this season. But they didn't. Most speculate that it was too soon in the competition to use the new rule. Jasmine's take? "They could've said yes, but they didn't and it's OK. I understand. They know what they want for the competition. And they wanted to probably save it, so it's OK with me."
Jorge says he's also fine with not being saved. "I was not hurt by that…It's meant to be, so I just took the hit like a man, and things are going to be great for me because this is just the start of something much, much bigger."
What troopers!
Besides, both contestants admitted to missing home a bit. "I really miss my people and I really miss my island. And I really miss Puerto Rican food," adds Jorge. "I'm going to be happy to see [my classmates] and talk to them and catch up on what's been going on there, so I'm excited."