American Idol’s Lacey Brown: ‘I Want to Make Some Good Music’

Lacey Brown bid farewell to American Idol last Wednesday as the first contestant to fall out of the Top 12. However, the 24-year-old art student from Amarillo, Texas, enjoyed every moment of her Idol experience, from red-carpet promo shoots to performing on stage. Brown spoke to Cynthia Wang from People magazine about her time on the show and what’s next.

Were you happy with your song choices and how you did on the show?
I definitely chose the songs I was really diggin’ and I didn’t ever sing a song that I didn’t like, or love even. I wasn’t as familiar with “Ruby Tuesday” as I was with my other selections, but [with] all of them I did a fresh new thing, so it was really interesting to see the arrangements change to fit my voice. I really liked every single one of my performances — and I loved being on stage.

Did you take in the critiques from Simon, Randy, Kara and Ellen?
The feedback has been amazing. I am a church girl, and when you sing in church, they don’t critique you afterward. It’s been a new experience for me to be in that situation and hear what people have to say. It’s been very humbling at times and very encouraging most of the time.

Did you take with you any mementos from your time on Idol?
I have a couple things. Wednesday night, American Idol handed over my number, which is the little sticker you wear on all your auditions and all the remaining contestants signed it for me, so I am going to keep that for a while. I have tons of pictures and me and Paige just had funky mirror pictures every day, and I have a necklace that Katie gave to me last night that’s really cute that I’ve worn to all my interviews. I want to go home and make a scrapbook of my American Idol journey. I’m really just going to treasure the contestants’ friendships. We’ve all grown rapidly and even though I’ve only known them a couple of months, I’m going to have very long and happy friendships with them.

In particular, you became great friends with Paige Miles. Did you get to talk to her before you left?
She was my roommate through a lot of this. We kind of just went home and cuddled. She cried a lot and I cried a lot. We had a lot of time together but not enough time, so I’m going to visit her very soon. We’re really actually very close. She’s like a new sister to me and we’ll be in each other’s lives a really long time, whether she likes it or not!

You left just as makeovers were starting. Did you get a chance to show off your style?
We didn’t get to change my hair a lot but we had some ideas to put some extra colors in my hair, which I was really excited about, so I think I’m going to go through with that. And I just really tried to stay true to my own style, so I got involved with the designers in helping with my outfits. I definitely loved what they did with all the clothes and I felt amazing every time I got on that stage.

How do you see your future album shaping up?
I’m not just an artist that just sings one type of music. I’m going to have a definite fresh outlook on music but it will have a folky tinge to it just because I’m a Southern belle and I have a lot of roots there. It will also have an indie new fresh twist on old folk music that I think people will really enjoy and get in to. It’s going to be something you can listen to while chillin’ at home or going somewhere. I want to make some good music that people will listen to, to feel good.