Exclusive Interview with Hollie Cavanagh of American Idol
Interview by Jamie Ruby
Written by Jamie Ruby

American Idol Live - 8/14/12
Consol Energy Center
Pittsburgh, PA

This summer the top ten winners of American Idol went on tour to forty-five locations, including the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before American Idol Live that night, Hollie Cavanagh, the fourth place winner, talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview.

Cavanagh is happy with her success on American Idol, and appreciates it, just taking it as it comes. "I don't think I really expected anything that's happened, I mean it's kind of like a blessing at this point...I never really knew what was going to happen on tour. I don't know what is going to happen after tour. I'm just kind of taking everything as it comes."

She is happy with the way she was portrayed during the competition. "I don't know how the show works, but I think it benefited me, because if you watched it last year, you kind of saw my story and a lot of people got to go on the journey with me, through last year and now this year. I think it was a good experience and I think people got to see a real side of it, like from me coming into it not knowing a lot and growing. So people got to follow my journey; I think that it turned out exactly how I wanted it to."

Every night before the concert, Cavanagh practices. "Before my solo I do the end of "Give Your Heart a Break," because I have a high note at the end of it, so I always do that note every time before I go on. You can ask Elise [Testone], because I do it every show; there's not one show that I miss. I do that note, and then I go on. It's just like a mental thing to know that I've done it. "Okay, you've done it now; now just go out.""

At first she wasn't ecstatic with some of the songs she would be singing on the American Idol Live tour, but now she loves them. "At first I didn't want to do "Rolling in the Deep" at all. I know some days I love it and some days I hate it, because it's like up and down, you know, it's like all the time, every note, and it [has been] very overdone, so I was afraid coming on tour and singing it, people were going to be like, "Okay, I've heard it enough," but it turned into a song that I really like, and it was the same with "Give Your Heart a Break." I didn't like that; I didn't like it, I was like last minute about to change it, but then I kept singing it and got used to it, and then now I love singing it."

If she had the choice, however, Cavanagh does know what she would choose to sing. "I think I would have a ballad in there somewhere, just one though, just one that I love, you know, but at the same time it is a concert, and it's not my concert to where I can sing ballad, fast song, fast song, ballad, all that, but I think something more like where I could perform more, like an upbeat song where I could perform more, because "Rolling in the Deep" I can and "Give Your Heart a Break" I can, but it's not like...a dance, like a let's get into it kind of thing, it's just kind of like a fun [performance] for a concert."

The singer enjoys being able to perform on stage without being judged. "I think not being judged, being on tour and just singing and not worrying. If you don't do great one night then you're not worried about what's going to happen, you know? It's just kind of, "Oh well, my fault, next." "

Being able to do what she wants on stage has helped her and she doesn't have stage fright anymore. "Actually being on tour now, it's easy now going on stage, it's not like "Oh God," like worry[ing] about it. I don't have stage fright anymore; it's just fun, because it's fans out there, it's not people who are trying to -- I mean there might be people out there judging you, but I think people who come to the concert and on tour, it's fans and people who love the show."

Cavanagh doesn't listen to what any of the media says either, though she does enjoy communicating with her fans via social media. "I think twitter was a good idea, just because you get to stay connected with your fans and then they stay connected with you, and they feel in the loop...They're doing so much for you, so you're giving back to them kind of.

"But as far as like the negative stuff that went on during the show, or even now during the tour, I never pay no mind to it, because if you read it and you [do], that's going to be in your head everytime you perform, "this person said this when I did this, should I do it?" So I don't pay no mind to that, I just kind of do what I want to do and hopefully people like it."

Cavanagh is appreciative of all of her fans. "I have a lot of amazing fans. I mean, the ones that are always on my twitter, when I go places and I know they're coming, I recognize them because they keep up to date with me...They're just a good, strong fanbase, and I know it's not a fanbase that's going to be like "Oh well whatever," and onto the next, they're going to stick with me, so I'm very blessed to have them."

The singer has not started working on her album yet, but she knows what it will look like. "I'm still working on hopefully getting signed, and it's not going to be all ballads, because unfortunately ballads don't really sell these days; it's not what you hear on the radio, because music has like completely changed from what it used to be. So with my album, hopefully I'll be like the pop singer that I've been, and hopefully we'll see what happens if I can start working on it.

"I'm not a writer now, I'm working on starting to write, figuring the works of it and the feel of it, and then hopefully co-write."

Until then be sure to check out the review of the full concert, as well as visit the photo gallery.