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Matt Giraud's optimistic long view, post-American Idol

By April MacIntyre May 4, 2009, 15:55 GMT

03/05/2009 - au revoir for now, to Matt Giraud - American Idol Top 13 Party - Arrivals - Area - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

American Idol bid farewell to Matt Giraud, the soulful singer who was saved by the judges, only to be eliminated this past week. 

Giraud made it as a wild-card contestant, and the kid from Kalamazoo, Michigan, was a bright spot on Rat Pack night, with his well-received performance of "My Funny Valentine."

Unfortunately Giraud's Idol luck ran out and he was sent home.

Giraud has made the rounds talking to the press after his run on the reality series, and Monsters and Critics was part of a conference call where he took the long view and remained positive about the entire experience.

Matt shared his favorite performance from the season. "My favorite one would be 'Part Time Lover,' it’s just one of those ones where like the lights were right, the outfit was right, the arrangement was cool and it just kind of really went well together.

Giraud was pragmatic about his elimination on "American Idol." He revealed he was not set on taking the top prize.  "I never came in (to Idol) wanting to be 'The American Idol,' my dream was to play that piano on that stage, to sing jazz on that stage, and to meet the mentors, that was like dreams come true to me, it wasn’t like man if I win...I’m not kicking myself because I’m not winning.  I think that obviously we’ve seen past idols who go home in fourth and fifth place do even better than the idol, so all hope is not lost."

The real behind the scenes venting atmosphere was touched on by Matt. "Sometimes we go out to a club or wherever...a lot of us like to congregate in the kitchen and literally like lay on the counters and goof on each other, how we danced at the club or whatever.  We make fun of each other a lot, hardcore.  You know they like to call me Matt the Riffer and fun of the way I sing and we make fun of Danny’s dance moves and Adam impersonates people.  We really do like to spend time with each other and we’ll have long talks and kind of just vent about the show."

Giraud shared an Idol moment that made the experience notable for him.  "I think the most memorable moment was probably the moment when I got saved, feeling all that love in the room and feeling so much respect from the other contestants and everything, it really meant a lot to me and I’ll never forget that moment forever in my life."

Matt also made a special mention of the advice he received from new judge, Kara. "You know Kara said that there may be many songs that move you, but there are only certain songs that are good for you, the best for you to sing. I don’t know if I have completely agreed with that, but that’s a pretty good piece of advice, because sometimes as musicians we just like to go with whatever makes us feel good and sometimes you have to go with what sounds good too."

Giraud shared his anticipation for what lay ahead, post Idol. "I’ve always been the entertainer, it just comes out of my purpose and just who I am, I think, I just entertain everyone around me and if someone is interviewing me or if I’m hanging out with some people, I always just want to make their day easier or their job easier."

On the notion that he resembled Justin Timberlake, both in look and vocal stylizing, Giraud was not so keen.  Giraud said, "It is a little bit annoying, but the thing is I respect him a lot and I really appreciate what he does.  And I knew that people were going to draw comparisons, 'a white guy with soul,'  but the thing is, I love it and I was waiting for that to come.  But I think I’m a lot different.  And just what happens is I love his type of music, I can pull it off, I think, but it’s not really where I’d want to go musically.  I’d rather be rocking out with some kind of piano band, like the Fray or Gavin DeGraw or something like that."

Matt was appreciative of the support he received from his new fanbase. "I’d just like to thank everyone who really did believe in me and people who came out of the woodwork and supported me."