Carly Smithson was, without a doubt. the most upbeat “American Idol” contestant the morning after being eliminated that I’ve spoken to so far this season.

She was also articulate, gracious and thankful.

“I loved every minute of it,” she said Thursday morning. “We’re all so grateful for the experience...I’m not that sad to be leaving.”

“I think at this stage we’re all into the top six and I feel that everybody was thinking they could go home. Not one person feels safe anymore.”

Still, Carly had every reason to believe she’d make the top five after a strong performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” Wednesday night. I told her I thought it was her most relaxed and joyful performance to date.

“I realized that I had to not take everything so seriously,” she said. “Early on in the show (the judges) set the standards so high for me and were a lot harder on me than the other contestants and it got to me for a few weeks.”

But Carly said spending time with Mariah Carey, who was last week’s mentor on the show, showed her that she could be relaxed and just be herself.

The Irish singer, now 24, had a recording contract when she was a teenager and released an album that went nowhere. She gave up on music until a few years ago but her past professional experience brought criticism.

“I kind of started out on the show with some bad press and I don’t think it really helped me that much. Every week, I gave as good as I could.”

She believes the results have at times come down to more of a popularity contest than merits of a performance.

“Women vote for this show, it’s obvious,” she said. “And they vote for the boys. The boys are adorable. I definitely feel that the girls had more of a struggle this year trying to get the popularity vote.”
Judge Simon Cowell’s often harsh criticism of her song choices and even her wardrobe made her more determined in the end.

”It’s like he set this high bar for me straight way. I felt like I did a great job. I gave it everything I had. ... I guess Simon just had a different idea in his mind, I’m not sure he wanted me to be who I am. I can’t please everyone. He’s only one person.”

The above article is my News Lite column tomorrow appearing in the LA Daily News and other papers. Here is some online bonus material exclusively for Out In Hollywood readers:

On her future: “I’m free to go make a record and start writing and be with my husband and be in the real world because the ‘Idol’ bubble is really weird.”

On this week’s mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber: “He was one of our most amazing mentors (who) took so much time with us and really cared about every song we were doing and every choice that we made. I feel personally so grateful.”

On her break from music during which she worked as a waitress in Georgia then in San Diego: “I had worked really hard to break (into) the music industry and I wanted to break from it and love it again. It had been such a struggle and an effort.”
But she’s fully into it now: “I started to want it so bad again...It’s just a great gift that I’ve been given. ... I felt like I need to do this again, I missed music so much. I love it now. I have such a hunger.”