'American Idol' eliminee Daniel Seavey: I'm not used to all this attention, I even have some creepy fans

American Idol eliminated Daniel Seavey and determined its Top 8 artists during the fourth live show of its fourteenth season Wednesday night on Fox.
 
Daniel, a 15-year-old student from Portland, OR, was in the bottom two last week with Rayvon Owen, a 23-year-old singer and vocal coach from Richmond, VA, based on the nationwide vote following the prior week's performance show.


Daniel and Rayvon were therefore each asked to sing a song by Kelly Clarkson, who served as their mentor, and then America tweeted in real time to save one of them in a new twist called "Idol Fan Save." Daniel, who was suffering from Laryngitis, performed "Breakaway" and unfortunately got sent home.

During a recent conference call with reporters, Daniel talked about his American Idol experience. Below is the concluding portion. Click here to read the first half.

As old as your fellow contestants were, older than you and more experienced, what kind of lessons did you learn from them?

Daniel Seavey: I think I learned that I should be excited for what's to come for me because I am so young and I've already done something like this.  A lot of them kept saying, "I don't know how you do it at your age." It kind of excites me to see what I could be capable of 10 years from now. I'm excited for what's to come.


What were you planning to sing next week for "Billboard Week," could you tell us?

Daniel Seavey: I was either going to do "Hey There Delilah" or "Story of My Life."

Whenever we talk to contestants on the show, everyone always raves about the quality of the competition and how talented everyone is. What do you think it's going to take to win it?

Daniel Seavey: I think consistency is the best they can do right now. They're all amazing now, all eight of them could win this thing. They just have to keep being consistent with their song choices and their performances. That's what they really need to know.

You've got all of these young fans now. There were girls going crazy for you, screaming in the audience and reaching out to you on Twitter. Was that a little weird for you? Did you ever have that kind of attention before?


Daniel Seavey: You know, no, I never had that attention before. It was kind of weird at first because I had some of the creepy fans that would find my house address.

Yes, there were a couple. It's weird, they would just kind of message me, "I know where you live." I don't think they meant to be creepy, it just came off that way. I feel like overall now that most of my fans are so supportive, and so I'm super thankful for all of them.

What are your post Idol plans? It's a little soon, but I'm sure you've got some ideas.

Daniel Seavey: I think my next step is to start writing music and getting that out to the world because I want to hang onto these fans and I love being able to share my thoughts with them. So I am going to start writing them down and showing them [what I can do]. I think that's the next step for me, is to write some music.

You think you've got some pop songs in you?


Daniel Seavey: Yes, I think I'm going for kind of a jazzy-Ed Sheeran sound, but Ed Sheeran is kind of pop. And so, yes, I could tie that in.

Happy birthday! Were you kind of wishing that you'd be celebrating your birthday with having another week on the show, or are you okay with that?

Daniel Seavey: I'm kind of excited actually to go home on my birthday because I get to go home and see all of my friends, and so that's kind of a nice birthday present. I was actually going to fly my friend, Christian, down for my birthday as a present. But this works out even better because now I get to see them all.

When is the next chance that people in Portland or Vancouver can see you perform? When can people see you here at home?

Daniel Seavey: I don't know. I think for sure I want to do first Thursday again. That would just be fun to get back on the street and play for fun, so I want to do that every month, but I don't know what's next yet. 


Last night, we saw the first Twitter Fan Save. And I know that when I was watching it, the thing on the screen said "You can't vote." People on the West Coast weren't really able to vote live. What do you think about that? Do you think you might have done better if some of the West Coast folks had been able to vote in real time? What do you think about that?

Daniel Seavey: I actually heard that the majority of voters are on East Coast, and so that didn't bum me out too much. I mean, it is what it is. I think it was a good test for me. I think it was fair. The only thing that kind of threw me off was the age limit of being 13 and up. You had to be that old [to vote], so I feel like a lot of my fans were below that. But I know they try to as much as they can to be fair.

So you just turned 16-years-old, is that correct? 

Daniel Seavey: Yes, officially.

Is there any part of you that kind of wishes all of this would've happened, like say, five years from now when you would've been more mature and had more experience, and your voice would've changed?


Daniel Seavey: I don't think I would've liked that more. I think this was a perfect time for me because it was, like, a huge kick in the butt for me to grow even more. This has doubled me in growth, I feel like, and so for me to be able to do this at 15, it excites me and it's something I'll be able to do later on in life. This was just a huge platform and opportunity for me. 

Did you feel like the little brother with some of the other contestants who were a lot older than you?

Daniel Seavey: Yes, they all kind of took me in as their little brother. It was great. We're all like a big family, and so I was the little bro.

Is there someone who you're closest with from the show and also someone you're rooting for to take home the "American Idol" title this year?

Daniel Seavey: I don't think that I can make any of those calls because we are all so close. I think I was the closest to [Adanna Duru], but she is off the show. We hung out every night, and she was like my older sister. In the group now, we're all just such a big family, I couldn't really distinguish who I think is the best, or who I like the most at this point.

Can you tell us a little about the nickname "The Sponge" that the contestants gave you? Where did that come from?


Daniel Seavey: Oh, "The Sponge." Yes, that was from [Joey Cook]. She called me that because apparently I take everything in and grow from it. She said I took part of [Quentin Alexander]'s style, and [Clark Beckham]'s runs, and Joey's originality and stuff. So she ended up calling me "The Sponge."

Any final remarks?

Daniel Seavey: Sweet. I'd just like to thank all of you... and I would love if you could check out my Twitter, my Instagram... And then look forward to some music, I want to start releasing that, so that's my next thing. 

Click here to read the first half of Daniel Seavey's American Idol interview and what he had to say to Reality TV World.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski