American Idol Chikezie Reflects on Exit
March 27, 2008

A day after his exit from American Idol, the now ex-Idol Chikezie had a chat with EW to explain why he chose to gamble with his Brenda Russell song choice and to talk life post-American Idol. After singing Brenda Russell's "If Only for One Night", Chikezie was given the heave-ho by fans, but doesn't look upon his performance with regret. As Chikezie told EW, "I love what I did. I'd spoken to the vocal coaches and [bandleader] Rickey Minor and they counseled me that if I'm going to do something, I have to do what's in my heart."

A week removed from singing The Beatles' "She's a Woman", which warmed the hearts of both the judges and fans, Chikezie revealed that the thought of performing a similar song instead of "If Only for One Night" did cross his mind, but he made a different choice because that's what he felt was right. As a result, Chikezie feels that he can better process leaving the show on his terms instead of doing something that he felt was wrong and getting lucky and moving on in the competition.

When asked about what he had planned for the upcoming Dolly Parton week, Chikezie revealed that he was thinking outside-the-box with the song he was going to sing, "'9 to 5.' I was pretty excited because...well, there's no point in saying it now, but I was going to do something a little different. I was going to change up the arrangement like crazy and turn it into some rock/soul thing. It would have been insane."

It's safe to say a lot of Idol watchers will miss Chikezie more than many unforgettable ex-Idolites.

For the complete post-exit interview with Chikezie, head on over to EW.com for more.