Vaifanua reflects about American Idol

When Taylor Vaifanua auditioned for "American Idol" in Salt Lake City last summer, judge Randy Jackson said he was impressed with her natural potential.

"I think it's one of the best vocals I've heard since we've been doing this Season 8," Jackson said.

Vaifanua reached the top 36 contestants before being eliminated. But this 17-year-old counts the opportunity as a wonderful blessing.

"It was definitely an awesome experience," Vaifanua said. "I mean, I didn't want it to end, but it did. All around I would say it was the best experience that I've had so far in my life."

And she has had some really good experiences in the past few years.

She released her first CD when she was 13, was a backup dancer in "High School Musical 2" and was featured on the TV show "Create the Group."

Coming from the town of Hurricane, Vaifanua said it was pretty humbling to be on "American Idol," but she wasn't intimidated to perform in front of the judges or the millions of viewers.

"I was kind of excited to get up there and sing for them because it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance; no one ever gets to do that," Vaifanua said. "I definitely looked at it as more excited than nervous or intimidated."

Though the performances were a lot of fun, she said her favorite part was getting to know the other contestants.

"I expected to go and (have) it be a competition where everyone is in it for themselves and nobody cares about everyone else, but everyone was so supportive of everyone and helped us in any way they could," Vaifanua said.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vaifanua said she didn't have any problems maintaining her standards while on "American Idol." She said that all the contestants came from different lifestyles and had different ways of doing things, but she just stuck to who she was as a person and had no trouble at all.

Vaifanua said that when the judges gave her negative responses to her performance "If I Ain’t Got You," by Alicia Keys, during the top 36 episode, she started preparing herself for elimination.

As Vaifanua faced getting sent home from the show, she began to think that advancing was "not what the Lord wants for me, so it's OK."

Right now, Vaifanua is waiting for the "American Idol" season to conclude before she makes her next move. When it does end, contestants can pursue their musical careers however they please. She hopes a producer will contact her when decision time gets here.

"They told us, literally, like 10 minutes after the last finale episode, you'll get phone calls from big-time people — because that's when they can call us," Vaifanua said.
Whatever the future brings, Vaifanua plans to continue singing and maybe even try acting.

She said her goal is to "hopefully be out there and be a good role model for the world."

To learn more about Vaifanua and her experiences on "American Idol," visit www.taylorvaifanua.com.