Jasmine Trias
‘It’s been such a ride,’
Jasmine enthusesThe Maryknoll senior vows
to go all out on tonight's "Idol"
Three months into season three of "American Idol," Jasmine Trias marvels at how she, an ordinary teen from Mililani, has become a world sensation.
Last year, the Maryknoll honor student's greatest claim to fame was securing the top prize in Oceanic Time Warner Cable's locally produced "Road to Fame" contest. This year, she's cheered on by millions of viewers each week, and, with three weeks to go before the grand finale, Trias finds herself tantalizingly close to becoming the next "American Idol."
"It's been such a ride," she reflects quietly during a phone interview. "I never dreamed I'd come this far, especially with all the competition here. It's been crazy but it's what I asked for."
Her ascent -- from "American Idol's" Honolulu auditions, through the globally televised semifinals and now as one of the final four -- is due in no small part to hometown rooters, who logged more than 4.7 million land-line call attempts to "American Idol" through Verizon Hawaii last week. That's nearly four attempts for every man, woman and child in the Aloha State.
Going the distance so far has already brought Jasmine Trias a lot of fame. Here, a shirt bears her image. Tonight's "American Idol" sing-off will be televised at 7 p.m. on KHON/Fox.
Despite the support from hometown and mainland fans, she has thrice undergone the ordeal of being ranked among the bottom vote-getters and made to endure several nail-biting moments before learning that she's safe. It's an unavoidable component of the show that she has learned to deal with."There are so many things going through my mind at that moment," she says. "I'm standing onstage, in front of the cameras and the audience, thinking, 'I really don't want to leave, but if it happens, I have to accept it.' Like this past week, being in the top five ... If I was told to go, I would've accepted it."
Instead, contestant George Huff was discharged, allowing Trias to advance into this week's competition.
While Trias admits to growing misty-eyed during the dismissals of each finalist, the departures of fellow Hawaii entrant Camile Velasco and the oft-scorned 16-year-old John Stevens were especially heart-wrenching.
"I was really sad to see Camile go because we were the two Hawaii girls, and John and I were such really good friends," she recalls. "Toward the end, John had taken so much from the tabloids and the radio stations and the TV shows, and I thought he handled it well. I'm so proud of him for the way he carried himself through it all. When he left, I think it was such a relief for him because of all the stuff he took."
Like Trias and finalist Diana DeGarmo, Stevens had been accompanied by a parent throughout the competition and found common ground with Trias. "My dad and his mom became good friends, too, because they would just sit around and talk while we were all busy rehearsing."
The recent knock on Trias by judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell is that her performances, while likable, haven't featured the kind of fire required to topple her rivals. To that, she says, the world will see the best performance she can muster tonight. "I'm just going to step it up and give it my all and totally have fun," she says. "I have nothing to lose. I'm just going to sing my heart out."
No matter the outcome, her stay in Los Angeles has shown her that the world is full of opportunities. "I honestly think I'm going to move out here when I'm 18," she says, "because it's all here. You have so much more access to everything."
Like Velasco, Trias has received several offers as a result of being on "American Idol." She hints at "a theme song for a movie" and "opening a concert," both longtime dreams.
"I feel like no matter what you do from this point on, this competition isn't the last stop. I've learned that there's so much more out there for all of us."
Even so, between sunup-to-sundown tutoring and rehearsals, Trias says she longs for a simpler existence. "I just miss Hawaii and how life is so relaxed," she says with a sigh. "I miss my bed, I miss my friends, I miss regular school, just the whole atmosphere of being there. Hawaii will always be home to me."
