Isle ‘Idols’ keeping busy
Jasmine Trias looks forward to some
private time before going on tour
Jasmine Trias is looking forward to enjoying some private time in Hawaii after her ouster from “American Idol” this week.Trias participated in a half-hour conference call with journalists from the United States and the Philippines this morning, and then spoke with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Trias didn’t say exactly when she would be back. She and Maui’s Camile Velasco will appear with six other finalists on Tuesday’s show, the day of the showdown between Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo.
Trias said she definitely will be back for her Maryknoll School graduation ceremony on June 4 as a National Honors Society student.
Trias agreed with a comment by a Maryknoll staff member that she looked calm and composed during even the unfavorable comments from the judges.
“I was really relaxed because, for this week, I wanted to sing for my fans and thank them for their support,” she said.
Trias, 17, acknowledges she has become a role model.
“I’m obligated to be a role model, and it’s a good thing, to have kids look up to you. That’s a lot of responsibility, and I’m flattered that I’m thought of that way, but I’ll be able to shoulder it.”
Besides singers like Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin, one of Trias’ own role models is former “American Idol” contestant Tamyra Gray, whose debut album comes out Tuesday.
Both Barrino and DeGarmo have recorded the Gray song “I Believe,” one of which will be released commercially, depending on the outcome.
Because of her ouster this week, Trias did not get a chance to record a song by one of her own idols.
But she does have plans to record an album of her own, inspired, in part, by Gray’s approach on her debut album, “The Dreamer.” Trias said it won’t be restricted to one genre of music in particular.
“It’ll be a little bit of both covers and originals, a little pop and R&B. I’ve started writing some songs on my own, and I hope a couple of them will be on the album. Maybe there’ll even be some Filipino songs.”
With her success on “American Idol” she has put plans to study nursing at Hawaii Pacific University on hold.
“My singing career definitely takes precedence,” she said. “But if doesn’t go the way I want it to go, I can always go back to my college plans.
Trias said she’d like to spend more time in Hawaii before the start of the tour in July because, “once the tour begins, I won’t be back home until the end of the tour in September.”
Velasco, in the meantime, said she is relaxing at home on Maui and writing songs before returning to the mainland for the show’s finale.
Velasco, who placed ninth in the competition, said she has written five songs and wants to complete 10 to 12 before producing a CD.
Velasco, who likes hip-hop music, described the songs as having a positive message.
“They’re kind of helpful lyrics,” she said.
Trias and Velasco will perform before fans in Hawaii on the American Idol 50-date summer tour, which features performances from all 10 finalists. The tour will end with two shows at the Blaisdell Center Arena, Sept. 28 and 29. The tour starts July 14 in Salt Lake City.
The Hawaii concerts were announced Tuesday by co-promoter Tom Moffatt. All tickets will cost $48 and go on sale starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations (including all Times Super Markets), online at www.ticketmaster.com or charge-by-phone at (877) 750-4400.
There will be an eight-ticket purchase limit per person.
When asked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the strengths of Barrino and DeGarmo going into the finals, Trias said, “Diana has a very big, powerful voice, and she has a lot of energy. So does Fantasia, who’s so soulful in her music.”
Trias was philosophical to the end that, even though Hawaii’s 1.6 million votes weren’t enough to boost her into the finals, she said “I wouldn’t change anything about the show. It works in so many ways, and everything falls together at the end.”
Star-Bulletin reporter Gary T. Kubota contributed to this report.