Aaron Kelly talks about his elimination on American Idol

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Last night the youngest finalist Aaron Kelly got the boot. Here is his interview with digitalspy.com

What do you think the judges wanted from you?
"I think they wanted to see a little charisma. I got my confidence up and I was having a good time. I just needed to believe a little bit more, but I felt the more I went into this competition the more I was gaining with my confidence and charisma. I was learning to add all the extra things to my performances."

Simon hugged you on stage. What did he say?
"He asked me what I felt my best week was and I said Country Week. He said that's mostly when I really shined, so I need to figure out the kind of artist I am and what road I want to go down. Country is what i feel most content with and that's where I'm hoping to go."

Ryan asked how old you felt and you replied, 'Still 17'. Do you think it was important to stay true to yourself and your age?
"Absolutely. You don't want to change who you are because the people send you through from who you are in the beginning, and if you change who you are then you're changing the person that America fell in love with."

How do you think last night's performance compared to Tuesday night?
"I didn't get to watch it back after I sang but I did feel a lot more [like] I let everything go. The difference for me between Tuesday night's performance and last night's performance is I was overthinking it Tuesday night, because I go out there and want it to be perfect and I think in a sense it kind of pulls you back a little bit because you're trying to clean everything up, whereas on Wednesday night I just let it all go and had a great time with that."

The judges seemed to be pushing you towards country. What are your thoughts on that?
"Actually country music is what I've grown up listening to and it's what I feel most comfortable with. The people that inspire me the most are Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban, they have such great honest music. I have a great time performing country music and I see myself hopefully going down that road."

Did you get a chance to meet Rascal Flatts when they were on the show?
"I did. I got a chance to meet them and take a picture with them. They are really down to earth guys and that was incredible, that was one of the highlights for me - getting to meet somebody who inspired me so much. They thanked me for doing their music on the show, but it's an honor to do their music and hear them sing because I admire them so much."

Next week is Movie Theme Week. Had you chosen a song?
"I was still filtering through the list a little bit so I didn't really have something decided or set in stone. I think it would have been a pretty good week but I'm really happy with as far as I made it."

Who was you favorite mentor?
"Harry Connick Jr. He worked with us on such a personal level. He did all the arrangement and worked really hard in making sure we shined in our performance night. To have a mentor that cared so much - and such an iconic figure - it was such an honor getting to share the stage with him and I felt really privileged to have him as a mentor."

What are you looking forward to most about the tour?
"I've never been to an American Idol tour but I'm really excited to get to be a part of it and interact with the fans and the supporters. It will be nice to connect to them and also be able to go out there and not have to worry about impressing the judges. It will just be good, clean fun and we're going to have a blast. Carefree and it will be great!"

What's next for you?
"I'm on the verge of finishing up with high school and I have all my senior credits, then I'd love to record an album and get to do some original music that I've written because we're not allowed to do that on the show. I don't know if people know I write songs, it's a huge passion of mine."

Who do you think has the best shot of winning?
"I say this to everyone - they are all talented and I think they all have a shot at winning. When it comes down to it, it's America that votes so any one of them has a shot. They are all fantastic and they will all go out there and shine for the Top Four. They're going to do a great job."