“I Was Nothing Before and Now I’m Something!”: An Interview with Jasmine Trias

Jasmine Trias showed uncommon poise and grace for a 17-year-old – the kind of courage that belied her years. Talk to her for a few minutes, you do realize she is in fact still a child, with some of the unflinching candor that goes with those non-advanced years.

You may be surprised to know that behind that gorgeous smile is a steely determination and not a particularly faint perfectionist streak. She likes to nail it, and when she doesn’t, 100 Simons couldn’t be harder on her than she is on herself.

Hawaii held its breath with every note she sang, and it seemed in no time, the people of the Aloha State were ready to anoint Jasmine as their favorite local celebrity – and role model. How does she feel about that? “It touches my heart to hear that (she is regarded as a role model). A role model at 17, that’s a lot of responsibility! What can I say to that, I’m flattered!”

When asked who her own role models are, she says, “Tamyra Gray – I love Tamyra! I love her voice, her style, everything! I really love Natalie Cole, and Aretha Franklin!” Her voice takes on a sense of awe just talking about Tamyra, who she adored in season one. She still can’t believe she has actually had some one-on-one time with Gray. What did she say? “She told me that, really, it doesn’t matter what he judges say because America decides. It’s all about how you handle the criticism and you how you move forward.”

As irony would have it, she would find herself the catalyst of The Tamyra Effect 2. Does she have any guilt about LaToya’s dismissal? “It was a kinda weird situation! LaToya got voted off, but she had two good performances, and I didn’t! Yet, we all worked hard to get there, so I was happy, I was sad, I was upset, it was so weird. I love LaToya, and it was so hard watching her leave. We all knew this season was so unpredictable…” and she stops there, in a bit of frustration. She’s still making peace with it.

Jasmine was good about thanking the judges for their critiques, but she admits they got to her, “The bad comments always affect me. I just try to channel them into my next performance and try to take them positively.”

Finding a way to make a positive out of some of Simon’s commentary must have been a huge undertaking. Contrary to popular perception, Simon’s brutal comments at Top 4 did not make her cry, “America votes – the reason I cried,” she says in a ‘come on, people’ tone of voice, “was because I knew I didn’t give my best performances and for the judges to notice too – I was disappointed!”

This has been an unpredictable season, where it seemed any of them could go at any time. All of the Top 12 have visited the bottom three at some point, which says something about how talented they all were and how close a race this is. Jasmine was most surprised by the Top 12 and their impact on her. “I am surprised about the friendships! I feel like we’ll all be friends for life!”

She admits she may have been slightly closer to John Stevens and Diana DeGarmo since they did have three hours of school each day. She never saw that as a disadvantage, or really thought about whether it was or not. She had work to do and she did it. John’s elimination was the hardest for her, because, “he was really bashed by the judges and the media, to see him backstage was so hard, and to take everything like a man, it was hard to see him go.”

Jasmine has her own opinion about a number of things that she has no fear about sharing. Considering the John Stevens experience, should the age of Idol contestants be raised? “I don’t think age is such a big thing. It’s just who you are and how you handle things.”

Was the flower missing from her hair (which I hear caused a huge fracas between her father and the show's wardrobe master), by default or by design? "It was kinda my decision, I said I was going to wear the flower every week and thought I was going to, but as the show went on, I changed my mind, and I wanted to get rid of the flower! It's not like I’m going to wear a flower for the rest of my life!"

Favorite judge? “Barry Manilow. He really threw himself into it. He rearranged his songs for us and really worked with us on them! He was great!”

Her favorite Idol performance, besides her own? “Fantasia’s ‘Summertime!’ You could tell she really felt the music, and everyone backstage was like, ‘Oh my God!’ She was amazing, that was definitely my favorite.”

What does she think are the strengths of Diana and Fantasia? “Diana has a big voice, a really powerful voice. It inspires me! Fantasia is always so soulful. She always feels the music when she sings it.” Who’s going to win? “I have no idea! Whoever it is will be a perfect American Idol!”

She admitted to me that a part of her – a big part of her – was relieved that it was all over finally, but no regrets, “I learned so much about myself,. My life is never going to be the same after this, this is my dream, and I want to move forward with it.”

Anything she wants to say to her fans? “I want to thank them so much for supporting me and being behind me. I was nothing before and now I’m something because of them!”

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for 16 years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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