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A: I definitely considered that, but in a way, the producers swayed me against doing songs like that, because they're almost less well-known than people like Sam Cooke and Patsy Cline. ... I mean, they're 100 percent well-known to me, but I actually did try to do "Nude" by Radiohead — which is their top-charting song, more than "Paranoid Android" or older songs — so that didn't get cleared. I just figured, I love classic rock, and I'm going to try to make that my niche this season, but unfortunately, indie underground music isn't really ready for the big breakthrough, and I think that was kind of reaffirmed last night by me getting voted off, that America may still not be ready to have that kind of music in the mainstream.

Q: What do you see yourself doing in the music business now?

A: I definitely feel like I would fit in the big film and festival circuit doing things like Coachella and Bonnaroo and really just doing some mass touring. I know that I can have a whole entire different kind of audience coming out to shows if I did tour. Recording is definitely on my list of things to do. I know there's a fanbase out there for me that is loving what I'm doing .I just don't necessarily think that would be the "American Idol" voting demographic, so that's kinda what I worried about. Day one of being on the show, I thought I could break the mold, but I guess it's another season of the same old stuff. [Laughs.]

Unfortunately, Lambert fell victim to Thursday's shocking results night and didn't quite make the top 12. We caught up with him Friday (March 12) to talk about his surprise elimination, what's next and much more.

Q: After you were eliminated, you said that you had more to show America. What did you mean by that?

A: When I said I want to break out of my shell and show America what I can do, man, honestly, every time I got up there, I couldn't even sing my best because I was so nervous, and I have a whole series of songs that I can sing that sound so much better than singing on the show. I don't regret anything, because it's the beginning of my career. I have never really been onstage before, so I think I did great for not having any experience.

"What I stand here and represent is hope for Brooklyn, New York City. I'm a son of Brooklyn, I'm from Marcy projects," Jay said. "I think about growing up in Brooklyn in the Marcy projects and shooting jump shots, thinking I can make it to the NBA. Now I stand here as an owner of a team that's coming back to Brooklyn. The pride in that, and bringing that dream so much closer for people, brings me so much pride I get a little nervous about it. But I'm very happy, very excited about this day. And we did it again, Brooklyn — shout-out to [Notorious] B.I.G."

The tail end of Jay's speech hearkened back to the 1995 Source Awards, where Biggie shouted out Brooklyn during his multiple acceptance speeches. After Jodeci presented him with Album of the Year, Big — wearing a white towel on his head — and a horde of others came onstage to address the crowd.

"I wanna give mad love to my daughter, my moms, my manager, Gucci, my wife," he said. "We did it, Brooklyn. We did it. All them sh--. [I won] all of them [awards]. One love to all y'all mutha----as."