Did you see yourself in a no-win situation this year? I mean, the judges kept telling you, "Be young, be fresh," but then you were made to sing Elvis and Beatles tracks.
Katie Stevens: It definitely was difficult getting the "young" comments and then having to do older songs, but I've never been afraid of a challenge and I was happy to sing those songs. I mean, obviously, everybody wants to win, but I still wanted to keep myself in check and say, "You know what? Don't forget where you came from." It was definitely the experience of a lifetime and it's helped me learn who I am as an artist and as a person. I mean, I didn't see myself in a no-win situation, but you've always got to be prepared to go home, because everybody is going to go home but one.

Simon and Kara particularly had a sort of tug of war the whole time you were there. You know, "She should do country. She should do pop." I'm curious as to where you feel most comfortable, and was that frustrating as a contestant to have that happening?
Stevens: I think where I went at fault was in the beginning of the competition, during the top 24, when I was getting all of the bad comments and stuff. I think that was when I was trying to please the judges, and I wasn't pleasing myself and doing what I love. So I decided going into the top 12 that I was just going to be myself, so everything that I did at that point was what I love to do. I think that that kind of showed off, so the judges started giving me better comments. Simon telling me that he thought I was country; I mean they all know what they're talking about, but ultimately I need to, again, do what I love and do what I feel is best for me. I kind of side more with Kara in the pop with R&B leanings. For an album, I would like to record things like Kelly Clarkson, where she has the soulful voice, kind of R&B, soul, pop with rock background. I hope to record that kind of album soon.

Adam Lambert was the mentor this week. What piece of advice that he gave you are you going to take with you?
Stevens: He told me to always stick to what I love and what I believe in. It was great to have him as a mentor, because he's been through the Idol process, so he was able to give us feedback on what he did and how he was able to evolve throughout all of the pressures and everything, so it really helped us try to hone in on that and do the best that we can.

If you had made it to next week and got to pick an inspirational song, did you have one in mind?
Stevens: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was definitely a song that I've wanted to sing for the entire competition. I had never found the right time to do it, so I would have done that, but I know that I'm going to have plenty of opportunities to sing for America again, so hopefully at some point I could be singing that song.

What's next for you. Is it back to school? Do you get to go to prom? Did you pick a date?
Stevens: I actually don't think I will be able to attend prom or graduation, because that's when tour rehearsals will start. But definitely, I'm going to go back home, hang out with my friends, keep up with school so that I can graduate and get my diploma. But I'm really looking forward to the tour and, hopefully, after that writing an album. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited for what's to come.

Did anybody actually send you his phone bill to try to take you to prom?
Stevens: No, but the day after I made that proposal to send me phone bills, I actually got a bunch of people who said, "We will send you our phone bill." I haven't received any of them, but they told me that they would.

And now Andrew Garcia...

Your "Straight Up" performance got over 3 million hits across the board and turned into the most popular YouTube video from the entire show. When you were performing it, were you ever thinking it was going to take off like that?
Garcia: No. I was looking through a list, I saw "Straight Up," and I was like, "You know what? She's not on the show no more, so I could do my little twist on it and see what happens." It really took off. It went crazy.

Simon kept on complaining that you were boring, and then Adam Lambert said you were boring and all of your fellow contestants were like, "Andrew isn't boring. He's a great guy. He's funny." Why do you think that never actually seemed to come across on stage?
Garcia: Well, on stage I was focused more on just performing -- they're talking about personality. They don't really hang out with me, so they can't really talk about someone's personality if they're not trying to hang out with me. If they hung out with me, they'd love me. Guaranteed.

Which of your post-Hollywood performances turned out the most like you planned?
Garcia: I would have to say "Chasing Pavements" by Adele and Chris Brown, because it was me and the acoustic, and I love when I get to do my thing with acoustic. I love just taking pop songs or even R&B songs and just putting my twist on it.

I was wondering, what's the best piece of advice that Adam Lambert gave you that you'll be taking with you?
Garcia: The best advice Adam Lambert gave me was he said to let go and just have fun and put my twist on it. I know where he's coming from, because he puts his twist on everything he does, and he's amazing at it, so that kind of inspired me.

Want to immediately access TWoP content no matter where you are online? Download the free TWoP toolbar for your web browser. Already have a customized toolbar? Then just add our free toolbar app to get updated on our content as soon it's published.