Aaron Kelly was the next contestant to be eliminated from “American Idol” after receiving the lowest number of votes for his performance of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.” The 17-year-old high school student from Sonestown, Pa., shared his thoughts in a recent conference call. Excerpts are below.

Q: You gave a great answer (on the results show) when Ryan asked you how old you felt and you said, “Still seventeen.”  Was it important to you to kind of stay true to yourself, to your age, and not grow up too fast in this competition?

Aaron:  Absolutely.  I find that you don’t want to change who you are in this competition 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.

Q: What are your thoughts about the (Top 10) tour?  Have you ever been to an American Idol tour before and what are you kind of looking forward to and hoping to do on the tour?

Aaron: 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’s going to be nice to connect with the fans and also be able to go out there and not have to worry about judges or impressing the judges.  It’s just going to be good, clean fun and (I’m) going to have a blast.

Q: Now after all their critiques and advice, what do you believe the judges wanted from you?

Aaron: Well, I think the judges wanted to see a little charisma and more – 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 and everything.  I was still learning to add all the extra things to my performances.

Q: The judges seemed to be pushing you to do more country music, but you didn’t come across as an obvious country artist.  What are you feelings towards country music?

Aaron: Actually, country music is what I’ve grown up listening to and it’s what I feel I fit most comfortably with, really.  The people that inspire me most are Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban.  They have such great honest music, and I have a great time performing country music.  I see myself, hopefully, going down that road. 

Q: Simon went up to you and held out his arms to hug you last night.  He doesn’t usually do so excitedly.  What did he say to you?

Aaron: He asked me what I felt my best week was, and I said country week.  And he said that’s when I really shined, so I’ve just got to figure out the kind of artist I am and what kind of road I want to go down.  Country is what I feel most content with, and that’s where I’m hoping to go.

Q: What did Harry say to you?

Aaron: Harry Connick?  He said it was great and – during the mentor shoot, they actually didn’t air it – but he said that I had a great voice and he said it was almost angelic … he said you know, you’ve got all those high notes but just go out and sing the song without all the high notes, and if someone can go out and do that, that’s a true, true artist.

Q: So what exactly is next for you?  Are you going to go back to high school for a little while or are you going to try to jump out, try to record an album, and do you think that these people you mentioned – like Rascal Flatts – (are the ones you) want to make an album with?

Aaron: Oh, I’d love to.  Like I said, they’re a huge inspiration to me.  I’m actually on the verge of finishing up with high school.  I’ve got all my senior credits, so after I finish that I’ll be all finished.  And then I’d love to record an album and get to do some original music like stuff that I’ve written because we’re not allowed to do that on the show, so I don’t know if people know that I write songs.  But, it’s also another huge passion of mine.

Q: You talked about how Harry was your favorite mentor and he … a great job.  Could you see him maybe being a possible replacement for Simon Cowell?

Aaron: Actually, we were talking about that a little bit today.  He would be a great replacement for Simon.  He’s very honest, and he’s going to tell you straight out.  I think Harry Connick would fit the bill perfectly.

Q: You think he’s interested?

Aaron: I’m not sure.  I don’t know how that works or anything, but for my opinion, he’d be a great Simon, a great person to fill in Simon’s spot.