Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munoz and Tyler Grady were the first singing hopefuls to be booted off "American Idol" and shared their thoughts about their early exit in a recent conference call. Excerpts are below.

Janell Wheeler
Age: 24
Hometown:  Tampa, FL.
Occupation: wine sales representative

Q: What was your most memorable moment from your Idol experience?

Wheeler: It will probably have to be elimination night for sure.  But in a great way.  If there was any way to go out, I’m so proud of myself in the way that I did.  Several of the girls have even texted me and just said, Janell, you had so much poise, you were a class act and we look up to you and we really admire the way that you went out. I felt like I kept it together, I sang my song better than I sang it the first time and I’m really happy with how it went.  If I had to go out, I’m glad I went out that way.

Q: Was it hard to understand what exactly the judges were looking for from you?

Wheeler: I think I knew exactly what they wanted from me.  I just was choosing to do it the second week.  The first rehearsal with me and that song was a little more country; however, it lost a lot of its – just rugged sound and energy, so I did switch it back to the rocker version and I felt like it definitely pumped me up and helped me perform better.  But I think that in order for me to really have secured a place to the next round, I should have gone ahead and brought the guitar out and performed a top 40 hit like American Boy, which I was definitely planning on doing next week.  But I will definitely, as I progress in my future, I will be sticking with a style that I do best, which is so close to my Hollywood audition, the most memorable one, which was American Boy.

Q: (How did you find) Ellen as a judge?

Wheeler: I love Ellen.  I don’t think it’s a secret.  I’ve told press millions of times. I watch her show religiously.  So to me, I just thought she was so refreshing.  She represents the American public, people who actually go out and buy the albums, the fans, just America.  And I think that she really knows music and she’s so diverse in her knowledge and I think that people need to give her a lot of credit because she did a bang-up job for her first live show.

Q: Were you surprised that you ended up on the chopping block, or were you kind of expecting it?  What were you thinking?

Wheeler: I’m a very hopeful person, but that day for some reason I just had this feeling inside of me.  I couldn’t really explain it.  I even called my parents and I said, be prepared because I don’t have a good feeling about today.  Of course they reassured me – no, no, no – and I was like, okay, trust me, I know.  But I didn’t get the worst comments; I didn’t get the best comments.  I don’t think I was particularly the worst and I definitely was not the best.  So I was in that dangerous zone, that in-between, because people tend to think that you’re safe.  If you’re in between, if you’re right in the middle, people think you’ll squeeze by. 

I think it was just a matter of, people didn’t know how much they had to vote.  People were just really trying to save those people that they thought were in danger, and because I didn’t really shine or get really bad feedback, I think I just kind of unfortunately got lost in the mix.

Q: What are you going to do next? 

Wheeler: My parents live in Orlando, so I’m definitely going to head over there for a couple of days and hang out with the family.  I think we have a big family barbecue planned in celebration.  And then I live in South Tampa, so probably just go back, get my bearings, hang out with my friends and get back to me for a little bit.  I’m probably not going to go back to my Weinfield’s job, but Tampa is such an awesome city and I’m proud to be living there, and it’s been a blast.  It’s a playground for my age group there, so I’ll probably just be working on my music, writing and just getting ready for the future.  I’m really, really excited to work on some music coming up.  I have some tricks under my sleeve.

Ashley Rodriguez
Age: 22
Hometown: Chelsea, MA
Occupation: college student

Q: What are you going to be taking with you from the Idol experience?

Rodriquez: Idol has really shown me that now more than ever I have to fight for what I want.  It was giving me a little taste of the dream and I’m willing to work hard for it, especially now that I’ve got a little glimpse of what this life is like.

Q: (What were the most) memorable experiences throughout the show and (do you have) a message to all the fans who supported you?

Rodriquez: Our top 24 photo shoot was a blast.  We walked into this big L.A. shoot and it was just super-glamorous and really exciting, a ton of press, and it was really our opportunity to shine.  That’s definitely probably one of my favorite moments.  Also getting to meet with and work with Ricky Miner and the band, they’re just so incredible.  Those are definitely two great moments that I’m going to take away from this experience.

The fans that I’ve gained in doing this show have been so wonderful from the very beginning and so supportive.  I’ve seen a few of the messages since being eliminated from the show, and they’re holding on, man, and still so supportive and so loving, and I’m hoping that in the near future I’m going to have an awesome album for them and a great record and they’ll stay fans for a long time. 

Q: Is there anything, looking back, that you wish you had changed or done differently?

Rodriquez: Actually, there isn’t.  I feel like I went into this competition giving 100% all the time, and I think it’s actually a really, really awesome thing for me that I can walk out of it saying that I have no regrets.  I gave my all in every performance, in every situation, and I wouldn’t change a thing.  I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

Q: Did you feel like the judges were too harsh with you?  They didn’t have a lot of positive feedback for anybody.

Rodriquez: Yes, they were not taking any chances this week.  I think a lot of people thought they would be a little lenient considering it was our first live show, but turns out that they were coming in throwing punches, and I wouldn’t say that they were too hard, but we definitely could have used a little bit of love from them, that’s for sure.  I think that they were very quick to give a lot of criticism and not back it up by anything positive, which is unfortunate, because you can always find something good from a performance, even if it falls apart.  There’s always something positive you can take from that, and they didn’t really highlight on that too much, which is unfortunate.

Q: You’ve also said that everything happens for a reason.  Do have a particular thought behind that in regard to leaving so soon?

Rodriquez: Yes.  It’s unfortunate that I’m leaving the competition so soon, but I have to believe that everything happens for a reason, the good and the bad, because that’s the glimpse of hope.  That’s the light in a dark situation.  And I’m taking Idol for what it is and for what it was for me, which was a great platform and an awesome opportunity and an incredible moment to sing in front of such a huge audience – 30 million people got to hear me sing and I got to share with them, so what a better way to jumpstart your career than such a huge audience on such a big platform. 

Joe Munoz
Age:  20
Hometown: Huntington Park, CA

Q: We didn’t get to see very much of you before the top 24.  Were you disappointed when you watched the first six weeks or so of the show and didn’t really see yourself?

Munoz: I didn’t really have much control over it.  That’s just how they try to handle the show, so I wasn’t really disappointed.  I think I had my moment and, well, got eliminated, but I had a blast.

Q: Where do you see yourself going from here?  Are you committed to a career in music, and if so, how do you want to pursue that?  What is your sound, do you think?

Munoz: I really love pop music, so I’m just a pop guy, and I see myself doing a pop record.  Also, there’s a lot of artists doing a lot of things right now, so I really want to be that kind of artist, just being in musical theatre, on TV, and make records for people.

Q: What influenced or what got you started into your passion for music?  And I guess the follow-up question is, what inspired you to audition for American Idol?

Munoz: I’ve just been passionate about music since I’ve been a little kid.  It’s always something I feel I’ve been good at, and I just love music.  The love that I have for music is what basically drew me into American Idol. 

Q: And any influence besides Jason Mraz?

Munoz: I really look up to Michael Bublé and Céline Deon as performers and vocalists.

Q: When you were standing up there with Tim (Urban), did you have any idea that it was going to be you?  Were you surprised, or were you expecting it?  What were you thinking?

Munoz: A lot of things were going through my mind, honestly, but I was just trying to keep calm and it’s so unpredictable, you don’t really know who’s going to go home, so I didn’t want to get over confident.  But that’s basically what happened.

Tyler Grady
Age: 20
Hometown: Nazareth, PA
Occupation: university student

Q: it seemed like the judges were kind of, as usual, a bit contradictory.  They were telling you on one hand you were there partly because you were so unique and you had this kind of 70s look and sound happening, and then they were critical of the performance because of that.  What would you have done next week?

Grady: First of all, I would like to say that I’ve seen that I’m getting some heat in the media about my comment before the show ended, and I just wanted to let everyone know that I really meant no disrespect by that.  I just wanted to, I felt that when I watched the show back on Wednesday, I was too caught up in the moment to stand up for myself, and whereas contestants are absolutely encouraged to express themselves when they’re being critiqued.  I felt like, I was kind of shocked with the criticism, and I just didn’t get a chance to express my feelings.  So when I said that, I was just kind of,  I was expressing myself.  I meant no disrespect and I’m not bitter at the judges or anything like that.  That was kind of silly.

But to be honest, if I would have made it through to another week, it would have been due to a fan base that appreciated what I was doing, so I probably would have just stuck to my guns and performed in the same style I’ve been performing in.  I may have chosen a more recent rock song, but you wouldn’t have seen me coming out in baggy jeans and wearing a headset microphone.  I wouldn’t have been changing my performance style at all.

Q: You mentioned saying what you were feeling at the moment.  It must be kind of tough being thrown into that first week and not only having to prepare the song, but also dealing with the photo shoots and all that kind of stuff.  Is that a big presence in your life that first week while you’re trying to prepare?

Grady: It’s certainly stressful.  As a contestant on the show, you really do begin to realize just how difficult it is to be in a situation like that.  It really made me appreciate performers that do television, because I’ve never been in that situation until Idol, and it’s really a different ballgame.

Q: The judges I think in your audition said that they loved your 70s look and they wanted that in the competition.  And then they turn around and tell you that you need to lose it.  I was scratching my head at that point, so how did you feel and what was your reaction to hearing that?

Grady: When you’re a contestant in that situation and you’re getting conflicting views, it’s very confusing.  But you know what, at this point I’m trying to move on from that.  I don’t have any bitterness or anything from that, and I’m going to go back to Pennsylvania and work with my band and you will see the same sort of performance that you did on the show with my band.  The name is Wailing Waters, so keep an eye out for us.

Q: You really didn’t get very much (air time).  I mean, they showed you a lot on the first show, on the first audition show, and then you basically disappeared until the end of the Hollywood round.  Do you think that hurt you at all?

Grady: I don’t want to make excuses, and I know the media is already claiming that I’m making excuses as far as blaming the judges for what happened on the show, and I don’t blame the judges at all.  When I made that comment, I was simply expressing my feelings at the time.  I felt like as a contestant on that show, you need to stand up for yourself and go out with some dignity.  But I really don’t make excuses for what happened, and I don’t think Kelly Clarkson and Chris Allen, both winners of American Idol in the past, didn’t have that much air time going into the live show, so I wouldn’t say that that would have affected the results.

Q: Do you think your stick-by-your-guns attitude and you’re apprehension not to change your styles was part of the reason why  you were eliminated?

Grady: I was eliminated because I didn’t get enough votes.  I got one of the least number of votes out of the 12 guys, that’s why I got eliminated.  As a performer you have to stick to your guns.  You have to be honest and you have to stay true to yourself.  If you’re going to change your style of performance and your style of vocals and be inconsistent, you won’t be able to build a solid fan base, because people won’t be able to catch on to you.  So you really can’t and once you do build a fan base, you need to feed them what they appreciate about you.  I mean, you can’t constantly change yourself or you’re not really respecting your fans.