Andrew Garcia: "You can't always win everybody over"

Does it surprise anyone that the first question Andrew Garcia got during his media conference call last week was about “Straight Up”?

Here’s a sample of what Andrew had to say…

On whether he knew “Straight Up” was going to explode: “No. I was looking through a list. I saw ‘Straight Up’/Paula 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.”

On Ryan’s waltzing Tuesday night: “I was like, ‘Ryan has lost his mind,’ but I love the guy. He works a lot, so he has a right to get a little coffee in him now and then.”

On what he was doing before “Idol”: “My life before I got on ‘Idol’ was just taking care of my son. I was a stay-at-home dad; and on the weekends go play shows. That was my income; going out and playing shows for like $400 a gig.”

On not showing his personality to the judges: “Well, on stage I was focused more on just performing, like 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…I actually did [show my personality] and they still bashed me, but you know what? You can’t always win everybody over, so I’m thankful for all of the fans and supporters that I have and my fellow contestants.”

On not being eligible for the Judges’ Save: “At that point I was just happy where I was at and how far I had gotten. The save, they couldn’t have done a better save. Michael Lynche, that guy is a warrior and I love that guy.”

On whether it would be better for the contestants if the judges chose their songs: “I still think that even if we did want that they’ll still be harder on us just because that means they’ll be expecting more because they chose them and they think that it will fit you, but really, it’s just going to be the same.”

Photo Credit: Michael Becker/FOX