The 8th-place finisher of 'American Idol' season 12 seems to hint that Nicki Minaj was the one who decided not to use the 'save' card and says he was so touched by Mariah Carey.
- Mar 29, 2013
AceShowbiz - Devin Velez gave his first interview post-"American Idol" elimination in which he talked about the judges who seemed to be split three-to-one on whether or not to save him. The 18-year-old aspiring singer from Chicago, Illinois gave a hint at which one of the foursome was against using the "save" card to keep him on the show.
"I think I know who didn't want to put me through," he said, without mentioning any name. "She has a lot of girl power. And a lot of girl thoughts -- maybe she just wants a girl to win. Just the fact that the girls have been so consistent with their songs and having such higher votes. I mean, the girls are amazing this year and I have nothing bad to say about any of the contestants."
All the judges, except Nicki Minaj, talked to him after the show. "I had Keith [Urban] come up first and he gave me this big hug and he was just like, 'Dude, you were great, it was an honor having you on the show.' And coming from Keith, that was awesome," he gushed as quoted by Zap2It.
"And then I had Randy [Jackson] and Mariah [Carey] come up, and Randy was just like, 'Dude, I want to keep in contact with you because you are an amazing artist and we would love to work with people like you.' Hearing that from people like Randy, who's been in the business for ages, that's awesome!" he added.
As for Mariah, "She was emotional but she said the same exact thing. She said, 'I would love to sometime down your road, do something with you.' And that coming from Mariah -- and she doesn't say that to everyone I will tell you that right now. The hug was so sincere and her tears were not of joy but I got to wipe a few. So I'm not washing this finger and I love Mariah she's such a sweetheart!"
The female judge did look so upset about his elimination. "I love Mariah more if that means anything. That's the first time I ever saw Mariah Carey cry," Devin said. He would keep in touch with her, "I gave her my phone number as opposed to me getting hers because she's Mariah -- I can't be calling her. Her people I'm sure will reach out to my people [laughs]."
Devin left the "Idol" on a high note. His performance the night before received rave reviews from all the four judges. "I'm still smiling. I think it's been a great journey. You know, I haven't cried yet...," he said of his elimination. "It can only get better from here and I still get to do the tour.. And now, I'm hoping to go back home and win prom king."
