As Chikezie’s stay on American Idol came to an end last week, he couldn’t help but flash one last smile. It was indicative of his overall personality, which no doubt appealed to voters as much as his vocal abilities. Here’s what the happy-go-lucky 22-year-old from Inglewood, California–who dropped his last name, Eze, because it was constantly mispronounced–had to say about his grin-inducing experience on Idol and beyond.
On his future:
“In 10 years, I would like to see myself getting at least one Grammy. That’s for starters. I really want to get started with my music career and get to work with that and start making albums and making music that makes me feel good and hopefully makes others feel good. Also, I mean, acting… Who knows–why not? Why not try everything, you know? I’m the type of person that I like to see what I can do. I like to know what my boundaries are. You know, I’m always testing myself to see what I can accomplish.”
On his favorite performer of all time, Michael Jackson:
“What’s so great about Michael Jackson and what I try to get from him is, basically he is an inventor. You know, when it comes to performance, he’s an inventor. I don’t believe that he has a routine ever, you know. He just gets on stage and he does what he does best. He works it, you know. He works it and works it and works it. And that’s something that anybody should look up to because it’s that freedom that separates singers from artists.”
On his song-picking process:
“I would listen to a song and first off, I would see if I could possibly change the song if I felt it had space for a change. Because you have so many songs that are so complete and just so established that you can’t even touch them, and then you have more obscure ones that didn’t get that fame of the other ones that you think, ‘Oh, maybe I could do this or that.’ First, if I see that potential, then I’ll go for that and see what I can do. If it’s a complete song, if it’s a song that you just can’t touch, then I will make the very most of it. It has to touch me, though, first.”
