Overmyer talks about her ‘Idol’ experience

by Melissa Soria
Pharos-Tribune staff writer

February 21, 2008 02:26 pm

— Twenty-three-year-old Amanda Overmyer took a break from her busy schedule Tuesday to talk about her experience on “American Idol.”
“I’m doing pretty well with it,” she said about the hype surrounding the show. “I’m just hearing about it through my parents and friends and family. I haven’t experienced that much of a change. I don’t get on the Internet and look at stuff or anything.”
Amanda says her days have been busy and are filled with rehearsals, photo shoots and interviews.
“One day, I think I had a total of 20-some interviews at once,” she said. “I’m definitely not used to that. I’m still learning a lot.”
Amanda beat out 100,000 individuals from around the nation to get into the final 24. Music has always been influential in the Camden native’s life. She was a vocalist in several bands in the Lafayette area, including Steeleto.
“I was raised around classic rock, from the ’60s to the ’80s,” she said. “That’s all I know — REO Speedwagon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx. Anything from those decades.”
Family and friends had encouraged Amanda to audition for “American Idol” for several years, but she said she hadn’t auditioned for the show, though, because she had been focusing on her nursing career. Now, she says, she’s at a place in her career where she can afford to take time off.
Amanda’s parents, Kathy Overmyer and C.J. Overmyer, and a friend are in Los Angeles supporting her.
“The support that I’ve gotten is just awesome,” she said. “I’m very privileged by the people I’m surrounded by.”
In late November, the “Idol” contestant had a brush with death, when she had a car accident at U.S. 24 and U.S. 35. She suffered a head injury and was airlifted to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. She said the accident helped her realize not to take her life for granted.
“I was very lucky coming out of that,” she said. “It solidified my whole thoughts on everything. There was a good possibility that I might have been seriously injured.”
Amanda said she felt both excitement and nervousness about performing live tonight. She said she had quit playing in bands for the past two years because she didn’t have time between getting a second college degree and working at her job.
“The only thing I’m having a problem with is that I’m used to singing in bars to a crowd,” she said. “Now I’m going to be singing to the cameras.”
She says she’ll take criticism well from the judges.
“I’m definitely an even-keel person,” she said. “I don’t get overly upset or excited. It’s not going to change anything I do.”
Amanda said she planned on giving 100 percent during the competition. If she’s eliminated, she said, she’ll just go back to her nursing career.
“This is pretty much the only shot I’ve given myself to pursue music,” she said. “I don’t have it in me to take off and try to be a rock star. That would be too much out of the ordinary. The only way I’d do that is through ‘American Idol.’”
Amanda said she doesn’t know what the near future holds for her.
“I could be voted off the first week and go back home,” she said. “I could go really far in competition and still go back home. I have no preconceived notions of what’s next in my life.”
Right now, she said, she’s just keeping a level head through the competition.
“I’ve always been a realist,” she said. “This is just another phase in my life. I look at things in the big picture. Any time I would advance in the show, people would say, ‘You’re so calm and cool.’”
She realizes, though, that there’s a big difference between making the final 24 and being the winner.
“You’ll never hear me say, ‘I’m going to be a big rock star,’” she said. “I don’t think that way.”
Melissa Soria may be reached at (574) 732-5143 or via e-mail at melissa.soria@pharostribune.com

Want to watch?
American Idol airs at 8 o’clock tonight on Fox.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.