Last week the phenomena of American Idol came to a close on FOX. The top three were cut down to two, as Dalton Rapattoni took third, and La'Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon went on to battle for the title. After the final vote, Renae took second. The two runners-up recently talked to the media about their journeys.

This season, as they brought back a lot of contestants from the previous years of Idol, the contestants did not get to sing with a lot of icons outside of the show. The two singers first talked to SciFi Vision about who they would have liked to have sung with on stage if they had the chance.

According to Rapattoni, “I would’ve loved to do a song with Childish Gambino. That would’ve been dope.”

Renae had a hard time choosing. “I really don’t know because it would probably be someone from back in the day, one of those soulful singers.” She did, however, say that she would have liked to have sung with Carrie Underwood out of the past American Idol contestants.

Rapattoni also talked to the site about what advice from the judges he will take away with him. “One of the biggest things that the judges stressed to me is to only do music that I connect with and that I relate to, and I feel like that’s what carried me to the top three, was my philosophy in doing that. So, that’s probably what I’m going to take away from this experience the most.”

Renae will take away her learning experience, among other things. “Oh. I’ll take away, I guess, the experience of learning a lot about how things work behind the scenes, but also the impact that I had on so many lives. It’s just a humble reminder that no matter what you’re going through or how you feel about yourself, or even how you feel about your gift sometimes, there’s always someone out there wanting to hear [you for] inspiration. So, I think that’s what I took away from it most, being able to touch people.”

FOX CONFERENCE CALL
American Idol
Runners-Up Dalton Rapattoni and La’Porsha Renae

April 8, 2016
2:15 p.m. ET

SCIFI VISION: Obviously they did the finale a bit different this year, and there weren’t a lot of artists outside of American Idol singing with the top idols. So, I’m curious if you guys had gotten to, who was your idol you would’ve wanted to sing with?

DALTON:I’m going to go ahead and let La’Porsha answer that one first because I have to think of one.

La’PORSHA: Well, I’m thinking too, Dalton. I don’t know. Let’s see. A lot of them I like. I do like Carrie Underwood a lot, so I’ll go with her.

DALTON: And now is this like previous American Idol contestants?

SCIFI VISION: Just anyone.

DALTON: Okay. I would’ve loved to do a song with Childish Gambino. That would’ve been dope.

La’PORSHA: Okay, so, anyone…I really don’t know because it would probably be someone from back in the day, one of those soulful singers.

SCIFI VISION: All right; fair enough. What’s the one piece of advice that both of you will take with you from the judges that you’ll use moving forward?

DALTON: One of the biggest things that the judges stressed to me is to only do music that I connect with and that I relate to, and I feel like that’s what carried me to the top three, was my philosophy in doing that. So, that’s probably what I’m going to take away from this experience the most.

La’PORSHA: Oh. I’ll take away, I guess, the experience of learning a lot about how things work behind the scenes, but also the impact that I had on so many lives. It’s just a humble reminder that no matter what you’re going through or how you feel about yourself, or even how you feel about your gift sometimes, there’s always someone out there wanting to hear a [you for] inspiration. So, I think that’s what I took away from it most, being able to touch people.

QUESTION: La’Porsha, congratulations. I read in Award magazine, you’ve signed with BigMachine and Motown Records. How does that make you feel getting that deal signed already?

La’PORSHA: Well, I was definitely excited about Motown. That’s a record label that in my household if you made it to that record label, it’s golden. Lots of great legends came from that label, and I just hopefully wish to bring back some of that old school soul music, so I’m really excited.

QUESTION: Dalton, what’s your game plan? Obviously, you haven’t been signed yet, but what would you like to do once you’re off the show, which I guess is technically now?

DALTON: I’m fortunate enough to have a big team behind me, and I’m able to do this independently if need be. I’m going into the studio on Sunday to write and record a new record, so that’ll be fun.

QUESTION: In other words, not taking any breaks here, are you? I guess you’re getting a two-day break.

DALTON: No, absolutely not.

QUESTION: With no tour, what’s going to happen since you guys don’t have a tour? La’Porsha, are you going to try and hit the studio pretty quickly too?

La’PORSHA: Yes. I definitely want to take the momentum from the show and use it to jumpstart my career.

QUESTION: La’Porsha, I want to know what your gut was telling you last night, and could you also tell me what you were thinking when Trent was crowned champion? What was your reaction? What was going through your mind?

La’PORSHA: I thought I had a feeling that he would be, so I had prepared myself for it. When he was crowned, I was really proud.Trent deserves it. He works very hard. He’s a genuine person and a real true artist, so I was really proud of him.

QUESTION: You were basically the frontrunner all season long, which I believe would have its rewards, but also burdens.Can you talk about that a little bit? Did you feel extra pressure to deliver perfect performances every week? Obviously, there’s only room to go down once you’re at the top, do you know what I mean?

La’PORSHA: At the end of the day, it is a TV show, and I knew that being the frontrunner would have its repercussions.I think it didn’t really put pressure. It was more of anxiousness to get a critique at some point so that I could breathe a little bit because there were weeks when I critiqued myself, and I knew I didn’t do as well as I could’ve. It was evident, and nothing was said about it, so I just tried to not let it get to me and just critique my own self and better my own self and compete against myself.

QUESTION: Dalton, I read that you were going to be recording in Austin with a band from Houston, and you know how territorial we get here in Texas. Are you going to stick around North Texas? Are you going to be leaving the Dallas area? Would you have any kind of plans? I’m sure people down here would want to know.

DALTON: Dude, I work wherever people need me to work, but North Texas is my home. I’m definitely going to keep that as my anchor point because, honestly, I can’t relax anywhere else. I grew up there. It’s my home, and I get stressed out everywhere else. So, I always have to come back to North Texas to get myself recharged.

QUESTION: Are you going to keep up any kind of gig or relationship with the School of Rock?

DALTON: Oh, absolutely. I’m always involved with the School of Rock at some capacity. I think it’s an incredibly important program because there aren’t really as many music programs in schools as there used to be or the funding is cut.

That’s why School of Rock exists. It’s for the kids that don’t want to play soccer or don’t want to play football because everyone needs that something outside of school, and I think it’s a really, really important cause, and I’m definitely always going to be involved in it.

QUESTION: During the judges’ pick that week, they picked “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and then they seemed a little surprised how you sang it. So I was curious, did they not mentor you on that song or was that just—?

DALTON: Well, the judges didn’t mentor anybody that week. They just picked their songs and gave them to us. Funny you should ask about “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” I was practicing it in that key because we had three songs that week, and I didn’t want to blow out my voice, but I had intended on raising it for the show. It was my bad. I dropped the ball and forgot to tell the band that. It was a stupid mistake, but everybody makes them.

QUESTION: Jennifer Lopez mentioned that your gift is making lyrics your own. I’m curious how will you do that more so when you’re creating your own music?

DALTON: When I write songs, I make sure that I believe them 100%. I don’t write anything that I don’t feel deeply. So, anything coming out in the future, which will happen soon, it’s going to be the exact same philosophy as I had on the show. It’s going to be 100% me just trying to talk to people.

QUESTION:Okay, great. And La’Porsha, I was wondering, now that you have a lot of exposure on American Idol, and you were talking a little bit about your community, do you plan on any being more proactive in your community to bring about changes?

La’PORSHA: I do plan on using my platform to definitely be proactive in my community to bring about changes. Not just in my community but other communities as well. I will be joining forces with a lot of different people and trying to get the message out there that we all just need to respect each other and get along and co-exist.

QUESTION: Trent credited you for helping him last night after he won. Anything specific that stood out when he said that? Anything that you did specifically?

La’PORSHA: Trent is a very hard worker, and he’s genuine in what he does, and he doesn’t like people to lie to him and say he did good when he knows he can do better. So, what we did for each other actually is during rehearsals, we’d listen to each other’s takes and see if there was anything we could’ve done better physically, as far as movement around the stage or vocally.

I would tell him maybe not use the high note for everything. Maybe sing out a little bit and save it at the end to make it something special, or surprise them, put it in the middle. There were all kinds of things depending on the performance, and he would do the exact same for me. If I wasn’t pushing myself enough to hit a note, he’d tell me to go higher, or change the key, so we helped each other in that area.

QUESTION: La’Porsha, if you could flash back for a minute to two times. First of all, when you were eight years old and the first Idol came on, what struck you about it at the time, and did you think right away, I’m going to be on it someday? And then the other time is when you were 16, and you tried out for the show, what was that like to try out for it at that early age?

La’PORSHA: Okay, so when I was eight, I was watching Kelly Clarkson, and it definitely struck me as this is something I could possibly do when I was old enough. So, I started working towards that, and when I finally turned the age that was appropriate to try out for the show, 16, I went to the cast call in New Orleans. I got a standing ovation from the stadium, and I didn’t make it through.

The judges said - well, the producers said no. They said I was young, that I could come back and try out again, which it all worked out in my favor because at that time, I didn’t really have much to sing about, and so life happened between those years, and when I came back this time, I sang with a lot of depth and emotion. I was able to emote that to my fans.

QUESTION: That’s good. And Dalton, I want you to flash back just a second to your IM5 days. How it did or didn’t shape you as a singer? You wrote at one point that you never thought you’d see yourself as a dancer or a pop singer and you’ve been doing that for a while. What was good or bad about your IM5 days?

DALTON: Here’s the deal with IM5 as pertaining to Idol. I don’t think that I would’ve been able to do this without having been in IM5. Being in IM5 taught me a lot about how to interact with people in the industry and it also taught me a lot on how to and all of that stuff. I am very appreciative of the lessons that both Idol and IM5 have taught me.

QUESTION: I wanted to ask Dalton what you were planning to sing last week? The two songs you didn’t sing.

DALTON: I was planning on singing “Say Something” by A Great Big World, and I was planning on singing as my repeat song, a full version of “Hopelessly Devoted.”

QUESTION: Can you tell us anything about the album you’re going to start on Sunday? Is it an independent release? Are you on a label? Do you have a producer lined up? Songs written and ready to go?

DALTON: Right now, we don’t have word back from 19 Entertainment on whether they’re going to pick up my option or not. But work must go on, so I’m considering it as of right now to be an independent release, but luckily I have a big team backing me, and we’re going to be able to do that to the best of our ability.

QUESTION: Was it the team you had before Idol or?

DALTON: Yes. I’ve obviously gone and picked up a few members along the way, but we’ve grown bigger through it, and we’ve grown stronger through everything, and we’re definitely going to be able to produce some really good music.

QUESTION: La’Porsha, are you planning on going back to your small town in Mississippi or will you be relocating to Los Angeles or Nashville to record your record?

La’PORSHA: I’m not really sure where I’m going to be. I’m not sure if I’m relocating to Los Angeles, but I definitely can say that I plan on relocating from Mississippi very, very soon. So, that’s still in the air.

QUESTION: It was so great to see your stories play out this season. I was wondering from each of you, when you are performing, both of you have such emotion and just pure talent that just radiates and comes across. How do you channel your emotions through your performances and connect the songs to all of that?

DALTON: I feel like if I don’t have a song with lyrics that I connect to, then that doesn’t happen. For me, I really have to get in my own head and think about what the song is trying to say and then do my best to represent that with my performance and my vocals, but I always try to do songs that I really strongly connect with.

La’PORSHA: Any time I was allowed to, I chose my own song. I did the same. I tried to choose songs that I connected with and that I related to and that I felt like would inspire people and make them feel good inside. Even though you are, as an artist, supposed to get into character and be able to convey a message in a song, I think it’s very important that you have some kind of relevance with that song choice.

QUESTION: What was the best piece of advice you received from the judges that you’re going to use to apply to your future in the music industry?

DALTON: The biggest thing that the judges always beat into me was just to pick songs to do that I connect with on a deeply emotional level and just to always be myself, so that’s what I’m going to be taking away from this.