Last words: Fallen Idol Kristy Lee Cook says goodbye

“It was definitely a shock for me to go home,” said recently axed "American Idol" contestant Kristy Lee Cook, in a conference call with the media this morning. A shock? Really? She was in the bottom three almost every week. Perhaps it was Kristy’s willful ignorance of her own fragility that kept her chugging along. “I kind of built up a stamina for it and got a little tougher each time,” answered Kristy, when asked how she coped with her repeated appearances in the bottom three.

And how did Kristy react to Ryan Seacrest’s mysterious puppeteering last night, when he placed the contestants in intentionally confusing groups? “I was just trying to be as relaxed as possible and just play it by ear,” replied Kristy. She didn’t bother guessing what the groups meant, since she knew Seacrest was up to something “off the wall.” 

In the end, of course, it turned out to be Kristy’s time to go. And she went out with a bang, strolling right up to Simon Cowell and singing him the beginning of her farewell song. Afterward, Simon told Kristy, “Well, you made it awkward for me,” to which she replied,  “Well, now you know what it's like for us singing in front of you all the time.”  And Kristy’s comments on Mr. Cowell didn’t stop there. “He didn’t really get what I have, and I don’t think he still does.” 

So, what’s next for Kristy? Well, first off, she’s planning a wedding! Kristy’s beau, Andy, popped the question on “Idol” last night. “We’re planning maybe around next June some time, but we don’t have a for-sure date,” she explained. And although Andy proposed in front of all of America last night, it wasn’t a very risky gesture. On March 15, Andy proposed to Kristy in the sauna of the "Idol" apartment,  and she accepted. But, although Kristy was already engaged, she was glad Andy asked her a second time, and did it right. The first time he didn’t get down on one knee, she explained with a laugh, “so he owed it to me.”   

-- Stephanie Lysaght