The day after Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamor, John Park, and Jermaine Sellers were eliminated from the American Idol semifinalists, they opened up about their experiences on a press call.

Something the contestants have been battling the first few weeks of live shows has been their nerves. Sixteen year old Haeley Vaughn said, “The first week was really tough. We were all super nervous and scared and worried about our song choice…And nerves are always going to play a huge factor in what we do on the show.” She explained that “the nerves kind of settled down week two, but they were definitely still there, for me anyway. If I would have continued to be on the show, I think as the weeks went on, my nerves would have kind of gone away because I would have gotten more used to it, but they’ll always be there.”

After Haeley’s performance on Wednesday, Kara talked about Haeley’s voice and the need for it to mature a bit. Haeley doesn’t disagree, “I think that more experience and more time working on my vocals would be good. I think experience is always better for someone, especially since I’m only 16, and this is the first really big thing that I’ve done ever. I’ve never performed in front of millions of people before. I’ve never even performed in front of 100. And so, I think it’s always good to get more experience and work on the things that I need to work on.”

As the last person eliminated on Thursday night, Haeley had to sing after watching the goodbye clips package. “Watching the video right before I had to sing was definitely hard,” Haeley said. “I was just thinking about my journey through the show and everything that I’ve done and how far I’ve made it, which was really emotional and then having to sing afterwards, oh, my gosh, was so hard. And I was just trying to get through the song and I really connected with the song the time I sang it last night and the lyrics really meant something to me.”

What’s next for the Fort Collins teen? “I’m definitely going to keep working on my career. I’m going to keep singing and hopefully, doors will open up for me.” Haeley would love to work with her idol Miley Cyrus. She wants to continue to make pop country music and play her guitar. And of course, she still plans on finishing high school!

Michelle Delamor, the 22 year old church singer from Miami, revealed her most memorable moment about her time on Idol: “working with Dorian [Holley]. I’m sure you don’t recognize his name, but he worked with Michael Jackson. And if you saw This Is It, he’s in the film. I watched the film five times, and Michael Jackson’s my idol. He’s my inspiration…I was like one day when I become successful, I just pray to God that I’m able to work with this man. And when I walked into the room and I saw him there I just started crying. I got so emotional because I felt like oh, my God, a dream of mine just came true. Like this is as close as I’ll ever get to Michael and he really helped take me to the next level.”

On Wednesday’s show, Michelle took a risk by singing Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” Did she question that risk? “I really did question it,” Michelle answered. “As a matter of fact, I think part of what messed me up a little bit is that I questioned it before I got on that stage. And so when you’re not sure of the song that you’re performing, it’s going to be noticed and people can feel that…I really love the song and the lyrics really went with what was going on in my life at that moment.” Michelle said that she should have sang her song that she planned on singing the following week: “Come Together” by The Beatles, but Michael Jackson style.

Michelle looked very fashionable during Wednesday’s performance. She said, “I am really big in fashion. That’s why, I guess, some of the things were a little out there. I love fashion, and I got so excited when Vera Wang was in the audience. I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ because she’s amazing. And yes, I am going to start working on my clothing line. I want to get that together. Just like glam funk kind of clothing.”

In addition to a fashion line Michelle has big music plans. “I’m actually staying in L.A. I’m going to do everything that I can to make something big come out of this. I feel like I’ve come this far and I know that I was made to do something big with music so I’m not going to give up and you guys will see me one day doing something big, I promise.”

Illinois’ John Park has had quite a ride on the show. Hello, Shania! His most memorable moment was “meeting the other contestants and really becoming good friends,” John continued, “and also working with Rickey Minor and the band. I mean, just working with the top of the top crew and band and coaches. It was just incredible, just meeting new people and meeting incredible people.”

Some folks were touting John as one of the early favorites. He thinks nerves may have affected him. “I think it was mostly song choice and nerves. I definitely got distracted by the cameras and the fact that the judges were going to criticize me in front of 30 million people.”

The Northwestern University student plans on heading back to school. “I’m going to go back to Chicago and see what kind of open doors there will be for me. And I’ll just kind of wait it out and probably go back to school this upcoming quarter, which is happening in about two weeks. So I’ll just take some time off to decompress and think about if performing is really what I want to pursue. And of course, that will change as I get different offers from different people. Everything is really up in the air, but basically, I want to finish school at some point and pursue music, performance or not performance.”

John is very grateful for his Idol experience. He said, “I am just so, so thankful and really all I have is gratitude. And just thinking about before all of this happened, where I was as a performer, and just a person, I feel like I’ve come out so much more confident and I I’ve never believed in myself this much. And just meeting all these incredible people and talented people and working with them every day has really been like a dream. It still kind of seems surreal that I went through all of this, but this experience definitely made me realize that I do want to pursue music.”

Jermaine Sellers, the church singer from Joliet, Illinois, responded to the judges’ comments about pulling his performances back a bit. “As an artist you have to stay true to yourself and when you stand true to yourself, it’s a certain way that I sang my whole entire life from a child on up and I kept pulling back. I did. I pulled back a lot because there was a lot more that I could have done, but with me doing it the way that I did it’s like I felt like if I pulled anymore back then I would be basically whispering to them. I’m a church singer!”

His favorite American Idol memories started early on. “The best part about it is just being there, being in that line first with 15,000 people, and meeting so many different people, just different personalities, and people from different states. It’s just the people and then making it to the Top 20 - It’s a blessing. That’s the best experience about it, just getting on that platform and being able to, not just sing to people, but to minister to them, too.”

Jermaine shared a funny moment with us. “I would have to say the funniest moment is group night, every night with those songs. Because the choreography and all of us having two left feet, that’s the funniest moment, honestly. Like just going out there and then trying to remember how to park and bark and block in the right place. Honestly, that’s the best moment.”

To all of the Idol hopefuls, Jermaine has some advice for you! “The sky’s the limit, and just because you only go so far with your career or whatever, once you get to that platform you know that God has a purpose. Everything lasts in seasons and you got to keep struggling and you got to keep striving. And the longer that you struggle, you’ve got to realize that there is reward at the end…keep your head to the sky.”

Watch Haeley, Michelle, John, and Jermaine speak about their Idol experiences on camera in their curtain call.