Jorge's final word

Some interesting tidbits on who's friends in the mansion and the contestants' anticipation of finding out the twist.

From USA Today
Q. What are you going to do now? Are you going to law school or are you going to pursue a music career?
A. This show is so amazing, and I've gotten so much exposure that I'm going to do both.

Q. Why did you pick that song?
A. I wanted to do something different. I didn't want to stay in the same vibe and sing ballads the whole show. It's such a big stage that I wanted something I could play with on that stage.

Q. What helpful words did you get from judges?
A. The judges did encourage both of us (Jasmine Murray was also eliminated) to keep going . And I think the thing that I have now is God, and I know that everything is going to be great.

Q. What did you learn from the experience?
A. I've learned that being a singer is more about staying true to who you are, no matter what other people might think. Everyone has an opinion. It's the artist who believes in who he is and what he wants. I have no regrets.

Q. What was your biggest challenge?
A. Even though that PR (Puerto Rico) has a lot of influence, we are a country by ourselves. We have our own culture, and we listen to music in Spanish. My biggest challenge was picking songs for the show that is not the kind of music that I'm used to singing at home. But I think I did a good job.

Q. Ryan Seacrest got a text from Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony praising you. Have you heard from them since?
A. Up to now I haven't heard from them, but I don't know. I'm pretty sure that that was just a sign that things are going to be great for me.

Q. Were you hurt about being eliminated?
A. I was not hurt, because I believe that a person should not have any excuse, and when something happens, it's meant to be, and I took it like a man. And you know, it's the start of something much, much bigger for me.

Q. What was your family's reaction?
A. I've got lots of text messages saying wonderful things. None of them said I'm sorry. They all said "you have a great voice" and "things are going to be great for you." That's what I mean about my reaction toward what happened. I see it as a great opportunity. My family is just so happy that I could be on the show. I can't wait to go home, because it's been a month that I've been here, and I can't wait to go home and eat some Puerto Rican food.

Q. When you were told that there was going to be a twist announced, did you have any predictions?
A. We all (in the mansion) were wondering what was going to happen. We didn't know. It just happened that same moment. I kind of imagined that it would be something like that, being that this year there's so much talent on the show.

Q. Do you think the Judges Save is a good thing?
A. I think it's a good thing, because there have been people like Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken that didn't win but did great, and they should have gone further.

Q. What would you have sang next week during Country Week?
A. Actually, with the country pick, that was intimidating for me. If I ever got to sing country, I bet I was going to be not only the first Puerto Rican finalist on Idol, but the first Puerto Rican singing country ever in the history of Puerto Rico. I had a few songs picked, like I Know You Won't by Carrie Underwood and Anyway by Martina McBride.

Q. What did you think about Simon's comment about Michael Jackson's song Bad? A. The thing is that Simon is the kind of person that whenever he says something, he's very fast and he's very smart. He's going to get you at the moment. It was funny, but it was also like, "Simon, come on." And that's the first time that he told me something like that. I know that he liked me in some way.

Q. Do you think that the language barrier hurt you in the competition?
A. It's something that is really logical. My first language is Spanish, so when I do my best and I'm emoting and showing passion to people, it will be in my own language. I had to work harder, but I don't think it affected me, and I think I did a great job.

Q. Anyone you would have liked to get to know better?
A. If I had to pick, I would say Lil Rounds. She called me Georgito (it means Little George in Spanish), and Allison, 'cause she's Latina too. We spoke in Spanish a lot at the mansion. And Jasmine. We're really close.

Q. Any closing remarks?
A. I want to say that this has been such an amazing experience and there's nothing to be upset about, especially when you've done so good and been in the top 13 of (thousands of) people. And you should pursue your dream; this is just the start of something that's much, much bigger for me. I'm very happy. You're going to see more of me.