NeonLimelight Interview!
American Idol season 10 runner-up, Lauren Alaina, may have quite a sassy side, but she’s still a sweet little Georgia peach who needs her mama, as we learned when we chatted with her by telephone yesterday (October 5). She often called on her mom — who has remained close by her side while she’s out promoting her debut album, Wildflower, out on October 11 — to help her out with answers to some of our most stumping questions. “Mom, what’s the wildest thing I’ve ever done?” the big-voiced 16-year-old asked in her adorable Southern drawl.
The fact that her mom is privy to such information shows how close their mother/daughter bond is. It’s also made evident in Wildflower’s first single, the sugary sweet “Like My Mother Does.”
With her mom’s help, we eventually got the hilarious answer to that question and 11 more in our 12 Random Questions Q&A with Lauren. See who Lauren would love to go on tour with, which hip-hop act she’d most love to work with, the last gift she received that made her cry, her advice for kids dealing with bullies, and much more in our interview below (P.S. Lauren stuck around to answer a few fan questions sent in via Twitter. We’ll have that up next week!):
1. What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done?
Oh goodness! Mom, what’s the wildest thing I’ve ever done?
[laughs] Oh my gosh! I love how you ask your mom!
I don’t know. I guess this one time, one of my friends had this ex boyfriend that made her really mad and we saran wrapped his car.
Wow!
Oh yeah. I had this stuff that you put in your water bottle, they’re like these little drops or something, and it tasted real bad and I didn’t like it. So, I tried it and put it back in the refrigerator and my brother tried the drink and he opened up the water bottle and chugged it and it made him sick! He was constantly going to the bathroom!
That is gross!
Whichever one you wanna pick, there you go! [laughs]
2. This one kind of goes hand in hand…what’s the most trouble you’ve ever been in?
Oh lord! Man, these are hard! This one time — I’m telling all my dirty secrets!
[laughs]
This one time I went to the movie theater with one of my friends and her mom was supposed to go but something came up and she couldn’t go, and I didn’t tell my parents that her mom couldn’t go. And this girl’s friend, a boy, came and picked us up and was taking us home and it was raining and I forgot that I didn’t have my key. So I called my parents like, “I’m on my way home, but are y’all home?” ’cause I was freaking out because I was with this guy, my friend’s friend. I got in lots of trouble for lying. I hate lying. I think that’s why I got in so much trouble for it, because I don’t usually lie to my parents and I tell them everything. I won’t do that again!
3. If your life flashed before your eyes, what one moment would stand out the most?
Probably just being able to perform in front of all those millions of people on American Idol and being able to perform with my idol Carrie Underwood.
4. Pick one song on Wildflower; what one singer would you love to do a cover of that song?
Hmm, that’s a good questions. Let me think about it. I think…man. Let me think. [long pause] I think…oh my gosh, that’s a hard question!
Do you want to skip it and come back to it?
I just want to come up with one that’s really clever! Let’s skip it and come back!
5. What’s your go-to dance move at a party?
Oh! Probably the running man!
6. Fill in the blank: Without _____ I wouldn’t be the woman I am now.
Without my mom! That’s true. I wouldn’t do anything without her. I’d lose my head!
7. Taylor Swift recently made headlines for doing all of these performances with hip hop stars like Nicki Minaj and T.I. at her concerts. Which hip hop artist would you like to collaborate with?
Justin Bieber!
Justin Bieber is hip hop!?
Sort of! What do you consider him? Pop?
[laughs] He’s totally pop!
OK. Hmm. I don’t know! Help me out! I listen to country! Let’s do Nicki Minaj, ’cause I love her! [singing] Boom-ba-doom, got that super bass!
8. If you were to come back to American Idol as a mentor, what’s one piece of advice you’d make sure the contestants were armed with?
Try to be funny and be confident! Just have a good time. Don’t be uptight. Be someone people can laugh at, you know what I mean?
Definitely. Personality goes a long way on those shows.
It absolutely does.
9. Have you ever been bullied?
I’m a teenaged girl, so yes.
How’d you deal with it?
There’s always gonna be someone you don’t get along with in school, so you just kinda have to steer clear of ‘em. I’m a pretty opinionated person and I speak my mind, so if someone does something to me I don’t like, I’m gonna tell ‘em. And sometimes when you tell somebody what they did wrong to you, they don’t know what to say because they know they did something wrong. So, I’m always the kind of person to say, “You know, you really shouldn’t do that. It’s not nice.” It makes them feel stupid.
10. Who would you love to go on tour with the most?
I think Lady Antebellum would be awesome to go on tour with. And Carrie Underwood!
We had a lot of fans send questions in via Twitter and they’re dying to know who you’re going on tour with, so is that a hint?
So am I! They [the record label] haven’t told me anything!
OK! We’ll have to tell them because they’re dying to know when you’re going on tour and who with.
I wish I knew or I’d tell ‘em!
11. What’s the last gift you received that made you cry?
I was on tour and this little girl brought me a book that was a Titanic book. I watched that movie everyday when I got out of school with my grandmother, and my grandmother passed away when I was in fifth grade, and I said that in an interview and [the girl] remembered it. And she brought me a book from the movie.
Aww, that’s so sweet!
It made me cry. It was really thoughtful.
12. What’s the one thing you miss the most about American Idol?
We were like a big, huge family and I don’t get to see those people anymore. I think what I miss most is the people, ’cause I still get to sing and perform like I was, it’s just the family that I made on the show.
OK, let’s go back to number four…pick one song on Wildflower and the artist you would love to see cover it.
Mom, what’s one song on my album that I would like to hear another artist cover?
[laughs]
That’s such a hard question! Man! Let’s see. I think Sugarland would do a really good “Tupelo.” I’d like to hear that.
http://neonlimelight.com/2011/10/06/...lauren-alaina/
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