Brooke White album on iTunes

Brooke White's independent debut album, Songs From the Attic, originally released in 2005, was available before she joined the cast of American Idol this season. Once she made the finals, the CD became harder to find, commanding up to $100 or more on fan sites.

But now that Brooke has finished her run on the show, in fifth place, Songs From the Attic is available for download via iTunes for a reasonable $9.99. Should you? If you feel as I do, that Brooke was the most musically gifted and genuine artist of this season's crop, you should. Though recorded without the benefit of a major-label budget, Songs showcases Brooke's facility for crafting a pop hook on such original standouts as Free, Keep Running, The Way Things Used to Be and a lovely cover of Aerosmith's Dream On. Her piano playing is accomplished and her voice is sweet and just right for these songs that would feel at home on a 70s singer-songwriter album.

Given the strength of this low-fi indie release, I'd love to hear a new Brooke album, recorded with a great band and bigger budget. She is not the type of singer Idol prefers -- the melismatic, big voiced pop singer -- but she's something better, something true and real and that was already in evidence three years ago on Songs From the Attic.

Take a look at the music video for the single, Free.

Brooke White's final words on Idol

Previous experience: At the same time as being a nanny, I was doing my best to try and do the singer/songwriter thing. I did do an independent album, performed around Los Angeles for a couple of years, and tried to get some of that experience under my belt.

Handling pressure: I don’t know if you really have a choice. You get there, and I think there has just been something within me, when I thought I wasn’t able to keep going, and you totally feel like you’re sinking and it’s like, OK, swim. You have to, you realize you’re here; you have to make the best of it.

Your best performance?: It was absolutely Let It Be. 

Feelings on that final elimination night: Everything. I had anticipated it in a strange way, it was in my gut, and I thought I was strong, I really did, I felt so grateful and happy, and then boom it hit me, this is done this is over. The finality of that phase of the experience being over was sad, and then the fear of going back into the real world and what does the future hold, and also an excitement. It was just a lot of feelings that I was feeling. Yes, it was emotional, and I’d hoped so much that I could have been stronger, but I guess I’m just an emotional girl, I’m passionate, and that really came across on the stage, because I felt very vulnerable every time.

Tricks on remembering lyrics (for I Am...I Said she wrote the word "palm" from the lyric on her hand: I have not had any problems with the lyrics up until You Must Love Me and all of a sudden, it freaked me out, and I started thinking, "Oh my gosh, what if this happens again?" It just kind of plays head games. When I was singing [I Am...I Said] in my rehearsal, I kind of felt as if palm tree was not sticking in my brain, so even just the practice of writing it down on my hand helped me remember it. I didn’t even look at it because it was on the underneath side of my hand, but whatever you can use. We don’t use teleprompters, and I was playing an instrument, and singing on two songs, so it was a lot of things to remember in less than a week’s time.

Were there any songs you wanted to do but the rights couldn't clear in time?: Absolutely, I would have loved to sing a Fleetwood Mac song, or a James Taylor song. [She sang You've Got a Friend, a No. 1 single for Taylor in 1971, but as a Carole King composition, King owned the rights and it cleared for Brooke to perform.] For next week's Hall of Fame show she'd hoped to do Joni Mitchell's Help Me.

Carly Simon became a fan after Brooke performed You're So Vain and, publicly, Carly said she hoped Brooke would win. The two spoke after Brooke was cut. What did Carly say?: She was incredibly supportive, very generous in her comments. It actually really boosted my spirits, it gave me the motivation and hope to keep going in the direction that I am. I do relate to her, and those singer/songwriters of the ‘70’s. I connect with what they do, and I hope I can make that happen in 2008, in a more modern, somehow incorporate both those sounds.

Plans for the Idols Tour: We are doing about three songs apiece, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m definitely going to be playing piano, and having a good time just connecting with the fans. It’s all about the music, and not all about the competition and the judging, just the good stuff.

Any guilt for beating Carly Smithson on a week when you forgot the lyrics?: I don’t know if guilt is quite the right word for surviving. I was grateful. The voting process is very interesting. That’s why I always say, you never know what’s going to happen. I think you take what you can get, and I was grateful to people for seeing past my mistake.I think beyond the mistake, I did my very best.  I did my very best, I emotionally connected with the song, and I gave it everything I had. I’ve been packed for two weeks. There’s always a chance you could go home, but in these last couple weeks, it starts becoming more real. The contestants are so strong, and you just never know. Ever since Michael Johns went home, I think there was always this question in my mind of how long do I get. It could be any week, so you give your best performance, and then it’s out of your hands.

Confidence issues: Well, I was very open, and honest that struggle that I have, and to be honest again, it escalated at times during Idol, and at other times, I felt like I had a better handle on it.  It was very much a roller coaster ride. Tuesday, I think I felt kind of a resurge of confidence that I hadn’t felt in a long time, a lot of joy, gratitude for being in that place and I think that’s what gave me that boost, and it felt great. Even though I went home it was wonderful to leave on that note. I know that Simon said it was a nightmare or whatever, but personally, I think it was a great moment, and I’ve had such incredible support from fans, which also helps to reassure you. Finding that inner confidence is something that has definitely been a struggle for me, but I’m learning, I’m growing, and Idol definitely helped me work on that. We always say this show brings everything to the surface that might be an issue for you, and that one is certainly one of them, but I worked through it, and at times, had to work through it in a very public way.

I’ve had comparison issues my whole life. I didn’t start singing until I was a teenager, until I was about David Archuleta’s age, and I never thought I had a nice voice. It wasn’t pretty, it was this low, raspy thing, I didn’t have a big range, and I think I was very intimidated by other singers, especially on American Idol where it’s so focused on vocals. I didn’t know how well I would do, or if I would survive. I spoke with Carly Simon this morning during an interview, and she just said some things that really meant a lot to me. It’s OK to be different and it’s important to accept that and make the most of it. There are people out there who appreciate it, so you just have to go with it.

Paula Abdul's gaffe: Well, it is live television, anything can happen. Last week, I stopped and restarted my song, it’s just human moments that happen on the show. I don’t exactly [know] what happened with Paula, but stuff happens on the show, and when it’s live, things can change very quickly, and they decide in the middle of the show to change something, and I’m sure she just kind of got lost in the moment. She’s a good-hearted woman, and you just move on.

Neil Diamond Night

The five contestants will sing two Neil Diamond songs tonight. We hear that David Archuleta will tackle Sweet Caroline and America. David Cook will do I'm Alive and All I Really Need Is You (what's that one?) and Jason Castro's Forever in Blue Jeans and September Morn. [Syesha, pictured, fared the best.] I was hoping Cook, the most masculine of the three, would do Neil's Solitary Man or Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon (songs Michael Johns would have been excellent on) rather than the '80s tune he picked.

I wish Randy would stop booing Simon during introductions. After seven seasons it's not funny anymore (never was) and just makes him seem like such a moron.

"For me it's the chance to encourage the singer, the performer," Neil Diamond said.

The contestants will be judged after their second song this time. But not on this blog! We'll get right into it!

Jason: This kid's lack of musical knowledge (has he heard of anyone???) is grating. His performance of Forever in Blue Jeans, one of Neil's jauntier late '70s pop numbers, was the equivalent of hospital tapioca: no body, no flavor, utterly forgettable.

David Cook: "David went for two songs most people haven't heard before," Neil said. That's daring. I know this 1982 Heartlight album track, I'm Alive. I still don't think has a natural rock voice, he forces it, it's not fluid, but that said, I liked his rendition of I'm Alive. He saved it from its original slick production and put grit in it. Good job. But I still don't like Cook's attitude.

Brooke: Not a great vocal on I'm a Believer. Love her look (I would have preferred watching this without the sound) and that she did an uptempo for a change. But so far, Cook's leading tonight.

These songs are just better than these performers and Neil is not coaching, he's just being a nice guy. If anyone has experience it's Neil. Start coaching!

David Archuleta: "Uncertain how to end the song," Neil says of David. He got a little coaching at least. Maybe it's that Neil has such a commanding, deep voice, but hearing all these songs tonight by these lesser talents is rather disappointing, these all feel like sodas without the fizz, including David's strained Sweet Caroline. I'm getting kind of tired of the tone of his voice too.

Syesha: Doing Hello Again from The Jazz Singer and Thank the Lord for the Nighttime from his 60s catalog. Did a rather sweet Hello Again, contemporary R&B ballad treatment. Would I buy it or select this version over Neil's on my iPod? No. But given what we've heard tonight, Cook and Syesha so far are the most pleasing. She did a good job. Edges David C, in fact for round one.

Why is Paula reviewing Jason's second song BEFORE he sung it!! Lane, you were right: She would get all confused and not remember the songs. So embarrassing! "This is so hard!"

Jason: The romantic adult ballad September Morn is so far beyond this little boy's reach it's just plain embarrassing. Would anyone ever believe this guy singing this song to a woman? Would anyone believe this kid's ever BEEN with a woman? He sure doesn't sing this song as if he has any conception of what being in a relationship is about.  And afterward, he doesn't even act as if he cares. The time has come to end this joke and vote this kid off. He doesn't belong on a singing competition. Not funny anymore. "This is not the Jason we put into the competition," Simon said after two disastrous weeks.

Cook: All I Really Need Is You. I'll have to check my CDs to find the origin of this song. But it certainly isn't a jewel in Diamond's catalog. Where's the hook, the melody, the tempo? Cook's mediocre voice, smug delivery, certainly didn't save it. Weakest song of the night and only thanks to Jason, not the biggest train wreck. "I feel like I'm already looking at the American Idol," Paula said and Simon pronounced it "brilliant, made it feel that song was written this year." I don't agree.

Brooke: Is Ryan trying to prompt Brooke's dismissal by reminding viewers of Simon's negative comment on the previous song? Not fair. As for I Am, I Said, kudos to Neil for suggesting that she change the "New York" reference to Arizona since that is her homestate. And her smile, after remembering to do so, was rather infectious. Brooke's I Am, I Said certainly lacked the heft of Diamond's powerful original, but it was not bad. As Randy noted, this song is difficult with all the octave changes and melodic shifts. This performance is in the Top 3 tonight. She connected with the song.

David A: "They're coming to America," he sang, and after this cloying, syrupy Archuleta performance, I'd like to move to Canada. He sings every song the same I'm starting to notice. Calculating move, not unlike Kristy Lee doing God Bless the USA a month ago, playing to the masses.

Syesha: Thank the Lord for the Nighttime. Thank the lord for Syesha tonight. The only one to score twice on her selections. She, like Brooke on I Am I Said, connected with the song and also picked a good one with soul. She's not a great singer but she's got a winning personality, lovely smile, and she's a good performer, maybe the best of the remaining bunch. Cook has his fans, but he's got a cocky side I find to be a turnoff. Syesha, lately, has been a pleasure. Simon says she's a good actress/singer but thinks she might be in trouble tonight owing to less than memorable second song. He might be correct in that she could be voted off, given viewers' lack of taste (keeping foolish Jason in, for instance) but if she goes, it's not because she should.

Prediction: The absolute pits, on both songs, Jason. I'd like to think America has its eyes and ears open and can see the total lack of talent here and save us from another week of this drivel from this contestant. But since this is a popularity contest and Syesha wound up in bottom two last week despite a strong performance maybe Simon's right. Shame.