'I don't regret anything that I did,' latest 'Idol' casualty says of his oddball, oft-hilarious run on the show.
By James Montgomery
Heejun Han
Photo: MTV News
Since his exit from "American Idol", last week, Heejun Han has made the most of his post-show media blitz, openly pining for judge Jennifer Lopez, taking jabs at mentor Jimmy Iovine and, of course, suggesting Diddy may have been in the bag during his appearance on the show. Oh, and he also joked that he's going to start watching "The Voice."
Needless to say, it's been a wild ride — nearly as wild as his time on the show itself — so when Han stopped by the MTV newsroom on Monday (April 2), we asked him about all the comments he's made since getting the boot. And, as you'd probably expect, he wasn't about to apologize.
"I'm just going to be me, that's all," Han said. "But I will say that the show itself was the greatest opportunity a person could ever have in their lifetime, I believe. A guy like me, who has less talent than any other contestant that's on that stage made it this far was amazing. It was a God-given gift."
Of course, he took the same tack when asked about his now-infamous performance of Billy Joel's "My Life," in which he shed a tuxedo and sprinted through the audience, much to the annoyance of judge Steven Tyler and, judging by his getting voted off the show the following week, the majority of the "Idol" audience too. But does he regret doing any of it? In a word: No.
"It's supposed to be entertaining. It's either [supposed to] make them cry, make them laugh, or make them pissed off about something. I felt like I at least did two of the three [with] Billy Joel," he explained. "People ask me, 'What would you do differently, because that's the thing that caused you to go home?' But only thing I'd do differently this time, if I could go back in time, then I'm not just going to take off my tuxedo, I'm also going to take off my pants. I don't regret anything that I did; entertaining people is catching them out of nowhere, and I felt like I did it."
And to that end, Han said he's proud of everything he accomplished during his time on "Idol," because he'll be the first to admit that he came into the competition with less experience than any of his fellow contestants. "I mean, Jessica Sanchez was singing when she was, like, a sperm," he laughed. "My first non-Korean audience was Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez, and it just kept getting bigger." And Han truly believes he left at the top, with his rendition of Donny Hathaway's "A Song for You."
"I saw [elimination] coming. Everyone took the Billy Joel performance wrong ... people might have taken it as a joke, and I just had to show them that I do really belong here, and I didn't make it here by mistake. ... I really wanted to finish on a high note," he said. "I knew that was what the whole thing was all about, and if you listen to the song, lyric-wise, it says 'A song for you.' It was not a song for me to just be in this [competition], it's a song for people who have been believing in me and supporting me, but this is my last stage, so, thank you guys."
What do you think of Heejun's "Idol" elimination? Tell us in the comments!
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