Camile's going 'all out' to stay in 'Idol'

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Jon Peter Lewis — the "pen salesman" as "American Idol" viewers have come to know him — was told he needed to stir things up if he was going to advance. So he shimmied through Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" as if somebody had slipped a pail of ice water down the back of his shirt.

Camile Velasco of Maui learned from last week's close call that doing ballads hasn't worked. She's stepping up the beat for tonight's round. Fox

Camile Velasco needs to challenge Lewis for that dark-horse position. Having narrowly survived two gut-wrenching votes, the Ha'iku, Maui, waitress knows she has to come out swinging on tonight's show if she's going to last another week.

Velasco's plan: Sing an upbeat tune. Open up. Smile. Have fun.

Tonight's theme is Motown, and Velasco plans on getting her groove on.

"She's learned from last week that doing ballads has not worked," said her father, James West, by telephone. "She plans to be a lot more out there."

That wouldn't hurt fellow Hawai'i candidate Jasmine Trias, either. Both turned in wobbly performances last Tuesday, during a country-music theme evening, and Velasco was one of the two lowest vote-getters on Wednesday, after her rendition of The Eagles' "Desperado."

"Last week was a shock to us," West said, as his daughter endured exasperating, emotional moments, wondering whether she would survive, before Matt Rogers got the boot.

Judge Randy Jackson said Velasco was "jerky," and Cowell scoffed, "You're not conquering your nerves."

Trias, singing Faith Hill's "Breathe," wasn't breathing easily either when Paula Abdul said she was "pitchy" and Cowell moaned, "You've become a little boring."

An off week, perhaps, but with the stakes high and the clock ticking, there's no more wiggle room.

"American Idol" has been drawing nearly 30 million viewers each Tuesday — a record number — combining all the trauma of "Survivor," the gut-wrenching agony of "Fear Factor" (without having to eat weird things) and the uncertainty of being "fired" as in "The Apprentice." One week can be a rapturous high, the next week a bruising low.

"After (the results), we went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant," he said. "She knows that people who are getting cut are doing slower songs; the faster songs are getting the votes, though the slower songs are more her style. So she's on the upbeat for this week. When you're close to losing, you need to get back in the game, and no, she does not want to get in that position again. Her feeling: 'I'm going to give it my best. If I go out, I'll go with a feeling that there was nothing else I could have possibly done.' "

Nora Trias, Jasmine's mom, said pitch was the least of her concerns after she watched Jasmine perform last week.

Jasmine had a makeover, and Nora Trias was shocked. "My goodness, it didn't look like the Jasmine we know," she said. "Hair up.

"For a country night, you'd think she'd wear blue jeans. She looked all grown up in the red dress. The makeover just wasn't her." Jasmine's trademark flower-over-the-right-ear stayed, though.

West said that Velasco wasn't nervous, no matter what the judges said. "I think she's having fun, and the judges are interpreting quiet as nervous," he said. "She may be slightly nervous before singing, but when she's on, the nerves go."

Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067 or wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.