This is just the beginning for Angie Miller

To the dismay of many, Angie Miller was sent home from American Idol Thursday night.

My phone, email, Facebook newsfeed and message folder were flooded with comments of how it wasn’t Angie’s time to go.  There were even comments about the contest being fixed or other theories of what went wrong.

Once the initial shock wore off, people started to see the light and realized what I had been saying all along.

This is just the beginning for Angie Miller.  Once she made final 3, I actually said I hope she didn’t win.  Of course people looked at me as if I had two heads.  The reason I said this is because, yes when you win American Idol you can say you were the season winner, you get a contract and a lump sum of money.  But where has that gotten Ruben Studdard? The season 2 winner who was up against Clay Aiken?  There are more Idols who didn’t win that went on to pursue a successful career than those who did.

There are many factors that I believe pushed these idol “losers” to be more successful than the winners of their season.

• Thanks to American Idol “letting them go” they now were presented with other opportunities they may have not had before the show.
• They weren’t obligated to a contract because they won the season.
• They had more control over choosing a label they wanted to work with.
• They had more artistic control on the record they wanted to make.
• They learned a valuable lesson that dreams often aren’t handed on silver platters and that you need to work hard to attain them.

We cannot forget that American Idol is a competition, it is a game.  At the end of the game, there is one winner.  But when you look at this from a life experience standpoint – they are all winners.  I know this is cliché to say; each of the Top 10 has walked away with an amazing opportunity – but it is true.

• They can say they were on Idol and have performed for millions of viewers.
• They can say they went on a National tour.
• They can say their music is on iTunes, YouTube and any other audio/video recording platforms that exist.
• They have become a household name.
• They have built a fan base.
  (Side note: To date – Angie has 167,368 Twitter followers. Kree has 83,760 and Candice has 91,089 – yes Kree and Candice’s combined followers = 95% of Angie’s following.)
• They have found their own “voice” and who they are as an artist and person.
• They learned lessons about:
  • Choosing the write song.
  • Figuring out who and what they want to represent.
  • Working hard to achieve weekly goals and deadlines.
  • Internalizing feedback to push them further.
  • Sorting through feedback that may not necessarily apply and learn what a “gut” instinct is about.
  • Learning to accept there are numerous people with many opinions and you need to listen to your own voice or find a few trusted advisors who can help you.

American Idol is just a launching platform for these stars.  I have no doubt that the top 5 will each sign a record contract after the tour.

Going back to the initial reaction, what bothered me the most was the Dreamers whose hearts were broken because of the results.  Some of them possibly felt the loss as much as Angie; which speaks to the impact Angie has made while on the show.

So Dreamers, as you read this; most of you are young, you haven’t had the life experience to fully understand that everything does happen for a reason.  I know you may be upset that Angie isn’t the “winner” but look at the grace and poise she had in her post Idol interviews.

She knows this is just the beginning.

She can do anything she wants and thanks to Idol she is getting there faster.  Perhaps you will see her on Broadway, maybe a television show (Glee perhaps?), a record deal, etc.  This is just the beginning for the star that YOU helped make it to final three.

Take a step back and think about this: With no prior large-scale, solo concert experience prior to Idol – Angie WOWED America just by “Dreaming Big”.  Trust me when I say Angie is better off.  This is better for her in the long run.

Photos: Renée Gannon, Social Palates

Jeannine O'Neil is VP/CMO of J Campbell Social Marketing and Chief Editor of PR-defied blog.