Massapequa American Idol Star Looking Forward To Life Post-TV: ‘I’m Rooting For Everybody’

MASSAPEQUA, NY — When Jesse Findling found out he had been voted off of American Idol Monday, he wasn’t completely blindsided.

“I wasn't going in blind, I knew somebody was going home, and obviously you don't want it to be you,” Findling told Patch Friday. “But, I've made it so far, and I've learned so much, I was okay with moving forward and going home. At the end, I wasn't sad at all. I was happy, and I was ready to move on. I've learned so much, I've grown so much, I was just, really happy.”

In the aftermath of his American Idol journey, Finding told Patch he’s already getting opportunities put in front of him to continue a music career that started on Tik Tok and grew this spring with his run on ABC’s hit reality competition show.

“There's a lot of awesome things that are going to happen after the show,” Findling said. “People are reaching out, and that's really awesome. So, I'm not exactly sure [what’s next] yet. Obviously, my goal is to start making music, and I think American Idol gave me the resources for that. That's why I say, [I’m] happy to move on. The show was amazing, but I learned so much, and I can move on, and I have the resources now to start making my music.”

Findling said he’s likely going to stay on Long Island for a little while as he plans his next move, but said he would love to move if the right opportunity presented itself. The Binghamton University junior said he feels a lot more independent than he did pre-Idol, a lot more ready for whatever life throws at him.

“I love my family, but I go away for school. So, I’ve been really good at being away from home,” Findling said. “If I do have to move, I would love being in Nashville. But again, I'm from Long Island. I'm in New York, and there's a lot of awesome things here in New York. So definitely not not planning on moving, but we'll see.”

To that point about school, Findling said there’s not too much pressure coming from his parents to finish his degree immediately. School, he said, is always going to be there for him.

“I've always been good at school. I think they know that I'm eventually going to go back, but they know that there is no rush,” Findling said. School is always there, so we're going to keep on going with this whole music thing and then we'll kind of see how it's going in a few months from now. I'm never not going to finish school.”

With regards to that “music thing,” Findling said he’s doing some work to develop as an artist as he prepares to make his own music.

“Writing is something that I've always loved. I am working on learning how to play the guitar right now, which is something that I've always wanted, but the goal is, in the next few months, to have some of my own music out, so I can then start doing gigs and singing that music again,” the 20-year-old said. “It's exciting looking forward, because there's so many awesome things that are going to happen.”

While Findling moves on and looks to start his career in earnest, the rest of American Idol’s remaining cast will continue doing live shows until the season concludes. When asked if he’s rooting for anyone in particular, Findling said he’s most excited to follow along and see who wins.

“I'm not really rooting for anybody, I'm rooting for everybody,” Findling told Patch. “People don't see all the hard work that we do every week, so I'm just going to watch on Monday and root for everyone that's still left on the show, because I know how much hard work that they're putting in every week.”

Looking back on his Idol journey, Findling said he learned a lot. While filming for live and pre-recorded TV involves, “a lot of waiting,” the 20-year-old said he misses that down time now that the journey is over.

“Watching the show, it doesn't look like it takes that much time, filming it,” Findling said. “It's a lot of waiting, and a lot of long days, but now that I'm home, I want another long day.”

As for what he learned from the judges, Findling said they taught him to believe in himself.

“Them saying that I only have to be me, and I just have to be authentic and vulnerable,” Findling said. “Because that's what I try to do when I sing on stage; I try to be vulnerable. And the fact that that resonated with them made me really happy. I just learned so much from them, also just singing on stage so much…I'm done with the show, but I've learned so much that I'm ready now, that I can do things on my own.”

For those who want to continue following his career, Findling said he’s active on Tik Tok, Instagram and other social media platforms, and that his music from the show can be found on Spotify, Apple Music and other major streamers.

As for his time on TV, the Massapequa High School graduate said there’s nothing he would’ve done differently.

“Honestly, no. Everything that happened, happened how it should have happened,” Findling said. “And I was authentically me, I didn't try to be somebody else. So looking back, I'm happy with how everything went, and there's nothing that I would do differently."