Scott MacIntyre: The Best Part of 'American Idol' Is Getting Voted Off

Scott MacIntyre: The Best Part of 'American Idol' Is Getting Voted Off
Scott MacIntyre is returning to familiar turf to perform a duet on 'American Idol,' just as the show announces season 9's Top 12finalists. MacIntyre, who finished eighth in season 8 after singing Survivor's 'The Search Is Over,' is vision-impaired, and both his story and his musical chops won him admiration and a nation full of fans.
Less than one year later, the singer-songwriter is set to release his first full-length, post-'Idol' album, 'Heartstrings,'March 11 (available on iTunes and at MacIntyre's website). The album is a mix of pop-inspired tracks and more melancholy songs, but all of it, he says, is a reflection of his personal experiences, including the highs and the lows. MacIntyre spoke with us just ahead of the release to discuss what inspired him, what he thinks returning to 'Idol' will be like and why getting axed from 'Idol' is the best part of being a contestant.
Your new album, 'Heartstrings,' sounds very heartfelt. What's your take on the album, and what inspired it?
It's really exciting for me to reach this milestone, of my first post-'Idol' album... It's really a personal project to me. The 12 songs are like 12 snapshots: things that I've gone through, things that I've thought about that I wanted to share. The album talks about love, loss, hope when you feel like there's no hope around you. I've been in all those situations, in a bunch of different variations... My heart has gone through some ups and downs, thus the title.
So how is the heart these days?
The heart is good! There's a lot to my story that people don't know. I'm writing a book in the coming months, and the album comes out... I am thankful for my life... I had a successful kidney transplant. I remember a time when I literally couldn't sit up at the piano and sing, and that all happened right before 'American Idol.'... It's a testament of fortitude, at east, for me... and hopefully a lot of people can grab on to the depths of that.
What do you attribute to your grit? What would you tell other people with their own hurdles to face?
I get that question a lot, in different forms... I have been in many, many situations where giving up would have been the popular decision.
more goto http://television.aol.com/american-idol/2010/03/11/scott-macintyre-interview/