'American Idol': Casey Bishop talks the Top 24, homework, her disastrous duet and more
Charles Runnells
Casey Bishop returns to “American Idol” next week as a newly minted singer in the show’s Top 24. And the Estero teen can't quite believe it.
She never thought she'd make it this far on the show, she admits.
“I feel honored,” she says. “It’s overwhelming, but in a good way. I like it.”
But behind the scenes, there’s more happening than what audiences see on the TV show. Bishop, 16, still has homework to do (she’s a sophomore at Fort Myers’ Center for the Arts at Cypress Lake High School). She’s been making lots of friends with her fellow singers. And she's been very, very busy — singing, rehearsing and doing whatever it takes to win.
Bishop discussed all that and more recently with The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Here’s what she had to say:
Performing with a live band for the first time on Sunday’s episode. She sang The Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels.”
“It was so much fun,” she says. “I was genuinely having fun. I wasn’t in my head so much.
“I was having so much fun, I almost forgot the lyrics. I realized that in one moment, and I was like, ‘Crap!’”
Previously: Casey Bishop lands in 'American Idol's' Top 24
From karaoke to 'Idol':Casey Bishop started singing at 5 and never stopped
More about Casey Bishop: 5 things to know about the Estero teen
Her hectic “Idol” schedule
Every day is different, she says. Some days, her call time is 7:45 a.m. Others, it might not be until 10 a.m. And she could be there as late as 6 p.m.
“I’m really busy,” she says, “but I like it. I like being on the go."
She often feels drained at the end of the day, she admits. But she gets over that quickly.
“I’m like, “I just want to get home. I just want to lay in bed,'" she says. "But when it’s all over, I’m like, ugh, I miss that go-go-go feeling.”
Making friends with the other “Idol” singers at their Los Angeles hotel.
“We’re all just hanging out,” she says. “All of us are really, really close. We’re like a family. It’s a bond that will never break, all of us.”
They sing and talk about music, of course. But they do other things, too.
“(We're) jamming, singing together, just hanging out, talking,” Bishop says. “Sometimes we’ll go to the mall, out to dinner.”
How she finds time to do homework (or doesn't) while competing on a national TV show.
“I’m trying,” she says and laughs. “It’s hard.”
She’s been doing her homework online. But thanks to the three-hour time difference, she hasn’t been able to attend classes on Zoom.
Her worst subject?
“Oh, math,” she says. “Math-math-math. I hate math.”
'American Idol': Estero teen Casey Bishop is ready to rock out on her TV audition
Previously:‘I think she’s the damn winner of American Idol': Estero teen wows judges with audition
Her duet on the song “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
Her duet never aired during the show’s Duets Challenge — and Bishop says she’s OK with that.
It wasn’t her best performance, she admits.
“I was just, like, singing and I wasn’t performing,” she says. “And it wasn’t the best song choice for me, and I knew it as I was singing it. So I was getting really frustrated.”
She and duet partner Ethan Kuntz chose the song from a list of about 20 options offered by the show’s producers. Bishop is a big Stevie Nicks fan, but she soon realized this fact: What works for Stevie Nicks doesn’t necessarily work for other singers.
“It has no range, you know?” Bishop says. “Stevie Nicks, she doesn’t need that range. Her voice is just, like, awesome as it is.
“And I just feel like I need — I don’t know, I just felt like it was boring on my part. I just sounded boring. And the judges, I mean Luke, was not happy with it.”
It was so bad, Bishop says, she thought her time had come to an end on “Idol.”
“Yeah,” she says. “I really thought I was going home.”
“American Idol” airs at 8 p.m. Sundays and Mondays on ABC. Learn more about the show at abc.com/shows/american-idol.
Connect with this reporter: Email crunnells@gannett.com or connect on social media at Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter) and @crunnells1 (Instagram).