‘American Idol’ Alum Jax Addresses ‘Sometimes Bitter’ TV Experience in ‘La La Land’ Video: Watch

Fred Bronson
·2 min read
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American Idol alum Jax is taking a cathartic trip to Hollywood in “La La Land,” her new video released Wednesday (Jan. 6). Along for the ride: some of her closest friends, including fellow season 14 finalists Rayvon Owen and Daniel Seavey, as well as season 9’s Didi Benami and contestants Adam Ezegalian, Michael Simeon and Sal Valentinetti.

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Jax invited the former finalists to her hometown of East Brunswick, N.J. to act out a shared experience few get to see up close — that of the Fox competition show American Idol. “It’s taken a lot for me to come out and talk about it,” Jax tells Billboard. “That’s one reason I wanted a lot of people I love in the video. I don’t want people to think I’m not grateful for the experience. I love all of it and it was the platform of a lifetime and it opened up all these doors for me. It gave me the opportunity to be a household name in the country and that’s huge. I can’t walk anywhere now without being recognized. But at the same time it’s not as glamorous as it looks. People don’t know. There are things I’m sometimes bitter about, about the way things were handled.”

To be clear about her intentions, Jax issued a statement to her fans that read, in part: “I know I’ve been MIA for a minute. Turns out I was going through a lot and I needed to collect my thoughts and write it all out on paper.” As Jax tells Billboard: “’La La Land’ started out with me crying in a corner of my basement. I wrote the song on a dirty piece of paper with old lyrics on it.”

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Her statement continues: “It took a lot of courage to put this song out because I have no idea how everyone will react….It’s really important for me to be honest with all of you. [The song is] the closest I can give you to a backstage pass. So before I move on and turn the page into my next chapter, I need this closure….It’s my job as a songwriter to write from the real and not-so-comfortable places in my heart and I hope I can inspire other people to embrace their Broken Road. …. Thank you for giving me this therapeutic opportunity.”

Watch the video below:

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