By Katie Gray
We now have our final four of the 15th and final season of reality TV show American Idol, but unfortunately Sonika Vaid did not make the cut. While Vaid hails from Martha’s Vineyard, she blew everyone away with her audition in Denver, Colorado and continued to get by week after week. The now reality TV star has been singing from the young age of three and playing the piano since the age of 4. The 20-year-old pre-med student went on to compose her own music on the piano. While on the show, she has performed an array of love ballads and even did an amazing version of Demi Lovato’s Let It Go this season. In our celebrity interview, Vaid opened up about her musical journey, love for everything Disney and her favorite love songs and ballads.
Former American Idol Contestant Talks Musical Journey & Love In This Celebrity Interview
From her time on the show, it’s no secret that Vaid loves a good love ballad. One of her favorites from the show was I Surrender. “But just in terms of love songs, I would definitely say My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion is a really iconic love song in my eyes. It’s beautiful!” While she performed a variety of songs on the show, her personal favorite performance was Bring Me To Life. “That was the performance that really made me feel like I can do this – and that I do have the confidence somewhere in me to really perform and push myself to the limits and step out of my bubble,” she says.
With love ballads comes the topic of relationships, but instead of channeling a celebrity relationship or relationship problems of her own, the singer channels all her love for her family in her performances. She is really close to her family and it was hard being away from them for the show. “Being away from my family, I miss them a lot,” she says. “So I channel my love for my family and I put that through my songs. That energy goes into love ballads, all of the passion!” She chose to sing those type of songs because she connects with them. “Even if it’s not true to me, there’s just some songs where I relate to the melody or the chords, even,” Vaid says. “It doesn’t have to be the words necessarily.”
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In the future, Vaid plans on continuing her career in the music industry while still earning her degree. “I’m still in college, I’m a biology major,” she adds. “I definitely plan at some point to finish my degree. I think for right now, I’m going to focus on music. I think this whole experience has really opened my mind to the whole idea of doing this professionally. I’m really excited about it.” Furthermore, the performer plans to delve more into songwriting. “Prior to all of this, I had written a few songs, but now I’m going to take my songwriting more seriously,” she says. “I’m going to really think about releasing a few singles and maybe an album one day!” She will be headed to a bigger city to accomplish working in the music industry. “I definitely think it’s in the cards for me to move to Los Angeles or Nashville,” she says.
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During her time on the show, Vaid expressed that this opportunity allowed her to push herself and grow as a person. “American Idol really helps you to become a better version of yourself,” she adds. “They make you feel like you can push yourself and it is okay. It was just a great experience overall, no regrets.” Even though she made it far in the competition, Vaid says that she was always prepared to get cut. “I always try my hardest to put my effort into the songs that I get every week because there’s alway an opportunity of ‘oh, you’re getting saved’ or ‘oh, you’re not in the bottom’ so I prepare myself for everything,” she reveals in our celebrity interview. “I love making things my own, too. That’s always something that I do.”
One of the amazing opportunities the show gave her was to heed some advice from the legendary Sia. Sia shared with Vaid the importance of having fun! “She said you have a beautiful voice and that I’m very marketable which is insane because it’s coming from Sia and she’s one of the greats in my opinion,” Vaid says. “Sia said just to have fun and enjoy yourself, because now that I have the singing down, I just need to really enjoy myself.”
As for who she thinks will be the Final Idol? “I genuinely think they are all so different and so talented. America has a really hard decision! I think anyone there deserves to win. They are really great,” Vaid says.
You can keep up with Sonika Vaid by following her on Twitter @sonikavaid!
