American Idol's Top 13 eliminee "devastated but blessed" - video

Jeremy Rosado has said that appearing on American Idol has been a "dream come true" for him.

The 19-year-old from Valrico, Florida became the first of the Top 13 singers to leave the competition when he fell into the bottom two on Thursday night's (March 8) results show.



In a twist to mark the series's 400th episode, the male and female singers with the lowest number of public votes were revealed, with judges Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson then deciding who to send home.

They chose to eliminate Rosado, who had performed 'Ribbon In The Sky' by Stevie Wonder on the previous night's live performance show.

In a video posted on the official website, the teenager said he felt "devastated" to be going home, but couldn't be upset because he had come so much further than many others who auditioned.



Rosado said: "It's incredible being on the American Idol stage and only 13 people got to experience this part of the show and I was one of them out of 100,000.

"I can't be mad at that, I can only feel so blessed. I may feel devastated right now but it's a dream come true to make it this far. God is good and you have to be trusting and believing and chase your dreams and don't let any person on this earth tell you that you can't make your dreams come true."

Rosado added that he is a "testament" to that statement because he auditioned for the show five times before he made it to the Top 13.

"I'm so blessed to have come this far," he said. "Over 100,000 people and this was my time and God has truly blessed me."



The singer had fallen into the bottom two alongside Elise Testone, who was revealed to be the girl with the least number of public votes. The boys had all performed tracks by Wonder, while the girls sang music by Whitney Houston.

Rosado had earned his spot in the Top 13 as a judges' wildcard pick selected by Lopez.

American Idol's remaining Top 12 will take to the stage again on Wednesday, March 15 for their next live performance. Daughtry will perform on the following night's results show.

> American Idol's Jessica Sanchez voted best of Top 13
> Read Digital Spy's full American Idol headlines

Watch Jeremy Rosado's exit interview below: