An American Idol star who won an $800,000 dollar prize for his singing in the 2013 show has defended the show’s controversial decision to hire one of the biggest and most well-known women singers in the business.
In an exclusive interview with MTV News, Jason Alexander said that he and fellow Idol winners, including Taylor Swift, were “really happy” to win the $800k prize and that they are “really excited” to continue competing on the show.
The award is given to the most prestigious and highest-profile singing talent from across the globe and is the biggest prize of its kind.
The song that Alexander sang on the 2013 American Idol season was titled “We Are The Champions,” and it was produced by RCA and featured Taylor Swift.
The winner of the $8.5 million grand prize is named after the fictional character played by Tina Fey on the popular ABC sitcom.
But in a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Alexander said he felt he was unfairly criticized for his role as a contestant and said he was never offered a contract for the role.
“The whole thing was kind of like, ‘This is just a joke.
You’re just being an asshole.
This isn’t a big deal.
You don’t deserve this,'” he said.
“That was it.”
While the song he sang was not included on the final episode of the show, Alexander did win an endorsement deal for his performance in the finale.
In addition to a $10,000 stipend, Alexander also got a $1,000 trip to New York City for his first-ever show in April.
The Grammy Award winner also defended the decision to have one of Swift’s former bandmates, Chris Martin, on the 2014 American Idol singing team.
Alexander said the decision was made to create a more diverse lineup and that Martin was “a great choice.”
“Chris was an amazing musician and an amazing person,” he said, “and we didn’t want to make that mistake again.”
