For American Idol's Lakisha Jones, the past four months - a grueling and sublime ride as a standout on the country's most popular television show - comes down to a set of ordinary house keys.
Fresh from her elimination the night before, the 27-year-old singer was asked by reporters yesterday whether she was planning any splurges in light of her newfound fame.
"I'm going to buy a new home for me and my daughter," the former Millersville bank teller said during a conference call. "I don't ever want to rent again. The house doesn't even have to have anything in it. I just can't wait to get the keys and open the front door and let my baby run through it."
Exactly where that home might be, though, isn't clear. Jones is going to stay in California for the May 23 finale, and then go on tour this summer with the Top 10 Idol contestants. Then it is anybody's guess.
When Jones returned to her hotel room after her ouster, she told her 4-year-old daughter, Brionne, that she had placed fourth in the contest that she desperately wanted to win.
"I was crying last night," Jones said, "and she wiped my face and said, `Mommy, I'm not mad.' It was almost as though she was telling me she was proud of me. It was sweet."
During the 20-minute interview, Jones struggled to speak through the hoarseness that afflicted her performances Tuesday.
"I knew on Tuesday that I was hoarse, and I tried to sing past it," Jones said. "When you're on American Idol, you can't just say, `I can't sing this week.'"
Throughout the interview, Jones sounded variously philosophical, tired, overwhelmed and satisfied. Idol, of course, is the most-watched show on television, a show on which each contestant attracts a passionately devoted cadre of viewers.
As one fan wrote yesterday on the Web site televisionwithout pity.com:
"It's funny how this show gets into your blood and suddenly one day you're insulting teenagers and ready to march on Washington for contestant rights."
And Jones' fans were no exception. They warmed to the single mother with the hard-luck background, even as they occasionally found her song choices and stoic, on-air demeanor frustrating.
Jones' time on the show has made her acutely aware of the areas in which she needs to improve. Before Idol, she said, she had just two years of formal training when she attended the University of Michigan.
