By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Homegrown singer Breanna Steer was eliminated from the “American Idol” competition during last Thursday’s broadcast, but the young woman said her removal has not put a damper on her dreams of becoming a professional singer.
The 18-year-old began competing in “American Idol” last August. It was a long process, but Steer said she learned much from her “American Idol” experience. In addition to making friends among the contestants, she said she has been exposed to valuable singing techniques that have helped her grow tremendously as an artist.
“When I first auditioned for ‘Idol’ my vocals weren’t strong. I wasn’t knowledgeable in the music industry, like getting warmed up and picking music that was right for my voice. I wasn’t really smart in those areas,” she said.
“Now as an artist, I feel like I’ve grown. I’m starting to write music more, I know when to warm up my voice. It’s so crazy, how just the small things can help you out. I didn’t know that before, I didn’t know you had to warm up like crazy just to go sing on a stage. I grew as a person. I’m stronger than I was before, and I feel like I can accomplish anything now,” she said.
Steer sang the first verse and chorus of Beyonce’s “Flaws and All” during her final performance. Her rendition of the ballad was solid, though she had a bit of trouble putting strength into the chorus and lost some of her breath support while belting the ending notes, she said. Steer said she was disappointed after her elimination initially but did not think it was her demise.
“I was kind of disappointed because, you know, I felt like I deserved it. I worked really hard, and I felt like I could’ve been America’s idol. The fact that America didn’t vote enough for me, and I didn’t get through, it was disappointing,” she said.
“I was kind of hurt, but I knew that wasn’t the last of me. You know, there’s better and bigger things out there for me, and this is my pull. I was OK at the end. When we were saying goodbye, I felt like ‘This isn’t it for me.’”
The LaPlace native said she wouldn’t change a thing about her performance. She said her dismissal may have had something to do with receiving exposure somewhat late in the show.
“By the time I was really recognized it was kind of too late because people have their favorites. I feel like my time to shine was in Vegas. Honestly, I think performance-wise I did really good. People love my performances. I think it’s just because people had their favorites already before they could really ‘favorite’ Breanna,” said Steer.
Based on her experience, Steer has advice for current and future ‘Idol’ participants.
“You really just have to be yourself. If you’re not yourself they can see through that. You have to be the person you want to be,” she said. “For me, I grew as an artist. Be yourself, show your personality and share your talent, but do it in your way, not someone else’s way.”
Steer plans to leverage her exposure on the primetime show into a productive musical career. The young singer’s outlook for the future remains charmingly sunny.
“I plan on going to Los Angeles to broadcast myself as an artist. Being on ‘Idol’ has a lot of exposure and people from all over want to have me as one of their artists,” she said. “I’m just going to look around and try to write music and make myself a demo, become a real artist. That’s my goal in the future — become an artist and go on tour and follow my dreams.”