'Idol' casualty still starstruck

By REBECCA BARRY

Before she made it on to NZ Idol, Sela Mahe dreamed of joining the Army. On Monday night she wound up on the front line.

But the second finalist voted off the wannabe popstar show now knows what she really wants to do.

"I'm going to go straight back to school to finish my bursary year," the Mangere 17-year-old said yesterday. "Then I'd like to go to performing arts school."

Mahe, a Seventh Day Adventist, forged a reputation for her adventurous song choices on the show. Although the judges praised her rendition of Alicia Keys' How Come You Don't Call Me, they said her decision to sing Jill Scott's Getting in the Way was too risky.

"I was confused because that was a top seller in New Zealand," says Mahe. "I was quite surprised the judges didn't know that."

Her final performance on Sunday night's New Zealand music special was even more difficult because she grew up on a diet of American R&B, jazz and blues. After her performance of Time Makes the Wine by Ardijah, judge Paul Ellis said he wasn't sure how long Mahe would last in the competition.

The NZ Idol fansite, www.idolblog.com, also predicted she would go.

Looking back, Mahe knows what she would have done differently.

"I could've worked on my vocal ability and shown that off more."

And although she was "a bit gutted" to be leaving, she enjoyed the Idol experience. Mahe, of Tongan extraction, said the highlight was wearing make-up, something she had never done before because of her culture, family and religious background.

She was surprised how her friends reacted to her elimination.

"I think they were moping about it more than I was. Everyone was feeling sorry for me. But I was happy with the result."

She cannot say who she thinks will win. "That's just too difficult. There's so much talent in these people and I think it's going to be a very hard competition from now on."

Nor is she a competitive person. "I don't like competition and I've been brought up to not be competitive - just to have love, peace, harmony. I just love to make people happy."

Mahe, who says she likes all music "except country and classical" first became involved in music in her early teens when she joined a school singing group. Later, she started performing at prisons, hospitals and rest homes.

Once the hype surrounding the show dies down she will return to Mangere College where she is studying music, engineering, communication skills, maths and sports management.