Too much for ‘American Idol?’

Walker said, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson all agreed that she was too much for “American Idol.” Too wild, too different, too Broadway.

However, she said, the judges also consented that she could sing.

Her Idol audition scrapbook is filled with photos of her and other contestants-some of whom made it through to Hollywood. She also jotted down the judges’ remarks on her audition.

Next to Paula’s name she wrote: “You can sing, but I think you’re too much for an American Idol. You’re perfect for Broadway. Give that a shot (…) Don’t give up.”

Randy, Walker said, echoed Paula’s remarks and told her, “Dawg, you’re like 21 and you act 40. Dawg, I like you. I really do, but I don’t think you’re right for the show. ”

Simon she quoted as having said: “You’re too wild. I felt like I was in a circus and you were a clown. Too much, too loud. You can sing. I agree with Paula-you should do Broadway.”

Simon, notorious for his brutal honesty, drew neither tears nor rants from Walker. In fact, his mild comments surprised her.

“I didn’t think Simon was as mean as everyone thought he was,” she said. “He did admit that I could sing and he does not do that a lot.”

Walker, however, found an ally in guest judge Mark McGrath, the lead singer for the late-90’s ska-band Sugar Ray. “Mark McGrath was the only one fighting for me,” Walker said. She added, jokingly, “I should go buy all his albums.”

In her scrapbook she quotes him as raving, “I like your style. You’re different. I say yes to Hollywood. I would love to work with you.”

Rejected in the third round, Walker admits she was pissed.

“I wanted to say some mean and nasty things. But, I know I’m better than that and plan on going farther in my career. I didn’t want to ruin it in two minutes.”

She said she was even more determined after meeting with the judges.

“The comments made me want to try again because Randy was like, ‘Next time, dawg, choose a different song.'”

The following week “Idol” held auditions in Orlando, Fla. Walker could not afford the trip. So, in less than a week, the Richmond native raised about $400 from her job, family members and church, and took a flight, for the first time in her life, to the auditions.

In Orlando, she said, she breezed through the first round since producers remembered her from the D.C. auditions, where an estimated 22, 000 people tried out.

Walker said the executive producers in the second round also recalled her earlier performance. They advised her she had a 50-50 chance of making it to Hollywood and would have to stay for a couple of days to find out if the judges would select her this time around.

The executives asked her if she thought it would be worth it to stick around and spend a couple hundred dollars for lodging. After weighing the options, Walker decided that the competition was not worth the added expenses and flew home.

Walker remains confident, driven and unapologetic. She commuted to D.C. everyday for five days, missed the first two days of school last fall, and waited 33 hours in the nation’s capital and 20 hours in Florida to audition for “Idol.”

While other contestants sang ordinary tunes, she said, she chose “Big, Blonde and Beautiful” from the Broadway play “Hairspray.”

“I didn’t want to go with something everyone had sung. I decided to go with something that’s in my roots, which is Broadway and musicals, and something fun that goes with my personality,” she said.

“I have blonde hair, big hair and I’m big!” she said, adding that she was the first person ever to sing that song at the “Idol” auditions.

Walker acknowledges that her over-the-top audition might have held her back. “I just didn’t sing the song; it was a performance.”

She also believed that her life story wasn’t sensational enough for reality TV. One woman sold her wedding ring to fund her trip to the auditions and received more airtime when the show premiered last week. The woman also made it through to Hollywood.

How did the performance theatre major, who said she got accepted into VCU’s theatre program on the spot at tryouts, take the rejection?

Let’s put it this way – her ego is well intact.

“I feel that I am America’s Idol,” she said. I would’ve been a great representation of a true girl that’s humble and talented. I had, number one, the talent, the style. I had the full package for it.”

Walker credits the university’s theatre program for preparing her to deal with failure. “I wasn’t one of the ones that cried and lost her mind and went cursing and yelling.

“Theatre prepared me for when one door opens, another one opens.”

Walker has learned one thing from the whole experience: “I enjoy the spotlight,” she said, giggling.

The spotlight is something she is getting used to. Late last year, Walker went to Broadway to audition for “Rent.” She got a callback.

While Walker doesn’t begrudge the judges’ decision to cut her, she thinks the show has compromised its original aim for ratings.

“I feel the show is getting worse as it goes on because they’re teasing and they’re picking more and that is supposed to be a family show. What is it teaching the children? To pick and laugh at people? To make fun of people?”

The show’s idea of an American idol, she said, contradicts with her own idea of one because the judges look for someone they can sell and relegate vocal ability.

“You need to be real, stay true to yourself and, number one, have a love for music instead of the stardom and fame,” said Walker, who counts Reuben Studdard as her favorite “Idol” winner.

Walker does not plan on auditioning again for the show next year, but she won’t completely rule it out.

She maintains a busy schedule, juggling plus-size modeling, recording a demo, scouting for a recording contract, writing her own play and school.

“I consider myself an entertainer because I’m trying to get my foot in the door either way,” she said.

The showbiz industry, Walker warned, is not for the insecure. “Be sure of yourself. A smile goes a long way. Be prepared for criticism.”

Simon Cowell would agree.