'Idol' contestant White thanks East Valley fans

"American Idol" contestant Brooke White may have been "living in a bubble" for the past few months while making her run for the title, but said she wanted the East Valley to know that she appreciated all the support during her time on the show. The Mesa native was eliminated Wednesday after making the top five.

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"I want everybody to know how much that meant to me," said White, who was well aware of all the support she received in her hometown, from the "American Idol" viewing parties at various restaurants in Mesa to fans, friends and family printing T-shirts that say "Brooke White is my Idol." "For everyone to be pulling for me was great."

White says her recent life has been only a blur: "It was like eat and drink and sleep 'American Idol' 24-7," said the singer, who has lived in Los Angeles off and on since graduating from Mesa's Heritage Academy in 2001. "Literally, it was seven days a week, and we were working all the time.

"It is fun," she continued. "There's a lot of joyful moments, but it is incredibly challenging work - extremely stressful, a lot of pressure - and it kind of brings all of the insecurities you've got going on to the surface, and you have to work through them almost in a very public way."

White was one of the few contestants to show emotion and vulnerability in the history of a program that features almost robotically professional singers vying for the "Idol" championship. And that emotion and vulnerability - especially when White started and stopped a song before starting over again a few weeks ago - endeared her to many "Idol" viewers and judge Simon Cowell, who praised White for showing that she's "human."

"Fortunately and unfortunately, I had some very human moments on the show," White said. "It's hard to feel so vulnerable up there all the time, and I don't know that there's any other way for me.

"But I realized that I was a lot stronger than I thought I was," the singer explained. "There were moments where I thought, 'I can't do this another day,' and then I pushed through and I would feel this surge of motivation and willpower that I just didn't even think I had."

Not even 24 hours after her elimination, the singer/songwriter - who released her independent debut CD, "Songs from the Attic," in 2006 - was already reaping the benefits of her newfound fame.

"I got to talk to Carly Simon this morning," White said of meeting one of her idols, the singer/songwriter known for such hits as "You're So Vain," "Anticipation" and "That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be."

"It was a satellite interview and she was in New York and they put her on the line with me. She could not be more generous and kind in her comments, and it gave me a boost and made me feel really excited about the future."

The immediate future for White includes visiting her family in Arizona - her sister recently got married while Brooke was working on "Idol" - and then going out on the American Idols Live Tour 2008, which kicks off on July 1 at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

"I think that's going to be a great experience," she said. "This is for the love of music - it's not about a competition or being judged or making a TV show, it's about connecting with fans who are there purely because they enjoy the music."

After all the hard work and trials and tribulation of being an instant celebrity on "American Idol" over the last few months, White has just now begun to reflect upon her time on the show. "I got to the Top 5, and that's a huge accomplishment for me," White says. "I'd do it all over again."