‘American Idol’: Danville’s Grace Leer bows out with class

One of the downsides to the coronavirus-era at-home edition of “American Idol” is that viewers don’t get that sense of closure when a contestant is eliminated.

Under the traditional in-studio format, the outgoing singer would be afforded a few moments to chat with host Ryan Seacrest and say good-bye before taking his or her leave.

But during Sunday night’s episode, when Danville’s Grace Leer and three other contestants learned of their fates, there was only a quick group wave from a screen full of Zoom squares and that was it.

That left Leer to turn to Instagram to reflect on her “Idol” journey and thank fans who supported her along the way.

“The people I have met, the lessons I have learned, the memories I have made, are things I will take with me forever,” she wrote. “There are no words to describe how grateful I am for each and every one of you who have been by my side since Day 1.”

The post is accompanied by a retrospective video that covers Leer’s entire run on “Idol” — from that very first audition, right up through those beautiful performances in her mother Kristi’s backyard.

The images play under a recording of Leer’s outstanding cover of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” That performance — delivered on the shores of Oahu — was arguably her high point on the show.

Lucky for her fans, she plans to keep at it.

“I have finally found the courage to quit my 9-5 sales job and do this music thing full force It’s scary, but it’s now or never,” she wrote.

You can see the full post, and watch the video, right here:

View this post on Instagram

If you would have told me 7 months ago when I was driving to Milwaukee with @corkyclouse to audition for @americanidol that I would make Top 10, I would have laughed and said “ya right.” This journey has completely changed my life. Thank you @katyperry @lukebryan @lionelrichie for taking a chance on me and giving me that Golden Ticket to Hollywood The people I have met, the lessons I have learned, the memories I have made, are things I will take with me forever. There are no words to describe how grateful I am for each and every one of you who have been by my side since Day 1. Thank you @jrovner for helping me put this video together to wrap up my idol journey and a video I can look back on and always remember what this did for me and my career. I truly mean it when I say this is just the beginning.Team Grace is not just for idol but it’s for everything after this. I will be releasing music, I will be getting back on stage with my band when it’s safe, and I have finally found the courage to quit my 9-5 sales job and do this music thing full force It’s scary, but it’s now or never. Follow your dreams people and do things that scare you…the reward is so worth it. I am a big believer that everything is meant to be and life truly has a way of timing what you need perfectly. Let’s do this thing! #teamgrace #justthebeginning

A post shared by Grace Leer (@graceleermusic) on May 10, 2020 at 7:09pm PDT