Amanda Grafanakis has sung her swansong on the reality TV show, X-Factor.
I’m not going to cry, I’m not dying, I’ve got food, I’m a lucky person, I live in a beautiful country.
The 27 year-old Greek Australian was voted off the show this week, despite performing a moving rendition of Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings.
Judge Ronan Keating said Ms Grafanakis had “delivered, week in, week out.”
“The music industry deserves an act like Amanda out there,” he said.
She told channel 10 talk show The Couch she felt “so blessed and so lucky” to have been on the show.
“I’m not going to cry, I’m not dying, I’ve got food, I’m a lucky person, I live in a beautiful country,” she told cohosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies.
Ms Grafanakis told Neos Kosmos she felt like she was “on borrowed time” with X-Factor, a stance she reiterated on the Channel 10 talk show.
“I just feel like there are other things out there for me, and I just think that was an amzing way to get recognised, and see if people like me or not, and I’m so lucky that there are some Australians who like what I do,” she said.
The singer told Neos Kosmos she was used to people “not liking the way I look.”
“I’ve got a bit of an unusual look going on, I’m not very mainstream, so I expected people wouldn’t be able to connect me with and that I’d probably get voted off the first week,” she said.
“It’s just like a dream come true for me to be recognised for something I’ve worked so hard for.”
Grafanakis described the reality television regime, which involves living in a share house with fellow contestants, as “constant”.
The hectic weekly schedule involving early mornings, rehearsals everyday, live performances on Sundays, a show each Monday and recording on Thursdays.
So what gets her through?
“My Dad’s food would really help me, but there is a brew I make, with six cloves of garlic, a big nog of ginger, four lemons and Manuka honey; I’ll probably make that tonight and that usually soothes my throat really well,” she said.
Grafankis describes her background in music as a gradual progression.
She had her first rock band while studying year ten at high school, started performing gigs at pubs when she was 17 years old, then later competed on Starstruck, and Australian Idol, all the while working in bands and travelling overseas to perform.
“I’m like a reality TV junkie,” she said.
“I pretty much take any opportunity that comes my way, and being in Tassie, you’ve got to take everything that comes your way because they don’t come often.”
Being away from family is the most difficult part of the gig, Grafanakis said.
“I’ve been living away from Tassie for four years now.
“I’ve gotten used to it, I moved to Melbourne for music so I’m used to sacrificing for that, but it’s still hard,” she said.
She told Neos Kosmos that, being in the final nine, the competition was getting close.
“It actually feels really different now, there’s only three people that have left but it already feels like it’s more exciting,” Grafanakis said.
“The house is quieter, people are getting a little more competitive, which is scary because they’re your best friend at the start and then you start to sense that kind of competitiveness and it reminds you that you’re in a competition.”
With Ronan Keating mentoring her category, the over 25s, the 27 year old said she couldn’t have asked for more.
“It’s been amazing, he’s the nicest guy in the world and really helpful. He’s there everyday he needs to be and even when he doesn’t need to be there, he’s there.
“He’s one of those people that puts 150 percent in, he’s full of encouragement and advice; I couldn’t ask for more in a mentor,” Grafanakis said.
“I considered X-Factor as another opportunity to get myself out there, and this time it’s paying off more than ever.
“You can’t really buy publicity like this.
“I’m so grateful that people are seeing something in me that’s good enough to stay on the show”.