Colton Berry's pursuit of his "American Idol" dream might be over, but he still has his local theater connections to cushion his defeat.

On Thursday night, the Staunton native was among the first four of the top 24 finalists to be ejected from the singing competition by not getting enough votes.

His performance last week of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" received lukewarm comments from judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.

Upon Berry's dismissal Thursday, Cowell was especially harsh, telling the 18-year-old blond, "Get a good job and then enjoy singing, because I don't think you'll make a successful career out of it."

On Friday, Berry cheerily brushed off Cowell's comments, telling reporters in a conference call, "Simon's job is to be Simon Cowell. There's no one else in the world like him and that's who he's supposed to be."

Berry now intends to aim for Broadway -- and hopes to start setting up auditions (his dream role would be to play Fiyero in "Wicked").

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com.