'American Idol' winner: 'A lot of dreams came true for me tonight'

The new winner of American Idol was still shocked by the time she came backstage to face the press after learning she’d won the crown.

In fact, Candice Glover, who beat out Kree Harrison for the title Thursday night, joked, “I don’t even know my name.”

“I’m still trying to process the whole thing,” she said. “It feels amazing, though.”

Going into the evening, Glover, who hails from South Carolina, was the favorite to win, but she admitted she fully expected to hear Kree Harrison’s name when the announcement was finally made at the end of the two-hour results show — she even uttered it moments before hearing her own name read aloud by host Ryan Seacrest. “I was saying her name because I just new he was going to say it,” Glover said. “But we’re super supportive of each other, and I know no matter what, I’m going to buy Kree’s album. I think the whole world will.”

The win marks the end of the long Idol journey for the 23-year-old, who tried out for the show twice previously, and though she confessed to some moments of self-doubt, “I always knew for some reason knew it would happen if I kept going,” said Glover. “I even, at some point, said ‘American Idol obviously doesn’t want me, so why would I go back?’ But I found myself back on the website looking at auditions.”

Glover will now head into the studio to record her album, which is set for release just six weeks from now. She’s recorded only one song so far — victory song “I Am Beautiful — and says she’d eventually like to collaborate with Idol judge Nicki Minaj, who tonight did not address her future with the show while backstage with the press.

Glover also pointed to tonight’s performances — which found her singing a powerful duet with Jennifer Hudson and (sorta) onstage Aretha Franklin — as career highlights.

“A lot of dreams came true for me tonight,” she said.

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