Idol Chatter 'American Idol' loser Lauren Alaina still feels like a winner

Lauren Alaina may have lost "American Idol" - but she still feels like a winner after singing with Carrie Underwood.

"Carrie has been my idol since she was on this show in Scotty's position," Alaina told reporters in the press room after Wednesday night's show, in which Scotty McCreery was crowned the new Idol; a record 122 million votes were cast for the finale. Underwood won season 5 of the Fox hit.

Performing with Underwood "was a dream come true," continued Alaina. "I love Carrie - she is amazing. I got to sing with her - that makes me feel pretty awesome."

What did Underwood whisper in her ear? "She said, 'Wow, that was incredible. We should take that on the road,' " Alaina said.

Now that the show is over - but the tour has not yet begun - what are Alaina's plans? "I get to sleep and eat unhealthy food," said the country singer, who dropped 20 pounds while competing. On second thought: "Actually, I'm not gonna do that."

Competing was an eye-opening experience for Alaina. "Every day I learned something new about myself. I learned that I cry a lot. I didn't cry tonight because I was happy," she said. "How could I be unhappy with second place? There's a million people out there that would love to be in my position and I'm blessed."