She may have been booted off of "American Idol," but Kristy Lee Cook still got a life-changing proposal.

Songs from the MARIAH CAREY songbook brought KRISTY LEE COOK to the end of her "American Idol" dreams.

In a phone call the morning after learning of her exit, she told reporters, "It has been tough being in the bottom three, but with the first few times, I built up stamina for it. I got a little tougher each time and I learned to control my emotions. Specifically for this last time, it was nerve-wracking because none of us knew what was going on and how they were separating the groups. It was definitely a shock for me to go home. I wanted to make Final 5, but I am happy BROOKE [WHITE] is still in. She is one of my best friends."

On a happier note, Kristy Lee revealed that she and boyfriend ANDY are engaged to be married. In fact, he got down on one knee and proposed to her on live television last night.

"He proposed to me in the sauna [last March] and then he actually proposed to me last night on live television," she relates. "We tried to keep everything on the down-low. I didn't want it to get in the way. I just wanted to focus on music and 'American Idol.' He re-enacted the proposal and actually got down on his knee this time. The first time he didn't, so he owed it to me."

Andy also presented Kristy Lee with a ring that the two picked out together a while back as a goof. The stone is marquee cut with quite a few diamonds encircling it, and Kristy Lee was surprised that he remembered which one she wanted.

"We went down to the local jeweler, King Jewelers," she said. "We looked at what they had. I had no clue he was going to pop the question and we haven't set a date. Maybe next June some time."

Kristy Lee says she will be returning home next week, and while she would love to be able to buy back her horse, which she sold to make her "American Idol" tryout possible, it doesn't look as if that will happen.

"I've talked to [the new owner] a few times and he doesn't want to sell," she says. "He's really attached to him because he's such a good horse. The least I could have asked for was a good home and he got a really good home. I'm happy with that, but it does kind of suck that I won't be able to get him back as my own horse."

Even without the opportunity to reclaim her horse, Kristy Lee says she has no regrets about her time on "American Idol." "It was a great learning experience for me," she says. "I needed this push to get my career back, because nobody knew who I was before 'American Idol,' so it was definitely the biggest push I could have ever done to get my career started."