CarmenSandiego

I hate that Colin can have a decent night and probably sail into the finale while two better singers have to fight for their spots. But it’s America’s fault, not his.

Good but not great. But better than Colin’s first performance.

At least if Zachariah is eliminated (probably), he’ll go out on his terms.

Hope that this was enough to get her into the finale.

Wé was great as always, I thought.

Ian was very good. Best of the guys as usual.

Megan’s better than Colin or Zachariah. Although that’s not exactly a hard thing for her to be.

Very true. The bar is always low for Colin.

Colin was pleasant but that’s about it.

An enjoyable performance but at this stage of the competition, I don’t think that it’s enough to get to the finale.

Agreed. Oh and I put in all my votes for Wé!

At least she wasn’t doing a standard version of this song. That might help her. And I loved it!

I voted for Megan and did two thirds of my voting for Wé. All I need to do is text my votes for Wé and then I’m done.

If Wé makes it to the finale, I'll watch the Monday episode.

Yeah! I'll be praying for you, Wé!

So she had 160-170k followers then, but how many does she have now? I can see that she currently has 11,367 likes, but I don’t have Instagram.

I’ll still vote for Wé if she and Colin are in with Iam as I’m still loyal to her but I’ll probably also vote for Iam.

You might be right about that. He knew that he was country but maybe not if he was a regular country singer or a more intriguing one.

This week, I analyzed why Haven and Oliver had their American Idol journeys end in the Top 8. Now it's time for one more person, and that person is Warren. He was a country singer, but while he outlasted Marybeth, he couldn't outlast Colin. Why was that the case? As always, I'll look at the rules that Season 21 contestants should follow in order to figure out what Warren did right, what he did wrong, and why Warren lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent Warren had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 26, but after that point, he needed to show it. So how did he do? Overall, I'd say that he had minor problems with this rule. He began well with a unique interpretation of "Set Fire to the Rain", but after that, he began slipping towards the back of the pack, both with IDF and with the TooFab staff, although the TooFab staff enjoyed his performances of "House of the Rising Sun" and "Cold Weather" enough to put him in the middle of the pack, while Crisis enjoyed his performances at first but thought that Warren forgot the lyrics for HOTRS, but thought that he recovered. So how did he do with his final solo of "All I Really Want" and his duet with Wé Ani in "Perfect"? The TooFab staff put him in 8th overall with his solo, ahead of only Colin and Oliver and noted that he struggled to find his footing in the beginning but eventually recovered. However, although they still enjoyed the duet, they put it in last, with Colin's duet with Megan coming in second. Crisis had a hard time hearing him over the band and thought that he was flat in his solo and detested "Perfect". And IDF for the most part rated him between 5.5 and the 7 range for his solo, with me giving him a 7 and saying that it was enjoyable and giving him higher scores for the duet, mainly because of Wé and less because of Warren. All in all, I think that Warren was middle of the pack in terms of singing and performing talent, and thus he stumbled with this rule. Song Choice Is Key For the most part, I think that Warren had few problems with this rule, but for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame week, he chose a song that Haley Reinhart slew back in Season 10, and I thought that Haley was better than him. His forgetting the lyrics didn't help. Still, he survived that week. so I'll move on. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week This was another rule that Warren had problems with. He was consistently good but not great, which wasn't nearly what he needed to be even in the earlier stages of the competition. It didn't help that his main competition, Colin, had two moments that were highly praised -- "Dancing on My Own" and his duet, while Warren didn't really have one. Thus Warren fouled up this rule. Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong Unlike Oliver (who was eliminated this week), I don't think that Warren had any problems with confidence, so I'll move on. Know Who You Are As an Artist Warren had no problems with this rule either. He was a country rock singer and he showed it. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save him, but at least he knew what type of artist he was, so I'll move on. Remember, You Are a Package Warren was somewhat successful with this rule. He had the backstory of being in a Christian music group and then his struggles with alcoholism. Unfortunately, he might not have used it as much as he should have. So Warren struggled with this rule as well. Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It At least Warren had no problems with this rule. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save him so I'll move on. Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It This ultimately might have been the final straw for Warren. As a country rock singer, he was probably able to gather a fan base and with his being a worship leader, he could also have gathered fans who liked Christian music. However, he competed with Colin for the country vote and with Megan for the Christian vote, with Megan probably winning more from that group. Then he and Colin probably faced vote-splitting and Colin wound up winning that war, possibly because Colin was cuter than Warren and middle-class American housewives have a weakness for cute country singers. Another contributing factor might have been that Warren performed both his solo and his duet earlier in the evening, while Colin performed his duet with Megan towards the end and thus Warren might have been forgotten a little bit. Therefore, Warren began well with this rule but sputtered on it at the end. Warren did well to get to the Top 8. He had decent singing and performing skills. He usually made good song choices. He was confident, he knew his artistic identity, he followed advice, and he could get a dedicated fan base because he was a country (rock) singer. What did him in was that he was generally good but not great, and none of his performances were considered near the top of anybody's list, whereas Colin at least had a great performance of DOMO. And he and Colin were competing for the same fan base. And finally, Colin had one duet near the end that proved to be memorable, while Warren had two performances early on and they were forgotten more by the end. When you add all that up, that is why Warren lost.

They might have Colin in the Top 2, but they still think that Iam will win. And unlike Adam, Iam's vocal tone and performance style doesn't seem to offend anyone. But they could be wrong about Colin (unlikely but possible). And I still have faith that We at least will make the finale.

What about the others?

She’s smart to remind her fans to vote to get her into the finale. A lot of contestants in past seasons did well but when they stumbled, their fans became complacent and they lost

When Season 21 of American Idol began, there was speculation that Oliver could get very far in the competition, maybe even make the finale. But after Oliver got the Judges's Save at the expense of Tyson and Marybeth in the Top 10 round, it was clear that his days were numbered and in the Top 8 round, he was gone. But why did Oliver's journey end so surprisingly early? An analysis of the rules that Season 21 contestants need to follow will explain what Oliver did right, what he did wrong and why Oliver lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent Oliver had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 26, but after that point, he needed to show it. And he didn't always do so to the best of his ability. Until "High and Dry" in the Top 10 round, his performances were generally good but not great and "Georgia on My Mind" was just mediocre for me. "High and Dry" was better, but that was when he got in the Bottom 3 and the judges chose to save him. So how did he do with "You Oughta Know" and his duet with Iam Tongi? The general consensus on IDF was that he did a better job with the duet than he did with his solo. The TooFab staff put his solo in 9th, only ahead of Colin and weren't sure If it would be enough, and third of the four solos, ahead only of Warren and We's duet and thought that it elevated Oliver a bit even though they also thought that Iam was better. However, Crisis put the duet in last and said that it was pleasant and low-key, while saying that despite giving a noble effort on his solo, he was hard to hear over the band. All in all, I have to think that Oliver stumbled with this rule, especially in terms of performance skills, as his performances were often described as "boring". Song Choice Is Key I don't think that Oliver had any notable problems with this rule. He certainly didn't try to go for a song done by a powerhouse singer, for example. So I'll move on. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week This was the first rule that Oliver really failed in. He was consistently mediocre or good but not great, which wasn't nearly what he needed to be even in the earlier stages of the competition. Thus Oliver fouled up this rule. Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong This might have been Oliver's biggest failing. In his Showstopper performance, the judges noticed how he constantly looked up to the balcony where they sat, looking for his approval. When I wrote about the rules that Season 21 contestants need to follow, I noted that Oliver would need more confidence if he wanted to get into the finale and even win. And I don't think that he got confident enough until he was in danger, preferring to stay in his comfort zone. Thus Oliver struck out with this rule. Know Who You Are As an Artist At least Oliver had no problems with this rule. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save him, but at least he knew what type of artist he was, so I'll move on. Remember, You Are a Package Oliver was mostly successful with this rule. He had the sad story of his father's stroke and later on, of his father's dialysis issues. And I'm pretty sure that the main reason why he got the Judges's Save was because he mentioned that his father would be coming to watch him perform if he made it to the Top 8. So Oliver did fine with this rule. Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It At least Oliver had no problems with this rule. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save him so I'll move on. Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It Oliver began well with this rule. He was able to gather a fan base due to his backstory involving his dad. Unfortunately, he was probably competing with Iam for the non-country guy with guitar fan base -- and Iam was a slightly better singer and a much better performer. Moreover, Iam's audition had gone viral, giving him a head start in gathering fans. Oliver couldn't keep up and thus he screwed up this rule in the end. Oliver was a white guy with a guitar and that gave him some advantages. He also had a sad backstory with his father that enabled him to start gaining fans. But he had two problems. The first was that he and Iam (who was Hawaiian) were competing for the same fan base of people who liked non-country guys with guitars. The second one was his Kryptonite -- confidence. He was unable to gather enough confidence to really shine as a performer, while Iam was better at performing. As a result, Oliver was stuck doing good-but-not-great performances, while Iam was at least able to do some very good performances. Being in the Bottom 3 and needing to be saved lit a fire under Oliver, but it was too little, too late. Oliver just wasn't confident enough. And that is why Oliver lost.

About Wè — “I’m keeping the faith, Yay Yay Yay keeping the faith.”

Me too. I love it!