CarmenSandiego

I’m celebrating that our girl’s in the Top 10!

I was very disappointed that Nutsa was eliminated and a little less disappointed that Lucy was eliminated too but they were wildcards so I shouldn’t be surprised.

You can probably guess who I voted for.

1. Wé Ani! 2. Megan 3. Iam 4. Zachariah 5. Tyson 6. Marybeth 7. Warren 8. Haven 9. Oliver 10. Colin

Yeah.

Wouldn't mind if it was those two or maybe Oliver and one of either Haven or Lucy.

No but in Iam's case it's not a huge problem.

I wouldn't mind too much if she won, but I'm still a We fan!

I'm so happy that I'm a We fan!

I sure hope so. And I hope that they seethe even more because Nutsa makes the Top 10!

Agreed.

I think that We just brought the house down!

Love that!

True. I suspect that these judges just can't bring themselves to be critical.

Nor can I.

Or possibly Marybeth. But not so much Zachariah.

Oh I'll be voting for sure!

Thank heavens that I'm at the end of analyzing eight singers whose American Idol journey ended at the Top 20. The last of these singers is Kaeyra. I really thought that Kaeyra was going to make the Top 10 in public votes, but she didn't and after having to sing for her survival, she was gone. But why did her Idol journey come to an unexpected and tragic end? As always, the rules that Season 21 contestants should follow will explain what Kaeyra did right, what she did wrong and why Kaeyra lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent The first rule states that you need to show singing and performing talent. Kaeyra definitely had singing and even performing talent and she showed it in Hawaii with a performance of "Don't Let Go (Love)" that was good enough to get her into the Top 20. So how did she do with "Bruises"? IDF loved it more than DLGL, including me as I gave her a 7.5 for her Hawaii performance and a 9 for "Bruises", praising her piano skills. Crisis was a little more critical, partly because he didn’t like Lewis Capaldi, but did praise her arrangement of the song and called it solid. And the Too Fab staff put her in 3rd overall, behind only Megan Danielle and Iam Tongi. Unfortunately, she too failed to make the Top 10 but she still had a chance to save himself by getting one of the two judges' Wildcard picks. So how did she do with "If I Were Your Woman"? Excellent, according to IDF. The lowest score anybody there gave her was a 7, by two people, neither of who was me. I gave her an 8.5 and thought this should have gotten her into the Top 12. Crisis thought that she was the best of the wildcard hopefuls, and the TooFab staff put her in second, behind only Nutsa. All in all, Kaeyra definitely succeeded with this rule, but it wasn't enough. Song Choice Is Key I don't think that Kaeyra had any real problems with this song other than maybe doing an En Vogue song in Hawaii. However, it didn't affect her chances of moving on and her other song choices were solid, so I'll move on. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week Kaeyra was consistently very good and at times even great, but she didn't consistently improve enough. Thus she stumbled on this rule a little. Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong Kaeyra definitely had the confidence needed. Taking on a Gladys Knight song definitely requires confidence. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to save her. Know Who You Are As an Artist I fear that this is the first rule that Kaeyra really failed at. She had a rock edge and could have packaged herself as a rock artist but she chose to do a lot of songs in a lot of different styles -- rock, pop, soul. There's a fine line between being stuck in one lane doing only one genre and being too versatile and Kaeyra might have gone too far in being versatile. We Ani is also very versatile, but she's been sticking more to songs which at least are somewhat in the pop genre (like "Edge of Midnight" which is pop/rock). Kaeyra was more versatile, but it came at the expense of a strong artistic identity, so she definitely fouled up here. Remember, You Are a Package This was another rule Kaeyra failed in. She was the daughter of a Polish immigrant and could have used it to create an interesting package. Unfortunately, she didn't do it as well as say, Nutsa who is a Georgian competing in an American show, did in packaging herself as an entertainer who could also do slow songs. She was kind of in the background amongst all the other female singers. Thus Kaeyra struck out on this rule as well. Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It At least Kaeyra didn't have any problems with this rule. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save her, so I'll just move on. Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It This was the final rule that Kaeyra failed at. She was versatile at the expense of a strong artistic identity, and she often dressed up to the extent that middle-aged American housewives just couldn't relate to her, even with her backstory of being the daughter of a Polish immigrant. So Kaeyra screwed up this rule as well. Kaeyra could have and should have made the Top 12, due to outstanding vocal and fine performing skills. But she didn't have a strong artistic identity, choosing to sing songs in too many different genres. Worse, middle-aged American housewives couldn't relate to a girl that was too attractive. And finally, her package was plain when compared to Lucy and Nutsa, both of whom were chosen as the Wildcards. When you add that all up, that is why Kaeyra sadly lost.

I didn't know that. I thought that his wife was the same age as Zachariah. Poor Zachariah. True. Innocent until proven guilty, and Megan is innocent, especially when compared to Caleb or even Colin. But while Colin's behavior is somewhat disturbing, it's not anything worthy of disqualification.

Smart girl. Very smart girl. I like her a lot more now.

Ugh. It's not enough to disqualify him but it makes me want anyone other than him to win this season.

Also interesting that the main reason why Colin is in the Top 3 is because of his most recent song choice. He does his best with the songs he can sing without a band, but that's going to be a problem with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame night, among other theme nights. Still, he'll get far unfortunately. Top 5, undoubtedly but Top 3? Maybe not so much, what with Warren in the running. And I wouldn't mind him beating Colin -- as long as Warren hasn't done stuff that would be really controversial or even mildly controversial.

I'm in the homestretch of analyzing why eight contestants had their American Idol journey come to an end in the Top 20. Only two more to analyze, and the first is Olivia. This one is really sad for me because she was the second of my two favorites, the other being Wé Ani. I wanted her to get into the Top 12 at least, but by the time she was in the Top 20 I pretty much realized that it would take a miracle for her to get there. So why did I quickly realize that she wasn't going to get as far as I wanted? The rules that Season 21 contestants needed to follow will explain what Olivia did right, what she did wrong and why Olivia lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent The first rule states that you need to show singing and performing talent. Olivia definitely had singing talent and had at least some degree of performing talent. She showed plenty of both in her Hawaii performance to "Emotions", which could have been a disaster but was viewed by most as a pleasant surprise. So how did she do with "I Surrender"? Not quite as well. While IDF gave her better ratings overall compared to say, Paige Anne, Hsamid thought that it sounded karaoke and that she didn't go the song enough justice while Nytsch wished Olivia would take a non-diva song and make it more of a diva song like she did with "Hello" and Floor Wax called her performance dated I gave her an 8 and said that I thought that Nutsa did it better in Hollywood week. Crisis also thought that she wasn't quite up to the challenge, while the TooFab staff put her in 7th overall. She too failed to make the Top 10 but she still had a chance to save himself by getting one of the two judges' Wildcard picks. So how did she do with "God is a Woman"? The reviews on IDF also indicated that she did well enough vocally with it, but there were still definite problems, with two people indicating that they thought Olivia was trying to copy Ariana Grande. I gave her an 8. Crisis also wasn't very fond of it, but here he criticized an apparent lack of urgency, thinking that she had resigned herself to being a goner. The TooFab staff thought that she began all over the place and it took some time for them to recognize the song. Overall, I think that Olivia began well with this rule but began stumbling and couldn't recover enough. Song Choice Is Key This was probably one of the main problems that Olivia had. With the exception of "Hello", she tended to choose Whitney, Mariah, Celine and Ariana Grande songs and those are so challenging that any contestant who tries those songs are probably going to come out on the short end of the stick. What Olivia should have done is take songs that you wouldn't expect a diva singer to sing and make them songs that a diva would sing. But she didn't and thus Olivia struck out on this rule. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week This was another rule that Olivia had problems with. She was consistently very good, but she wasn't consistently outstanding and she didn't consistently improve every week. As a result, she failed this rule as well. Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong Olivia definitely had the confidence needed. You don't take on Whitney, Mariah, Celine or Ariana songs unless you believe that you can handle them. Unfortunately, she couldn't back up her confidence as well as she could have, but at least she had it. Know Who You Are As an Artist Unlike Elise, Emma and Paige Anne, Olivia knew who she was as an artist and thus followed the fifth rule. The problem is that she was an old-school diva artist, and that's not going to do so well on American Idol nowadays. Still, knowing her artistic identity in and of itself wasn't a problem, so I'll move on. Remember, You Are a Package This was another rule Olivia failed in. She packaged herself as an old-school diva singer, and the only way she could get away with it was if she took new songs and changed them so that they became diva songs. It didn't help that the one thing that could've made her sympathetic -- having a sister who lost the use of her hands -- was aired towards the end of her Idol run. Thus Olivia screwed up this rule as well. Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It At least Olivia didn't have any problems with this rule. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save her, so I'll just move on. Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It This was the final rule that Olivia failed at. She began well with her version of "Hello" and could have gathered more fans had she chosen to follow that path and turn songs that you wouldn't expect a girl with a diva voice to sing into ones that she could sing well. Unfortunately for her, she chose to tackle Whitney, Mariah, Celine and finally Ariana Grande songs and lost many of the fans she got with her first performance. Thus Olivia fouled up with this rule as well. Olivia began well. She knew that she was a diva artist and chose a song that she could turn into a song that a diva singer could sing. She could have continued on with this path and made unexpected song choices that could have furthered her Idol run. Instead, she tackled Whitney, Mariah Celine and finally Ariana Grande songs, turning herself into an old-school American Idol contestant. That would have worked before Season 7, but not so much now. Olivia's bad song choices doomed her and that Is why Olivia sadly lost.

I think that they don't want the audience to boo them. These judges are performing artists, and they might be more sensitive to booing as a result. That said, I agree that some contestants could benefit from constructive criticism.

Not publicly available yet. But what he's posted so far might be one reason why he doesn't have as sympathetic a story or is portrayed as being as likable as Noah from last season was.