CarmenSandiego

Triston was more energetic and he sang good enough.

Just Sam sang the Whitney song I always wanted to hear, due to my love of the Olympics! So wonderful!

Emmy had a nice performance but an unusual song choice.

I said that he was a better songwriter than a singer, and I’m right.

Kayko was wise enough to change his song. That said, it’s only mediocre.

McKenna has returned to her old self!

Jack’s not as good as Cher but it wasn’t a complete disaster either. Mediocre.

Katy’s leaving, so she doesn’t need to keep her spot.

It was an enjoyable way to begin the show, but Mia was probably just good, since she apparently forgot the lyrics. At least it wasn’t a complete meltdown like Catie Turner.

Thanks.

Is that the voting order as well?

Nor can I.

Oh, I will. The problem is that I have a Cricket Wireless account, and it doesn’t seem to support text messages to the American Idol messaging service.

Oh wow! I hope so!

Last Monday night, we had to say goodbye to two contestants who failed to make the Top Ten. Last night, I analyzed why one of them, Jayna Elise, lost. Now it’s time to look at the other one: Roman Collins. He did well to get to the Top Twelve, but why did his journey end there? A quick analysis of the rules that American Idol contestants need to follow will help to determine what Roman did right, what he did wrong and why Roman lost. The first rule states that contestants need to show both singing and performing talent. Starting in the Top 24, Roman was able to follow this rule well enough not only to pass Quintavious, but also Odell, both of whom were gospel/R&B/soul singers like himself. Then in the Top Fourteen round, while there were people who didn’t like him on IDF, most people here thought that he was anywhere from good to great, and he moved on past Jordan, who was mediocre at best despite being cute and Nya, who was strongly disliked by white, middle aged, conservative female voters. So how did he do on his final performance of “Roar” by judge Katy Perry? Not quite as well. Although I thought that it was better than his previous performance, most on IDF ranked it lower. IdolChatter gave it a B-, not really liking it much but still finding it different. All in all, though, I believe that Roman followed this rule, even if his last performance had some problems. The second rule states that song choice is key, and Roman probably did the best of the trio of gospel/R&B/soul male singers. There were no Carrie Underwood or Mariah Carey songs from him, although taking on a song from one of the judges was a bit of a risk. Still, I don’t think that the second rule was his downfall, so I’ll move on. The third rule states that contestants must either be consistently great or consistently improve. Roman began improving after making the Top 24, but he had a lot of ground to make up compared to country singers, Jack Blocker and Kayko, and he couldn’t afford to stall in his rise. When he did in the Top Twelve round, he was gone. Thus Roman stumbled on this rule at the end. At least Roman had no problem with the fourth rule, which states that contestants must be confident. It takes confidence to do a Katy Perry song. While confidence didn’t save Roman, at least he followed this rule, so I’ll move on. Roman also followed the fifth rule, to a point. He had a strong artistic identity; the problem was that he was a male gospel/R&B/ soul singer, and his identity was neither current or very marketable. Triston and Will were country singers, and that’s more current and especially more marketable than Roman’s music. Thus Roman struggled with this rule. Roman’s biggest problem was probably the sixth rule, which states that contestants must remember that they are a package. What I know about Roman was that he was a worship leader, and that’s about it. Meanwhile, we know about Jack Blocker’s weird facial expressions and Kayko’s songwriting skills. Roman didn’t have enough in his package to compete with them, so he struck out on this rule as well. Roman didn’t have any problems with the seventh rule, which states that contestants should take any advice offered to them and follow it, within reason. While it didn’t save him, at least he followed this rule, so I’ll move on. Roman’s final failure was in the final rule, which states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base. Roman wasn’t shown much before the voting rounds, so he had problems getting fans early on. But in Hawaii, he began improving and did well enough to get past both Odell and Quintavious — but he needed a Wildcard spot, which indicated that his position was still precarious. And while he was able to get past two other Wildcard singers, he couldn’t get past any of those who made the Top Ten in voting. So Roman screwed up this rule as well. Roman was a very good singer and performer, he made very good song choices, he was confident. But his artistic identity was too outdated and couldn’t appeal to the main voting demographic, while his plain packaging caused him to fall behind early on. He began gaining momentum in Hawaii but while he was able to get past Odell and Quintavious, he still needed to get a Wildcard spot in order to do so. And in his final performance, he stalled in his momentum at the worst time. When you put all that together, that is why Roman lost.

As long as Julia doesn’t sing a Carrie Underwood song, singing country will probably help her. Personally, I think that the ones most at risk are Emmy, Jack, Kayko and McKenna. Mia is less likely to be eliminated, but she’s not as safe as Abi, Kaibrienne, Triston and Will.

You forgot Mia.

Last Monday, the Top 12 performed for our votes, but two failed to make the Top Ten. One of them was Jayna Elise. She got to the Top Twelve, so why didn’t she get any further? A quick analysis of the rules that American Idol contestants should follow will explain what Jayna did right, what she did wrong and why Jayna lost. The first rule states that contestants must show both singing and performing talent. Jayna was able to follow this rule well enough in Hawaii, in the Top 20 reveal, the Top 14 round and especially the Top 14 reveal to move on. So how was her final performance of “Diamonds” by Rihanna? IDF had varying reactions, but the consensus seems to be that Jayna did well enough that she should have moved on. In fact, I gave her an 8 and actually said that she should still be here. IdolChatter agreed, since he gave her a B, although he noted that she wasn’t quite able to match her performance on Sunday night, a problem that a lot of singers on Monday night had as well. Still, Jayna was able to follow the first rule. What about the second rule, which states that song choice is key? Jayna had at least one questionable song choice, doing “I Have Nothing” by Whitney. It’s been sung so many times, and every time a Whitney song is done, the best you can hope for is to at least match her vocals. Fortunately, Jayna was able to do so but still, she struggled a bit with this rule. The third rule states that contestants must be either consistently great or consistently improving. I think that Jayna was consistently very good, with flashes of greatness, which isn’t quite what this rule is about. So Jayna had problems with this rule as well. At least Jayna had no problems with the fourth rule, which states that contestants must be confident. It takes confidence to do Whitney or Rihanna songs, after all. So Jayna followed the fourth rule. Jayna also followed the fifth rule to a point, as she had an artistic identity. The problem is that a contestant’s artistic identity needs to be current and marketable, and Jayna, much like Nya, was an old-school vocal powerhouse. Had she been able to be more current, could have done better, but she wasn’t and thus Jayna stumbled on this rule. The sixth rule states that contestants must remember that they are a package. I think that Jayna did better than Nya on this rule, as she had the fact that she had been in the previous season and not only that, she was remembered for being very helpful to other singers in the Duets round last year. Unfortunately, that could only take her so far and Jayna needed more to her package to get far, and she didn’t, unlike Julia, who was adopted and came from Guatemala. Thus Jayna screwed up this rule. Jayna did manage to follow the seventh rule, which states that contestants should take any advice offered to them and follow it, within reason. While it didn’t save her, at least she had no problem with this rule, so I’ll move on. The final rule states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base. While Jayna had her fans, she couldn’t gather a fan base to the extent of Abi, McKenna, Emmy, Julia or Kaibrienne, all of whom had a head start in gathering fans either due to getting a Platinum Ticket (Abi and Julia) or having a sympathetic backstory (Emmy, Julia, Kaibrienne and McKenna). Jayna had neither going for her and while not being disliked by the main voting demographic as much as Nya was helped Jayna get past Nya, it wasn’t enough. Thus Jayna struck out on this rule as well. Jayna should have gotten farther, at least on pure vocals and performance skills. But on American Idol, you need more than just a great voice. Jayna had the story of her journey the year before, but she needed more than that to gain fans. Unfortunately, her old-school artistic identity and occasional poor song choices hindered her, as did her lack of a sympathetic backstory. She wasn’t as disliked by the core voting demographic as Nya, but wasn’t as liked by fans as some of the others. Jayna couldn’t relate to the core voting demographic and that is why Jayna lost.

For spoilers on songs? I hope that Abi picked a great song or even a good one.

Last Monday, I analyzed the many reasons why Jordan was eliminated on Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night. But one more person was eliminated with him, and that was Nya. And while Jordan’s elimination was deserved, the same probably can’t be said about Nya. But why was she eliminated anyway? A look at the rules that American Idol contestants need to follow can help explain what Nya did right, what she did wrong, and why Nya lost. The first rule states that contestants must show both singing and performing talent. Unlike Jordan, Nya had plenty of singing talent and as a Broadway performer, she had plenty of performing talent as well. IDF had her ranked third overall in the Top 24 round and they put her in seventh in the Top 20 reveal. Even in the Top 14 reveal round, they had her in the Top 14, (in 14th). So how did she do with “I Say a Little Prayer”? While a couple of people put her below a 6, most put her above 7, including me, as I gave her a 9, putting her in second behind Abi. That said, one critical voice was that of Idol Chatter, who thought that the arrangement sounded disjointed and that the full performance didn’t come together as well as it should have. Despite this, overall Nya succeeded with the first rule. What about the second rule, which states that song choice is key? Well, at least Nya never took on Whitney, Mariah, Celine or Carrie songs. But Tina Turner songs are also challenging, and she did a couple of them. Still, I think that she followed this rule, because the Tina songs she chose weren’t overdone ones. The third rule states that contestants must either be consistently great or consistently improve. Nya was consistently very good but I don’t think that she was consistently great. Had she been consistently great, she might have done better. Thus, Nya struggled with this rule a little. But Nya had no problems with the fourth rule, which states that contestants must be confident. It takes confidence to take on Tina Turner, and Nya is a Broadway performer, which requires a good deal of confidence. Thus Nya followed the fourth rule. Nya also had a strong artistic identity and followed the fifth rule to that extent. However, fifth rule states that a contestant’s artistic identity must be current and marketable, and Nya was more of an old-school diva singer. Also, she was a Broadway performer and while she wasn’t overly theatrical in her singing, that part of her identity wasn’t very marketable in the modern music industry. Thus Nya stumbled with this rule as well. Her first real failure was with the sixth rule, which states that contestants must remember that they are a package. Nya’s package included her being a Broadway performer, which might have been a problem for a number of viewers in the main Idol voting demographic, as was her old-school artistic identity. Nya also didn’t have a sympathetic backstory like Julia Gagnon did. Thus Nya screwed up the sixth rule. At least Nya followed the seventh rule, which states that contestants must take the advice given to them and try to follow it, within reason. I don’t remember her having any problems with this rule, even if it didn’t save her, so I’ll move on. The final rule states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base. This was Nya’s biggest problem, since the main voting demographic consists of white, middle aged, conservative American women who just couldn’t relate to Nya and disliked her from the start, and her lack of a sympathetic backstory didn’t help. Thus Nya had a hard time getting a sizable fan base, which was why she was a Wildcard spot winner, and which hurt her in the end. Thus Nya struck out on this rule. Nya probably should have gone further than she did. She had the singing and performing ability to do well on this show. Unfortunately, the main Idol voting demographic preferred guys like Kayko, who was a handsome man, to Nya, who was a talented singer. Her old-school artistic style and lack of a sympathetic backstory also hurt her. Thus Nya could never get a sizable fan base to help her get into the Top Ten in votes, and getting a Wildcard spot only delayed the inevitable. Nya couldn’t appeal to middle-aged white conservative women and that is why Nya lost.

Sorty. It’s going to be hard for me to use the they/them pronouns, but I’ll try. I hope things are going well for them now.

Me too! I voted for her in her season, and I was so thrilled when she won!

1. Julia — best performance of the night. 2. Abi — her weakest other than Showstopper round but still very good. 3. Roman — best of the guys tonight. Alas, it wasn’t enough to save him. 4. Jayna — she should still be here, but she isn’t. 5. Mia — she improved from the Top 14 round. 6. Emmy — vocally weakest of the girls but still very good. 7. McKenna — better than the Top 14 round even if not her best. 8. Kaibrienne — McKenna was the better performer. 9. Will — consistently middle of the road. 10. Jack — took a step back with his weird facial expressions. 11. Triston — his first real clunker. 12. Kayko — demented performance.

Top 10 Questions 1. Which 8 singers will advance to the Top 8? (160 points) - Abi Carter - Emmy Russell - Jack Blocker - Julia Gagnon - Kaibrienne - Mia Matthews - Triston Harper - Will Moseley 2. Which 2 singers will be eliminated from the competition? (50 points) - Kayko - McKenna Faith Breinholt 3. Which singer will be announced last by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 8? (50 points) - Kaibrienne 4. Which female singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 8? (50 points) - Mia 5. Which male singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 8? (50 points) - Triston 6. What will be the ratio of male and female singers in the Top 8? (20 points) - 5 females and 3 males Bonus Question 7. How many singers in Top 10 will get standing ovation from Katy Perry? (50 pts) - 7 8. Will Lionel Richie give standing ovation to both eliminated singers after their performance? Yes or No (50 pts) - No 9. Which number of the performance order that one of the eliminated singer will be assigned to? From 1 (Opening the show) to 10 (Closing the show). (80 pts) - 6 10. How many singers will play musical instruments in their performance? (50 pts) - 5

Oh wow! I made the Top Five!