CarmenSandiego

Eliminated in the Top 10 round: Lady K., Mike and Christian. Eliminated in the Top 7: Emyrson and Jay. Eliminated in the Top 5: Nicolina and Fritz. 3rd place: Huntergirl Runner up: Noah American Idol: Leah

He's also audience bait and a favorite of Luke, so he gets a free pass for those reasons as well.

Nobody as far as I remember. But Cameron came close when he chose to ignore the advice of Bebe Rexha and predictably was a disaster. Which is why I'm adding to that rule next season that you shouldn't ignore any advice from mentors.

Last Tuesday, I posted an analysis of why Dan lost -- and why Dan got as far as the Top 14 before finally leaving. I wasn't able to do analyses of the other two who were nominated with him due to participating in an ORG and due to wanting to re-watch the Top 14 performances, but now I've done so, so I will continue my analysis with Ava. Ava managed to make it into the Top 14 but was cut then. Why did that happen? As always, I'll look at the rules that American Idol Season 20 contestants ideally should follow in order to explain what Ava did right, what she did wrong and why Ava lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent Ava had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 24, but Ava was always kind of in the middle of the pack when it came to showing that talent. The Too Fab voting staff always put her either near the bottom or In the middle, neither of which is a good thing. And in her final performance, "Sign of the Times", they ranked her in 12th overall, saying that they felt detached from Ava's interpretation of the song. Crisis did think that it was her best vocal, however. I gave her a 7.5 for that performance, putting her in the middle of the pack. Thus while Ava wasn't terrible with this rule, unlike Dan, she wasn't great with it either. Song Choice Is Key I don't think that Ava had any major problems with this rule. There were others who had problems with it (like Lady K.), but not Ava. Unfortunately, that wasn't nearly enough to save her, so I'll move on. Be Consistently Outstanding, or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week Ava wasn't consistently great nor consistently outstanding. Instead, she was consistently in the middle of the pack, or towards the back of it. And that's not a good thing, especially if you have little prior exposure before the voting rounds, like Ava did. Thus she messed up in this rule. Stand Out By Being Unique or By Being Memorable For Positive Reasons This was another rule that Ava had problems with. She wasn't exactly unique except in terms of her hair color, nor was she memorable except for being the child of a famous musician. There's a reason why she was only featured in the audition episode that aired after the Oscars ended. And her tone of voice wasn't for everybody, a rule which gave Allegra similar problems. Thus Ava fouled up this rule as well. Remember, You Are a Package This was another rule that Ava had problems with. Her tone of voice wasn't for everybody, and other than her hair color and her famous father, she didn't have enough of a package to really help her get far in the competition. And unlike Allegra, she didn't consistently improve every week. Thus Ava struck out on this rule as well. Never, Ever Argue With the Judges or Respond To Any Baiting From Ryan At least Ava had no problems with this rule. Unfortunately like with the second rule, this wasn't nearly enough to save her, so we'll move on. Gather a Fan Base -- And Sustain It This was the final rule that Ava had problems with. Granted, she wasn't a country singer like Huntergirl, but she had other problems beyond that. She wasn't featured much before the voting rounds, and once she was, she wasn't able to do enough to gather a fan base that she could sustain. In fact, she probably just barely made it into the Top 10 in public voting in the Top 20 round. Thus, Ava failed in this rule as well. Ava had too many strikes against her. While nowhere near as bad as Dan in singing or performing skills, she was still near the bottom. She wasn't consistently great and didn't consistently improve. She wasn't memorable enough, and her package was too plain. This along with little exposure prior to the voting rounds prevented her from getting the fan base she needed to survive. And that is why Ava lost.

Very true. I wouldn't have recommended this song for him.

Jay Copeland - Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars - 7.5. Good performance, but he needs to step it up. HunterGirl - Baby Girl by Sugarland - 7.5. Enjoyable but not my favorite performance of hers. Christian Guardino - Take Me to Church by Hozier - 7. He's good but not great. Dan Marshall - She’s Got It All by Kenny Chesny - 5. Leah Marlene - Happy Together by The Turtles - 9. Like Maddie Poppe, she sang a song I remember, and I loved it! Fritz Hager - Let It Go by James Bay - 8. He's still the best of the guys. Tristen Gressett - Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert - 6. What was he thinking, singing a song by Adam Lambert? Lady K - I Believe by Fantasia - 7.5. And what was she thinking, singing Fantasia's coronation song? Allegra Miles - Ocean Eyes by Billie Eillish - 9. She went all too soon. Ava Maybee - Sign of the Times by Harry Styles - 7.5. Not quite as good as last week, and I fear that it cost her. Mike Parker - Hurricane by Luke Combs - 7.5. He was very good again. Emyrson Flora - Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo - 7. Good but I've seen better from her. Noah Thompson - Stand by Me by Ben E. King - 7.5. "Stand By Me" was his best performance. Nicolina Bozzo - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen - 8.5. Third-best of the performances tonight.

This week is a little better for me, with only four people to analyze and not six. I'm going to begin my analyses of why these four lost by looking at Dan Marshall. Dan was a handsome male country singer, but he was the first of the trio of male country singers (plus one female country singer) who be eliminated. And as always, I'll be looking at the list I made up of rules that American Idol Season 20 contestants need to follow in order to do well on the show in order to explain what Dan did right, what he did wrong (a lot) and why Dan lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent This is the most important rule for a reason. Dan had enough singing and performing talent in order to make the Top 24, but when it came time to show that singing and performing talent, he failed to deliver. He showed more singing talent than say, Cameron Whitcomb, but he didn't show enough singing talent to compete with much more talented vocalists such as Jacob Moran, and certainly didn't show enough performing talent to get far. A large part of the reason for his failure to show performing talent was because he had only been performing for a short time before getting on the show, and it showed. For example, in his last performance, the Too Fab staff called it amateur and compared it to karaoke. And the judges were actually critical of his performance, which is never a good sign. And if I'd been prone to sleeping, his last performance would have put me to sleep -- and most of his performances would've put me to sleep, for that matter. It's clear that Dan fouled up massively with this rule. Song Choice Is Key Dan didn't do quite as badly with this rule as did some others, such as Katyrah Love. But his performances were so dull and boring that even decent song choices would keep him around forever. So I'll move on from here. Be Consistently Great or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week Dan wasn't consistently great. In fact, he was consistently boring. Whenever he performed, it was pretty much a snooze fest. Sooner or later, his tendency to put people to sleep would catch up with him, and it did so this week. Thus Dan struck out with this rule. Stand Out By Being Unique or By Being Memorable For Positive Reasons Dan had a mixed bag with this rule. On the one hand, he was one of four country singers -- three guys and a girl -- and thus couldn't stand out by being the only country singer in the group. On the other hand, he was memorable for being a handsome former football player, which was a positive thing. Unfortunately, he was also memorable for being the most boring of the quartet of the country singers. I'd say that overall, he failed with this rule but not as badly as with the first and third rules. Remember, You Are a Package This was the final rule that I think Dan screwed up on although like with the fourth rule, it was kind of a mixed bag. He was a country singer and a former football player, and could have used the package to really succeed in the competition. But his total lack of performance skills ensured that he could never really do anything with his package. Thus Dan ultimately stumbled with this rule. Never, Ever Argue With the Judges or Respond to Baiting From Ryan Well, this is one rule that Dan succeeded in. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to cover up his failures with the other rules. So we'll move on from here. Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It This might have been the rule that Dan did the best with. He was a country singer, and the country fans have often supported country singers. Moreover, country singers have often done well on the show, especially since Luke Bryan became a judge. And I'm sure that the country fan base, along with his handsome appearance and being a former football player, enabled him to survive a lot longer than he should have. But sooner or later, his luck was going to run out, and his luck ran out in the Top 14. Honestly, I think Dan was really lucky to last as long as he did, and I'd put his lasting so long down to the country fans and his being a handsome former football player. But he was never going to win American Idol. He was one of the weakest singers and his performance skills stank. The only thing he was consistent with was being a consistent snooze fest. And eventually, his luck ran out. That is why Dan lost.

Is that a good song choice for her? I'd like her to go farther due to what happened in the previous round.

After Leah's most recent performances, I'd like to be added as a fan, please.

With Allegra now gone, my Top 3 are Lady K., Emyrson and now Leah.

Glad that they saved Lady K.

I think that Jay saved himself. Possibly his best.

I think that Emyrson might have saved herself.

Tristen is more of an entertainer than a singer.

Thanks. Anyway, Leah is really becoming a dark horse. I enjoy her a lot!

What song did she sing?

I actually enjoyed this performance of Huntergirl, but maybe that's because I remember practicing it for Voices Together back when I lived in Raleigh. I would've gone for it in a heartbeat if I was her.

I'm glad that Lady K. didn't pick "Jesus Take the Wheel". This was an excellent performance, imo.

Noah was good but boring. Not as boring as Dan, however.

This was a very good performance from Christian.

I prefer it with Maddie Poppe. Now that was cool.

Fritz had some cool moments in the song, but while I agree that it wasn't a moment, I do think that this was his best performance so far.

I barely paid attention to Mike's performance as I was trying to get online so that I could vote. But since Mike performed second, I think that he's a goner.

Maybe not Nicotine's best performance, but still very good.

I'll be watching and voting for Lady K. and Emyrson via text voting and them plus Nicolina and maybe Leah online.