CarmenSandiego

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

1. Which 9 singers will advance to the Top 9? (90 points) - Nicolina - Noah - Huntergirl - Fritz - Leah - Christian - Lady K. - Jay - Emyrson 2. Which 2 singers will not advance to the Top 9? (20 points) - Bye-bye, Mike - Bye-bye, Tristen 3. Which female singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 9? (30 points) - Nicolina 4. Which male singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 9? (30 points) - Noah 5. Which singer will be announced last by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 9? (30 points) - Emyrson 6. What will be the ratio of male and female singers in the Top 9? (20 points) - 4 males and 5 females Bonus Questions 7. Which judge’s song choices will be picked the most by the contestants? (50 points) - Katy 8. Which judge’s song choices will be picked the least by the contestants? (50 points) - Luke 9. Which singer in the Top 11 will perform first? (50 points) - Noah

Yeah. Compared to last time, 6 guys and 5 girls isn't as bad. Still wanted 5 guys and 6 girls, however.

Ugh. Allegra is gone. On the bright side, Dan's gone as well.

Jay, Mike and Tristen are most likely to go home, imo. But Dan should go home instead of Mike.

True, but I do have fond memories of singing it for a Voices Together performance when I lived in Raleigh. Voices Together is a music group for people with special needs, including those with Asperger's syndrome, like me. Anyway, Nicolina is clearly the best vocalist.

One of Noah's better performances, but he's still not great. But at least he's not as boring as Dan.

She probably would.

I actually thought Emyrson had a fine performance, but I might have to re-watch it. On paper, it's a good song choice, since Emyrson is 16 and a song about someone getting their driver's license is better for a 16-year old than singing a really mature song.

I thought that this was one of MIke's best performances, but it might be too little, too late.

Ava was very good. Possibly my favorite performance from her. Please, please vote! She's still in danger!

Looks like Allegra might have saved herself with her song! Well, at. least I hope she did. Great job!

Lady K. does have a similar backstory to Fantasia, but singing a winner's coronation song is never a good idea. Still, she sang the heck out of it.

Tristen made a horrible song choice. While I hated Adam Lambert's tone, he was a great singer. Tristen isn't one.

Fritz is the best guy in this season. Not a hard hurdle to jump over, unfortunately.

Wow! I really enjoyed Leah's performance! Then again, I love "Happy Together". Still, great job!

Dan was predictable and boring.

Christian sang the heck out of the song, but this wasn't the best song choice.

Jay wasn't as manic, which is a good thing, but it might be forgotten by the end, and that's bad. Huntergirl was enjoyable but was a little forgettable too. Still she'll probably be all right. That might be a bad idea. I agree.

I'm going to watch on TV, but I'll be voting for Allegra, Emyrson and Lady K. vi text as well as via online voting.

That would be good advice! I'll consider it for next season.

Whew! Writing up six analyses on why certain contestants lost was a killer. But I persevered, and now I'm down to just one contestant eliminated from the Top 20: Sage. Sage managed to make it into the Top 20, bu after her Top 20 performance, she had to sing to earn a Judges' Wildcard, and she was eliminated. But why did she fail to earn the coveted Judges' Wildcard? If we look at the rules that American Idol Season 20 contestants need to follow, that can help us learn what she did right, what she did wrong, and why Sage lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent Sage had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 24, but she needed to show that talent in her three performances. And she didn't always do so. For example, let's take a look at her performance in the Top 20 round. The Too Fab staff ranked that routine in 19th place, above only Katyrah's performance, noting that the performance felt a bit uncomfortable. Crisis said that she should have stayed with the piano arrangement the whole way through the song, and said that the vocals fell apart when the band kicked in. I gave it a 7, but said that it was largely because I liked the song, since after rewatching it on YouTube I wasn't as impressed as I was the first time around. What about her Judges' Wildcard song? That actually went better. The Too Fab staff actually ranked this performance second best of the ones who sang for the Judges' Wildcard slot, behind only Tristen, suggesting that she fought for her spot because she mentally prepared herself for the likelihood that she'd be in trouble. And Crisis also thought that was her best performance. Unfortunately, it seems to have come too little, too late for her. Thus Sage ultimately failed in the first rule, although not as badly as some others did. Song Choice Is Key Sage had a questionable song choice in the Top 24 round with "Jolene". It's been done before on American Idol, and not always very well. That said, she got into the Top 20 despite that iffy song choice (and was helped by Danielle and Scarlet having worse song choices), and her choice of "Rihannon" for her Top 20 performance was panned more for how she performed the song than for it actually being a bad song choice, so she wasn't as bad with this rule as others were. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week However, Sage did have problems with this rule. She wasn't consistently outstanding, and she didn't consistently improve every week. By contrast, Allegra was improving every week once she got into the Top 24. Thus Sage fouled up this rule. Stand Out By Being Unique or By Being Memorable For Positive Reasons I don't think that Sage did too well with this rule either. She might have been the only one really competing in a particular lane, as the Too Fab staff thought. On the other hand, Crisis indicated that he thought that she was toast once Ava got into the Top 14 through public voting, so Sage might have had competition from her. And Ava was more memorable than Sage due to Ava's hair color and having a famous father. Thus Sage messed up on this rule as well. Remember, You Are a Package This is probably one of the biggest reasons why Sage lost. Her package was comparatively plain when compared to a number of the other women -- and men for that matter -- in the Top 24. She was able to outlast three other people (along with Kenedi, who withdrew), but she needed a better package to get into the Top 14, and she didn't have it. Thus, Sage struck out with this rule. Never, Ever Argue With the Judges or Respond to Baiting From Ryan At least Sage had no problems with this rule. Unfortunately, that 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 Sage failed to follow. Part of it was the fault of the producers, as they aired her audition as almost an afterthought. But she didn't do enough on her own part to get a fan base or to sustain it. Had she done an outstanding performance of "Rhiannon" or "Jolene", then she might have gotten a fan base. But she didn't. Thus, Sage fouled up this rule as well. Sage was screwed somewhat with the producers, since her audition was aired almost as an afterthought, and right after the Oscars were shown too. But she still could have saved herself once she got into the Top 24. She could have made a better song choice in the Top 24. She could have made better performance choices in the Top 20 round. And she could have had a better package and been more memorable. But she did none of the above. And when it was time for her to sing for the Wildcard slot, she finally sang and performed her best, but It was too little, too late. That is why Sage lost.

Incidentally, I'd like Allegra to do a version of the title song from the James Bond film "No Time To Die". That would get people to pay attention to her and vote for her, I think.

Maybe not, but if enough people who could be in danger (like Ava) stumble badly enough, she might just squeak by this round.

Katyrah was one of my personal favorites. Unfortunately, my rooting for her ended all too soon as she failed to get into the Top 14 through public voting, and then failed to get a Judges' Wildcard slot. But how did it happen? What caused Katyrah to end her journey in the Top 20? As with Cadence, Cameron, Elli and Jacob I'll look at my list of rules of what American Idol Season 20 contestants need to follow in order to find out what Katyrah did right, what she did wrong and why she lost. Show Singing and Performing Talent Katyrah had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 24. She also showed her singing and performing talent in her Top 24 group. But she might not have shown both off as well in her Top 20 performance or her Wildcard song. In her Top 20 performance, the Too Fab staff thought that she didn't nail all the big notes and that she might have gotten into her head a little too much, while Crisis thought that she wasn't able to match the energy that Bishop Briggs had when Katyrah sang "Dream." And while I loved her performance, others on IDF ranked it lower than I did. And what about her Wildcard slot song? Katyrah chose "Through the Fire", and the Too Fab staff put her last amongst those in danger, saying that she didn't nail some of the big notes that she needed to hit. Thus, Katyrah failed this rule. Song Choice Is Key I think this is the main problem that Katyrah had. Crisis hit the nail right on the head: Chaka Khan is a vocal powerhouse. You need to have a tremendously powerful voice in order to take on her songs. While it's commendable that Katyrah wanted to go big, she really should have chosen a different song. Thus Katyrah struck out on this rule. Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week This was another rule that Katyrah had problems with. I believe that she hit her peak in the Top 24 round, but then she stalled. You can't afford to hit a plateau, especially in the early rounds. Thus Katyrah messed this rule up as well. Stand Out by Being Unique, or By Being Memorable for Positive Reasons I don't think that Katyrah did as well with this rule as she could have. She was a fine performer and had some memorability in her backstory, but it didn't reach out as much to people as the backstory of say, Lady K., who definitely was more memorable. Thus Katyrah stumbled slightly with this rule as well. Remember, You Are a Package Katyrah had problems with this rule as well. She had a package -- a powerful voice -- and was an entertainer as well but her packaging was comparatively plain compared to that of Lady K., who also had a powerful voice but had a more sympathetic backstory. Thus Katyrah fouled up this rule as well. Never, Ever Argue With the Judges or Respond to Baiting From Ryan At least Katyrah succeeded with this rule. But that didn't help her, so we'll move on. Gather a Fan Base -- And Sustain It This is the final rule Katyrah had problems with. She wasn't a Country singer like Huntergirl. She didn't have as compelling a backstory as Lady K. And while she was a fine entertainer, her song choices weren't always the best. Thus Katyrah missed this rule as well. In the end, Katyrah had too many strikes against her. She could have found a way to make herself more memorable. She could have performed better at certain key moments in the competition. And most important, she could have chosen better songs. But she did none of the above, and that is why Katyrah lost.