Why Cadence Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

Last night, the public vote put 10 contestants of American Idol Season 20 in jeopardy:  Allegra, Cadence, Cameron, Elli, Jacob, Jay, Katyrah, Mike, Sage and Tristen.  The judges then decided to save Allegra, Jay, Mike and Tristen, thus ending the journey of Cadence, Cameron, Elli, Jacob, Katyrah and Sage.  That means that this week, I have to analyze why the dream ended for six people, based on the rules I listed that American Idol Season 20 contestants should ideally follow in order to get far into the show.

 

It's a tough thing, but I have to begin somewhere, and I'll go in alphabetical order, which means that the first person I'll analyze is Cadence.  Cadence had the tools to get into the Top 24 and even into the Top 20, but her journey ended there.  What happened?  Why didn't Cadence get any farther?

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

There is no doubt that Cadence had enough singing talent to get into the Top 24.  She also had enough performing talent; unfortunately, it seems that she was more comfortable performing with a family member nearby, especially her father.  When she went to Hollywood and had to leave her father behind, her performances began to suffer due to confidence issues and she began falling towards the back of the pack when the Top 24 were chosen.

 

She did make a good enough recovery in the Top 20 round that she was able to get into the Top 20, but how was her performance of "Train Wreck"?  Not the best.  Denton Davidson from GoldDerby thought that her high belting screeched, while the Too Fab staff put her into the list of those who they didn't think would make the Top 14, although they did think that she invested herself fully into the performance.  And few people in the IdolForums Rating thread gave Cadence a very high score either -- I gave her a 7, and that one of the higher scores.

 

And what about her performance of "I'm Your Baby Tonight" when she had to sing for her survival?  That wasn't great either.  The Too Fab Staff thought it felt like something that you might see at a high-school talent show.  And Katy Perry actually complimented Cadence's appearance before commenting on her performance, something that Davidson correctly realized wasn't a good sign.  I think it's safe to say that Cadence failed in this rule.

 

Song Choice Is Key

 

Cadence didn't exactly shine in this rule either, especially when she sang for her survival.  Singing a Whitney Houston song is very risky, and you need to have the vocal pipes required to tackle her songs.  When I heard her perform the song, I didn't think that it was the smartest choice.  Still, she wasn't as bad with this rule as some others -- most notably, Katyrah.

 

Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week

 

This was one of the biggest problems Cadence had.  She was inconsistent, in part due to her confidence issues.  She began well, but began losing steam in Hollywood and never regained enough of her former steam to have a shot at going very far.  I thought that her best performance since her audition was in the Top 24, when she sang an Etta James song, but then she slid backwards in the Top 20 round.  Thus, Cadence stumbled on this rule as well.

 

Stand Out by Being Unique or by Being Memorable for Positive Reasons

 

Another strikeout from Cadence here.  She was just one of many young female performers with a very good voice, and her confidence issues led to her being rather forgettable.  In fact, my comments on her "Train Wreck" performance was "Lovely but forgettable."  I didn't think it would get her the votes she needed, and I was right.  Thus Cadence struck out on this rule as well.

 

Remember, You Are a Package

 

This was another rule that Cadence fouled up on.  Perhaps due to her confidence issues, she had problems defining who she was and thus packaging herself to appeal to enough people that they would vote for her.  And her inconsistent performances certainly didn't help her out there.  Thus, she fouled up this rule as well.

 

Never, Ever Argue With Any of the Judges or Respond to Baiting From Ryan

 

At least Cadence had no problems with this rule.  Cameron, on the other hand, had some problems here though his problems weren't with the judges, they were with mentor Bebe Rexha!  Remind me to add that you should take the advice of mentors in the future.  However, I'll get to Cameron later, so I'll just move on.

 

Create a Fan Base -- And Sustain It

 

This was the final rule that Cadence had problems with.  Due to her confidence issues and resulting inconsistency, she wasn't really able to create a fan base that would help her out.  It didn't help that she wasn't a country singer like Huntergirl, have an entertaining personality like Leah, or have a sad backstory like Lady K.  All Cadence had was her voice, and that wasn't enough to get a fan base.  Thus Cadence missed this rule as well.

 

Cadence had potential.  But she wasn't confident unless she had family nearby and if she didn't have them around, she struggled with consistency.  This prevented her from being memorable, and thus affected her ability to create a package and gain a fan base.  And finally, she made an iffy song choice when it came time to sing and convince the judges that she deserved to be one of the Wild Cards.  And that is why Cadence lost.

[Carrie_On]

She coasted on the success of her first audition and I don’t think she should have made the Top 24. Her voice is potentially great but she doesn’t know what to do with it yet. Also, it seems like she was very forgettable, as I’ve seen a lot of people post about not remembering her. 

[QueenKalie]

I just think she made a couple questionable song choices. I think with better song choices she could have made the top 14. 

[m1key]

I agree with all of this. The potential was there, but she was not ready. I also do not understand why she chose to venture into the powerhouse/big voice genre (or whether that was a producer thing, idk). Either way it was a horrible choice for whatever inspired her to go that direction in the competition because she just does not have a big voice like she think she does, at least now. 

[Rainbow_of_greys]

Cadence should have waited 2-4 years to audition. She is 19 which is young, but looks/acts/sounds even younger. Vocally she’s like where a good 15 year old would be. IA with the poster above who said she doesn’t know what to do with her voice yet. I also don’t think she knows who she is — she was doing belty powerhouse songs when her voice would be much more suited to bluegrass/country pop? She has such a pretty tone. 

Her song selection was god awful and ultimately sealed her fate, with the worst choices being “train wreck” (zzzzz ballad that’s simultaneously REALLY hard to sing) and the reprise of her audition song. Repeating “I’m your baby tonight” but this time without the magic of it being acoustic and slow and stripped down was a disaster, it made it lose all of its appeal. 

 

I would love to see her try out for the Voice in a few years. But if singing doesn’t work out, Cadence should look into auditioning for a CW or Disney show or something. She’s movie star gorgeous. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Rainbow_of_greys

[jazzontherocks]

Cadence was actually in America's Top 14 (along with Jacob and Cameron) - from an Idol crew I was in touch with (just DM me if anyone wants to know all the voting orders of the Top 20). If they didn't do the Wildcard twist and honored all fourteen votes she would be in. Anyway, the future is bright for her. You can do a lot of things in the entertainment industry besides singing, and Cadence can definitely go into acting and modelling as well. She is talented. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by jazzontherocks

[MargoK]

I have never been a big fan. The pnly performance I liked was the Etta James song. She is pretty though.

[rockerannah]

I was super blown away with her audition and excited to see more of her but she continually failed to impress me every performance after that.