Why Christian Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

The Top 7 became the Top 5 last Sunday, and Christian Guardino was one of the two singers eliminated as a result.  But could he have done something more to change his fate?  He probably could have, so we're going to look at the rules that American Idol Season 20 contestants ideally need to follow in order to survive and figure out what Christian did right, what he did wrong and why Christian lost.

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

Christian. had plenty of singing and performing talent, but he didn't always show the talent to his best advantage.  One shining example was in his Top 24 performance, which Crisis criticized as missing the mark on how "Leave the Door Open" should be interpreted.  Christian apparently was more focused on showing off his range than in properly interpreting the song.  He continued having problems with interpreting his songs properly as shown in "Creep" and "I'm Not the Only One", but he might have finally turned the corner in the Top 7 round.  The TooFab staff praised his performance of "Lonely", saying that the promise he had when he first joined the competition was finally fulfilled.  Crisis also thought that the song was the first time he really saw Christian trying to connect with the song, although he still thought that Christian could have made the belting more natural in the second half.  As for "Dear God", Crisis also enjoyed the performance, although that was in part because in Gospel music (which that song is), over singing is definitely encouraged!  TooFab actually put Christian's performance of "Dear God" in first.  However, it wasn't enough to save him.  Thus, Christian struggled with this rule and when he finally improved, it was too little, too late.

 

Song Choice Is Key

 

Christian did have problems with this rule as well, although not to the same extent as say, Lady K. did.  His main problem was choosing songs that he failed to interpret properly.  I don't know much about modern music, but apparently "Leave the Door Open" is not meant to be sung at full blast.  It's meant to begin slowly, then gradually build to a crescendo.  Christian didn't know how to choose songs that allowed him to over sing throughout much of his stay, and that cost him.  Thus, he failed the second rule as well until towards the end, and by then it was too little, too late.

 

Be Consistently Great or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week

 

This was another rule that Christian had problems with.  He more or less stayed at the same level, but as the competition progressed, others kept passing him until finally. his number came up.  Thus Christian fouled up this rule as well.

 

Stand Out By Being Unique or By Being Memorable For Positive Reasons

 

Initially, Christian succeeded with this rule.  He was able to stand out by virtue of his powerful voice.  But his poor song choices and poor choices of how to interpret songs made him less and less memorable as others, such as Leah Marlene, became more and more memorable.  Thus Christian messed up this rule as well

 

Remember, You Are a Package

 

At least Christian had a package.  Unfortunately for him, his package was pretty much old-school American Idol, which changed once people could use instruments and David Cook came along.  Christian's old-school package couldn't compete with those who could interpret songs or use instruments, and it cost him in the end.  Thus, Christian struck out with this rule in the end.

 

Never, Ever Argue With Any Of the Judges or Respond To Any Baiting From Ryan

 

At least Christian had no problems with this rule.  Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to help him reach the finale, so I'll move on.

 

Gather a Fan Base -- And Sustain It

 

This was the final rule that Christian failed at. He was initially good at gathering a fan base, since he made the Top 14 via the popular vote.  But his poor song choices and poor interpretation of his songs prevented him from sustaining a fan base.  Thus he missed the ball with this rule.

 

Christian would have done better before Season 7.  He was an old-school contestant who couldn't adapt to the newer style of American Idol.  As a result, he couldn't maintain his ability to compete with the others and in the end, his number came up.  That is why Christian lost.

[MargoK]

Well my 3 favorite seasons of Idol are 4, 6 and 2 in that order so I guess it makes sense that Christian was my favorite contestant this season. Anthony Fedorov and Clay Aiken are my two favorite male contestants.

[CarmenSandiego]

4 hours ago, MargoK said:

Well my 3 favorite seasons of Idol are 4, 6 and 2 in that order so I guess it makes sense that Christian was my favorite contestant this season. Anthony Fedorov and Clay Aiken are my two favorite male contestants.

 

I loved Clay too.  In fact, Clay is the first guy I ever voted for from the beginning, and the only guy who was my favorite (I also voted for James Durbin, but he was my second choice, and I only voted for him because he has Asperger's syndrome, like me).