Why Elise Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

Earlier today, I analyzed why PJAE had his American Idol journey come to a totally expected early end.  But there are still five contestants who also saw their Idol journey come to an early end.  One of them was Elise Kristine.  She was in the same group as PJAE and she sang "Holding Out For a Hero", but the hero didn't come to help her get into the Top 20, as she was also cut from the competition.  But if PJAE's elimination was totally expected, Elise's wasn't.  Yet if we look at her journey on the show and look at my rules that the American Idol Season 21 contestants need to follow, we can see why Elise lost.

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

Elise had more than enough singing talent to make the Top 26, and enough performing talent to get there as well.  But how did she do when it came to showing that talent?  She actually did better than PJAE, both vocally and performance wise.  And at least the people who rated her song on the IDF boards thought she did better than not only PJAE, but also Haven and Mariah.  For example, I gave her a 7 while giving Haven a 5 and Mariah 5.5, and I called it a good performance.

 

But there were more critical voices out there.  Crisis thought that she began rather shaky with a heavy vibrato which was chalked up to nerves; but later on, Crisis thought she settled in and gave some good stage presence.  Too Fab was even more critical, putting her ahead of only PJAE, as they thought it took her about a third of the song to really get into it and be terrific.  In all, I think that Elise was partly successful with this rule -- she had the voice, but the performance skills needed some work.

 

Song Choice is Key

 

One definite problem that Elise had was her song choice.  Crisis noted that it was a challenging song and one of the people on IDF who rated the song thought that it was too cheesy.  Had Elise done a less cheesy song, she might have survived and I might have been writing about why Mariah was eliminated instead.  So Elise probably failed in this rule.

 

Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Constantly Improve Every Week

 

This was another problem that Elise had.  She was excellent in her Showstopper performance but FloorWax was expecting more and Elise apparently took a couple of steps back -- not many but enough to cost her, especially since her audition was only montaged.  So Elise stumbled with this rule as well.

 

Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong

 

This was another rule that I believe Elise failed at.  The Too Fab staff said that she could make a huge impact if she kept growing in confidence.  That said, I don't think she was as bad with confidence as say, Megan or Colin.  But they were featured more than Elise was, so they have more time to grow in confidence.  Elise didn't have as much time, and thus she struggled with this rule.

 

Know Who You Are As An Artist

 

I do think that Elise might have had some problems knowing who he was as an artist.  She has a powerful voice, but having a powerful voice isn't enough any more.  Look at Warren.  He doesn't have the vocal pipes to compete with Elise, but he knows who he is as an artist.  I don't think that Elise knew who she was other than a singer with a big voice and thus screwed this rule up.

 

Remember:  You Are a Package

 

This was another rule that Elise had trouble with.  She wasn't a country singer.  She wasn't a rock singer.  She just had an outstanding voice, but she didn't know how to package it.  And there was a reason why she was only montaged during the auditions.  Her package was too plain.  So Elise fouled up with this rule.

 

Take Any Advice Offered To You And Follow It

 

At least, Elise was able to take the advice that Allan Stone gave her and follow it.  Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to save her, so I'll move on.

 

Gather a Fan Base -- And Sustain It

 

This was the final rule that Elise failed to follow.  She wasn't a country singer like Mariah.  She wasn't a rock singer.  She had an outstanding voice, but so did a number of girls who had better packages than she did.  And she didn't get as much exposure as some of the other girls who had powerful voices, being only montaged.  Thus Elise struck out with this rule as well.

 

Elise had definite problems going into the Top 26.  She had a powerful voice, but didn't know how to package it or know what her artistic identity was.  This is probably why she was only montaged, and that put her behind the 8-ball when compared to contestants who were as confident or less confident than her, such as Megan and Colin (who are in Group 2).  But she could have made the Top 20, especially since her Showstopper performance was awesome.  Unfortunately, she made a questionable song choice and worse, she performed first in the evening, which meant that she was at risk of being forgotten by the end of the show.  As a result, she lost some of her momentum from the Showstopper round at the worst possible time, and couldn't regain it in time.  And that is why Elise lost.

Edited April 24 by CarmenSandiego