Why Hannah Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

Earlier, I analyzed why Michael made the Top 20, only for his American Ido journey to end at the Top 12 rounds.  It's time for one more analysis for today, and that analysis will be about Hannah.  She too was good enough for the Top 20 but she wasn't able to get into the Top 12.  Why was that the case?  As always, a good look at the rules that Season 21 contestants need to follow will explain what Hannah did right, what she did wrong, and why Hannah lost.

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

Hannah had enough singing and performing talent in order to make the Top 26, and while she showed enough of both to make the Top 20, her performance was hampered by the after-effects of COVID, and she narrowly made it in, benefiting from Elijah's awful song choice and performing first in Hawaii and thus being forgotten.  But how did she do in her Top 20 performance?  She actually did pretty well, at least on IDF.  The general consensus was that she was solid but not spectacular.  I gave her a 6.5, and that was the lowest rating on IDF.  However, the TooFab staff was more critical, putting her in 18th place and wondering if it was memorable enough and if she felt a genuine connection to the song.  Crisis was also more critical, saying that she couldn't match the power required for the song, and failed to deliver the desperation needed.

 

As it turned out, she failed to get into the Top 10, but she had a chance to save himself with her second song.  The general consensus on IDF was that she was solid but again, not spectacular.  I gave her a 7, saying that she was better but that it wasn't nearly enough.  Crisis thought that she might have bitten off more than she could chew.  And the TooFab staff put her ahead of only Michael in the rankings because they thought that she lost a few notes due to being overwhelmed by the stress of having to sing for her survival.  Hannah seems to have stumbled with this rule, although she didn't completely strike out on it.

 

Song Choice Is Key

 

One reason why she had problems with the first rule is probably because of this rule, which states that song choice is key.  While the TooFab staff thought that "Someone to Love" was a smart choice, I didn't and Crisis agreed with me.  Any Queen song is a challenging song, and you need to be outstanding to do well on this show.  Hannah was solid but she wasn't really outstanding.  Her second song might have been a better one had she done performed it well enough to get one of the judges' Wildcard spots.  Thus, Hannah failed with this rule as well.

 

Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week

 

This was the rule that Hannah really failed at.  Coming into the Top 26, she didn't have as much exposure as a number of the other contestants in her group did and thus she needed to come out and be outstanding.  She wasn't but skated by because of how badly Elijah fouled up in Hawaii.  As a result, she was still on shaky ground and needed to be outstanding in the Top 20.  She was merely solid, and that wasn't nearly enough with such limited exposure.  Thus Hannah fouled up the third rule as well.

 

Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong

 

I think that Hannah did well with this rule for the most part.  Certainly she had more confidence than either Colin or Megan did, especially since she had the guts to take on a Queen song.  But they had more exposure than she did.  And the nerves from having to sing for her survival might have affected her confidence in her final performance, as even Ryan could see that it was difficult for her.  Still, she did well up until that point, so I'll move on.

 

Know Who You Are As an Artist

 

This was another problem for Hannah.  She hadn't been trying to have a music career for very long, and that meant that she was in the early stages of figuring out who she was as an artist.  As a result, she didn't know if she was country, rock, pop, soul, R&B, or a Christian music artist.  Without a defined artistic identity, she was behind the 8-ball from the start.  Thus, Hannah struck out on the fifth rule as well.

 

Remember, You Are a Package

 

Hannah had limited exposure heading into the Top 26 and this is probably one reason why.  She had the fact that she was a competitive volleyball player trying to get into music, which could have helped her package herself, but her not having a solid artistic identity prevented her from using her backstory to package herself in such a way to get fans.  Thus Hannah screwed up on this rule as well.

 

Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It

 

At least Hannah didn't have any problems with this rule.  Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save her, so I'll just move on.

 

Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It

 

This was the final rule that Hannah failed.  Her audition was shown after the Oscars, and I knew that was an ominous sign for her chances.  She did get more exposure in Hollywood and in the Showstoppers round, but she was still behind others in gathering a fan base.  And her performances were never good enough to gather new fans and thus sustain her fan base.  So Hannah missed the mark on this rule as well.

 

Hannah was probably too inexperienced to do well on this show.  She had only recently gotten into music as a career and thus didn't have the artistic identity that some of the other contestants had.  This affected her ability to package herself and gather a fan base.  And her performances, while usually solid, just wereh't spectacular and thus couldn't compete with others who had a head start in gathering a fan base -- and in some cases, did better than Hannah.  So, there was no reason for the judges to save her.  And that is why Hannah lost.

Edited April 27, 2023 by CarmenSandiego
Added Crisis's comments