Why Haven Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

Last Sunday, the Top 8 sang for America's vote, and three were eliminated.  One of them was Haven Madison.  She managed to outlast a lot of other talented singers but why did her American Idol journey run end at the Top 8?  As always, I'll be looking at the rules that Season 21 contestants need to follow in order to figure out what Haven did right, what she did wrong, and why Haven lost.

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

Haven had enough singing and performing talent in order to make the Top 26, but once she got there, she needed to show that talent.  And Haven didn't always show that.  In fact, she didn't always show that even before the Top 26, as the TooFab staff wasn't fond of her Showstopper performance.  And in the Top 26 round, she did a song that almost everybody in IDF panned, including me.  However, her performances began improving after that low point, although she was at or near the bottom of the IDF ratings for quite awhile afterwards.

 

So how did she do on her final performance, "You Learn" and on her duet with Zachariah, "Thinking Out Loud"?  Well, IDF still put her at or near the bottom, with most giving her scores in the 6-7 range for "You Learn".  I gave her a 7 and said that it was one of her best live performances.  She got similar but maybe slightly higher scores for her duet, with me giving her a 7.5.  Crisis thought that Zachariah overpowered Haven on their duet but thought that her solo was her best of the season.  And the TooFab staff put her solo in third, behind We Ani and Iam Tongi, saying that it sounded very real coming from her while they put her duet with Zachariah in first, saying that her voice had a gorgeous haunted quality.  In short, Haven screwed up quite a bit on this rule and only did her best when it was too little, too late to save her.

 

Song Choice Is Key

 

Haven also had problems with this rule, which states that song choice is key.  The biggest example is her Top 26 performance, when she allowed Allan Stone to convince her to do "The Middle".  It was a disaster.  Other song choices were hit-or-miss, though her song choice for her final solo was one of her best choices.  Thus Haven stumbled on this rule as well.

 

Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week

 

Haven also had  problems with this rule.  Until perhaps her final round, she was consistently at or near the bottom, which isn't what this rule states.  She needed to be outstanding or improve well enough for people to vote for her, and she wasn't.  Thus she struck out on this rule as well.

 

Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong

 

I think that Haven did better in this rule than in the first three rules.  While she wasn't as outwardly confident as say, Zachariah, there's no sign that she had as many problems with confidence as Colin, Oliver or even Megan.  So she mostly succeeded in this rule.

 

Know Who You Are As an Artist

 

For the most part, I think that Haven followed this rule, which states that you must know your artistic identity.  Haven was a singer-songwriter and she did best with songs that showcased that identity.  However, she is still a teenager and thus was still green in a lot of ways.  Still, this wasn't a huge problem for her so I'll move on.

 

Remember, You Are a Package

 

I think that Haven began well with this rule.  She was a singer-songwriter and that was her package.  She also revealed in Hollywood week that her brother struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts and gave her best performance with a song that she wrote about him.  However, her youth and relative inexperience caused her package to slowly unravel, though the producers still seemed to like her.  Thus in the end, Haven failed with this rule as well.

 

Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It

 

At least Haven had no problems with this rule.  However, there was one time when she shouldn't have followed the advice offered to her, and that was when Allan Stone advised her to sing "The Middle", a decision that backfired big time!  But this rule played little if any part in her elimination, so I'll move on.

 

Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It

 

Haven began well with this rule as well.  She was a singer-songwriter and the producers liked her enough to feature her to some extent.  However, her inexperience led to poor song choices and mediocre performances that gradually caused her fan base to dwindle or be surpassed by others with stronger fan bases, such as Colin.  Thus in the end, Haven fouled up with this rule as well.

 

Haven did some things right.  She had an artistic identity and she had the support of the producers.  This helped her package herself in a way that enabled her to get a good fan base.  Unfortunately, she was still in high school and there were definite areas where her inexperience definitely hurt her.  She made some poor song choices that exposed her weaknesses and put her near the bottom every time she performed until her final round.  As a result, her fan base began dwindling or was surpassed by those with stronger fan bases.  Her final round might have been her best one, but it was just too little, too late for her.  Haven was just too green.  And that is why Haven lost.

[m1key]

I agree with all of your thoughts as usual! 

 

Something I wanted to add: If Megan didn't exist, I feel like producers would've encouraged Haven to sing some CCM (christian contemporary music). She seems very connected to her faith and her Dad was a part of a Christian rock band. I think she would've had more success in that genre rather than the pop genre that resulted in her singing songs like The Middle and Livin' on a Prayer. 

 

I will still stand by the fact that she was overhated and had many beautiful vocal moments throughout the show (of course, many ugly ones too, but whatever!) 

[CarmenSandiego]

2 hours ago, m1key said:

I agree with all of your thoughts as usual! 

 

Something I wanted to add: If Megan didn't exist, I feel like producers would've encouraged Haven to sing some CCM (christian contemporary music). She seems very connected to her faith and her Dad was a part of a Christian rock band. I think she would've had more success in that genre rather than the pop genre that resulted in her singing songs like The Middle and Livin' on a Prayer. 

 

I will still stand by the fact that she was overhated and had many beautiful vocal moments throughout the show (of course, many ugly ones too, but whatever!) 

At least on IDF, I agree that Haven was overly hated.  I never hated her, however.  I thought that she was too green but I never hated her.

[Rodney]

I have to say I enjoy coming to see these.  It's like going back to my old RNO/Foxes on Idol days.  Pity that site went away so suddenly and with no explanation.

[CarmenSandiego]

2 minutes ago, Rodney said:

I have to say I enjoy coming to see these.  It's like going back to my old RNO/Foxes on Idol days.  Pity that site went away so suddenly and with no explanation.

I think that David Bloomberg just had too much on his plate in real life with his family but I’m not 100% sure on that.