Why Colin Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

Well, I watched the videos of the finalists and now I'm getting to the end of my articles on why most of the American Idol Season 21 contestants lost.  Now I'm going to look at why two of the Final 3 lost, and first on my list is Colin.  Frankly, Colin shouldn't have gotten this far, and when I point out the rules that Season 21 contestants should follow, you'll see why I think that Colin shouldn't have gotten this far, and why Colin was always going to lose.

 

Show Singing and Performing Talent

 

Colin had enough singing and performing talent to make the Top 26, but what about when he had to show that talent?  Well, all too often he was mediocre, with a few moments of being good but not great thrown in.  The main problem seems to be his performing talent:  Colin had decent if not spectacular vocal skills but when it came to performance skills, he sucked.  On IDF, he was more often than not at or near the bottom of the rankings with "Dancing On My Own" the main exception to the rule.  That said, there were people such as those on the TooFab staff who enjoyed his performances more than those on IDF, but he was still not as good as most of the cast and he showed it in his final performances.  Only Zoey on IDF gave him a score above a 7 for both of his songs; the rest of us usually gave him much lower scores for at least one of them.  I gave him a 6 for "Stupid Boy" and a 6.5 for "Either Way" and outright said that it was nowhere near good enough.

 

As for Crisis, he said that SB was a typical Colin performance with a lot of enunciation issues and that he failed to come out with enough urgency to sing for the title, and that EW exacerbated the issues that plagued him.  The TooFab staff also put him in last place in both of his performances, saying that he was coasting on SB and holding back, while they felt that he was better on EW but still not giving everything he had.  Thus it's clear that Colin screwed up the first rule, especially with the performance aspects of it.

 

Song Choice Is Key

 

I don't think that Colin had any problems with this rule.  I was wishing that he would do "You've Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story for Disney week, but he was apparently smart enough not to do such a predictable song choice.  And if he did have problems, they weren't enough to sink his chances, so I'll move on.

 

Be Consistently Outstanding or Better Yet, Consistently Improve Every Week

 

Colin was not consistently outstanding, nor did he consistently improve every week.  But there were moments when he improved enough for the country fans and middle-aged American housewives to get him into the finale, so he succeeded just enough with this rule.

 

Have the Confidence to Believe That You Belong

 

This was probably Colin's biggest problem.  I don't think that he had enough confidence to win the competition.  The TooFab staff thought that just when it seemed like he was going to take the next step, he fell back into being mediocre and I think that his confidence issues were the reason why.  Thus Colin struck out on this rule.

 

Know Who You Are As an Artist

 

At least Colin had no problems with this rule.  He was a country or country-rock artist and he showed off his country roots.  So I'll move on.

 

Remember, You Are a Package

 

Colin was somewhat successful with this rule.  He was a country singer and was cute enough to appeal to middle-aged American housewives who were a huge part of the AI voting demographic.  Unfortunately, his lack of performance skills and lack of confidence hindered his ability to create a package good enough for the win, so in the end he struggled with this rule.

 

Take Any Advice Offered to You and Follow It

 

At least Colin had no problems with this rule.  Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to save him so I'll move on.

 

Gather a Fan Base -- and Sustain It

 

This ultimately was the reason that Colin got as far as he did.  He was a country singer, which appealed to those voters who liked country singers, and he was cute enough to appeal to the middle-aged American housewives.  And when Warren Peay was eliminated, he had the country fans all to himself, and that probably got him into the finale.  Thus Colin succeeded with this rule.

 

In the end, Colin shouldn't have even gotten to the finale.  He only got there because he was a country singer who had the country fans all to himself when Warren was eliminated, and he was cute enough to appeal to middle-aged American housewives.  But he was never going to win.  He wasn't consistently outstanding and he didn't consistently improve enough.  Most of all, his performance skills sucked and he lacked confidence.  Without those two factors, third was as far as Colin could go.  And that is why Colin thankfully lost.

[m1key]

Great writeup as usual!

 

I feel like it became (mostly) obvious Colin wasn't winning when they brought him in with Iam/Matt in Showcase round and then advanced Iam first over him. Obviously many of us began to get nervous he could win when he ended up making Final 3, but that specific moment in Showcase is now a satisfying piece of foreshadowing  

[CarmenSandiego]

3 hours ago, m1key said:

Great writeup as usual!

 

I feel like it became (mostly) obvious Colin wasn't winning when they brought him in with Iam/Matt in Showcase round and then advanced Iam first over him. Obviously many of us began to get nervous he could win when he ended up making Final 3, but that specific moment in Showcase is now a satisfying piece of foreshadowing  

 

Yeah, bringing him in with Iam & Matt in the Showcase round and then advancing Iam first was the first sign for me that Colin might not win after all.  I thought that Colin would at most get second (and hoped that he'd not even make the finale), but I stopped thinking that he would win after the Showcase moment.