Why Jack Lost

[CarmenSandiego]

American Idol is now over, and we have a new American Idol in Abi Carter.  While I’m celebrating her victory, I also have to look at the two who were with her in the finale but came up short:  Will Moseley and Jack Blocker, and figure out why they came up short.  I’ll begin with Jack, the third place finisher.  He came close, so why did he fail to make the Top 2, let alone win?  As always, I’ll examine the rules that American Idol contestants need to follow in order to figure out what Jack did right, what he did wrong and why Jack lost.

 

The first rule states that contestants must show both singing and performing talent.  Early on in the live voting rounds, IDF put Jack towards the back of the pack in singing and performing talent in part because he had weird facial expressions but he was able to avoid being in the danger zone long enough to find his footing, which he began to do in “Believe”.  But it wasn’t until he performed “Always On My Mind” that he really found his footing and began to show his singing and performing talent, eventually making the finale.

 

So how did he do in his final two performances?  There are only three ratings so far, including mine, and while TaylorKat put him behind both Abi and Will, Persy and I both put him above Will in the first round, with me giving him an 8 and saying that he was better than Will.  However, in the second round, while Persy also rated him higher than Will and TaylorKat rated him lower than Will, I had the two in a tie at 7.5, although I was more critical of Jack’s song choice than his performance.  Nonetheless, Jack was able to follow the first rule enough to get to the finale.

 

The second rule states that song choice is key.  For the most part, I don’t think that Jack had any problems with this rule, or at least he didn’t have enough problems for it to play a role in his ultimate defeat.  That said, I thought that his Hometown Dedication song, “All My Exes Live In Texas” was a strange song choice, mainly because of his clear love for his wife.  Still, I think that Jack followed this rule enough that it didn’t really hurt him.

Jack’s biggest success was in the third rule, which states that contestants must either be consistently great or consistently improving.  Jack wasn’t consistently great but he was consistently improving, although he didn’t really improve until the Top Ten round, and from there his improvement was clear enough that he was able to get past the more vocally talented Julia and McKenna, and then past Emmy, who was inconsistent and Triston, who was too inexperienced.  While it wasn’t enough to get him past the consistent country singer Will or the insanely talented Abi, at least Jack followed this rule.

 

He also followed the fourth rule, which states that contestants must be confident.  I didn’t see any confidence issues with Jack.  While it wasn’t enough to get him past Abi or even Will, at least Jack had no problem with that rule, so I’ll move on.

 

I also think that Jack had no problem with the fifth rule, states that contestants must have a strong, current and marketable artistic identity.  Jack was an Americana singer who could also do country and folk music, and thus his identity was current enough and marketable.  Unfortunately for him, Abi and Will also had strong, current and marketable artistic identities but at least he followed the fifth rule.

 

But Jack did have problems with the sixth rule, which states that contestants must remember that they are a package.  Jack was able to package himself as a devoted husband and an improving performer but his package also included rather weird facial expressions.  Those facial expressions almost got him cut before he could show his talent, but luckily for him, Luke Bryan and the crew were on his side and he got on the show.  I think that this part of his package hindered him enough to prevent him from getting past Will, so Jack struggled with this rule.

 

Jack had no problem with the seventh rule, which states that contestants must take advice offered to them and follow it, within reason.  While it wasn’t enough to get him to the Final 2, at least he followed that rule, so I’ll move on.

 

The final rule states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base.  Jack got off to a slow start compared to Abi and Will because of his weird facial expressions, but beginning in the Top 10 round, he began getting fans with his improvement, especially in his performance skills.  But he still didn’t have a big fan base when compared to Abi or Will, and Will was able to pick up fans of Triston and some fans of Emmy when they failed to make the finale.  Meanwhile, Abi was better than Jack in both of her performances in the finale and picked up more casual voters than he could, ending his momentum.  Thus in the end, Jack stumbled on this rule.

 

Jack was probably the most improved contestant on this season.  He was able to improve his singing and performance talent and was able to show himself as a devoted husband, thus being appealing.  He also had a strong artistic identity that appealed to the main voting demographic.  But he also had weird facial expressions which hindered his ability to gain fans early on, and while he was able to improve enough to get past less consistent singers and get into the finale, he was faced with Will, a country singer who also appealed to the main voting demographic and Abi, who was consistently great and insanely talented; and the hill was just too steep for him to climb.  Jack couldn’t get a big enough fan base to get past either Abi or Will, and that is why Jack lost.

Edited May 21 by CarmenSandiego

[xfactor22]

Good analysis but I think his facial expressions enhanced his stage presence. Also I do wonder why you’re using only IDF rating for analysis of performances why someone lost. IDF isnt exactly the most reliable in terms of performance ranking 

[CarmenSandiego]

55 minutes ago, xfactor22 said:

Good analysis but I think his facial expressions enhanced his stage presence. Also I do wonder why you’re using only IDF rating for analysis of performances why someone lost. IDF isnt exactly the most reliable in terms of performance ranking 

I use IDF ratings mainly because it’s the one forum that I spend time on.  I don’t go on other forums like Reddit.

[ebon]

I don't really think his facial expressions were what interfered with his placement or popularity. I do think how often it was mentioned, especially since such mentions increased toward the end of the competition, may have had an effect. I thought it was odd how viewers were suddenly made aware of that criticism more as time went by.