LE DOMAINE BLEU

American Idol's top Ten
March 18

The American Idol group as a whole should not be allowed to sing. They destroyed their opening song, ‘Trouble’ as they came out on stage. Then, the Ford music video came on, and again, together as a group, they were horrible.

The first name called was Danny, whose rendition of ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’ wowed not only the judges, but America. Danny will be going on tour with the top ten.

Next, Lil, who sang ‘Independence Day’, is also safe.

The third to face their biggest fear was Anoop, who sang ‘You are Always on my Mind’. He will also be on the top ten tour.

Allison and Michael were called up together, and both were sent across the stage to be in the bottom three.

Then Brad Paisley took the stage and was wonderful.

Scott was next, and of course, he was safe.

Megan, who sang ‘Walking after Midnight’ will be joining the group on tour.

Matt was called up next, and is safe.

Kris impressed America with ‘To Make you Feel my Love’, because he is safe.

Alexis was the third to be sent to the bottom three, leaving Adam to be safe, even though his version of ‘Ring of Fire’ really bothered Simon.

At this point, the bottom three were called to center stage. Allison was spared and sent back to safety.

Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis sang a beautiful duet, and surely the memories of appearing on American Idol crept into the back of Carrie’s mind.

Back to the bottom two. The contestant with the least votes was not Michael, because he was sent back to safety.

This left Alexis. The judges gave her one more chance to sing for her supper, but her confidence was shaken. Her performance was weak, and her voice cracked under the thought of being sent home. The judges wanted to save her, but she didn’t earn it. Alexis is no longer an American Idol contestant.

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American Idol 8: Why Alexis Lost

by David Bloomberg -- 03/19/2009


Alexis’ loss on American Idol was something of a surprise to many people. She was often near the top of lists of contestants who would go far. These cases make it that much more imperative that we figure out what went wrong. Why did Alexis lose?

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OK, I sure didn’t see this one coming! To give props where they’re due, Joseph Banks did see it coming in his NGH Report. But there was no way I thought he was right. Alexis wasn’t even on my radar. So what happened to her? Why did Alexis lose?

Even in somewhat surprising cases – perhaps especially in such cases – we can answer our questions by going through What ‘American Idol 8’ Contestants Need to Know to see where a losing contestant went wrong. So let’s get to it for Alexis.

First and foremost, contestants need to show singing and performing talent. Alexis did not do a very good job of that this week, with many of the various judges and reviewers panning her. On-site, Randy didn’t think it worked well, Kara thought Alexis lost her edge, Paula enjoyed seeing a different side of Alexis, and Simon thought it was forgettable and “sound-alike” (which I think of as another word for “karaoke”).

From the Foxes On Idol team, recapper Jenn had a few minor problems with it, but added, “for the most part, it’s great.” We’ll Be the Judge of That! judge Sandy pretty well agreed with Jenn, saying Alexis “sounded really gorgeous this week.” But the other three judges on the panel held very different opinions. Tyler thought this performance “knocked herself out of the favorites’ circle” and further noted, “It may even have sent her home.” Indeed.

Preston was torn but said, “The first part was the worst I’ve seen from her this year.” He also picked her to be in the bottom three. As for me, I was kind of bored by it – and the whole country music week, to be honest.

We already noted that Joseph Banks predicted Alexis’ loss in his column. He also ranked her as the second-worst of the night, saying, “There was no grit or life in this performance.”

A big part of the problem Alexis faced was due to her choice of song. I was already sick of hearing Kara tell Alexis that she had to be “dirty” every week (because, of course, if she had been then another judge would have criticized her for doing the same thing in each performance!). But like it or not, “dirty” was apparently what America wanted from her (you may read that however you wish). Plaintively wailing about Jolene was apparently not what America wanted.

In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear already, I pretty much despise country week. As Jenn noted in her recap, “why do we do country week with a bunch of non-country singers when they’re all going to be told that they’re not being themselves?” Well said.

But there are ways to get around it. Adam certainly did, as did Anoop and Matt. But Alexis chose to play the genre straight, which was a mistake. As the second rule notes, “a smart strategist can figure out a way around” the category. Alexis didn’t.

The third rule talks about consistency. This early in the competition, there hasn’t been much time to establish consistency yet, but what we saw of Alexis was consistently pretty good – until this week. The main problem here was in dealing with the second part of this rule – being able to sing different genres. Maybe there was a country song Alexis could have sung well, but “Jolene” wasn’t it. Indeed, I think her only hope was to do as I suggested above and find a way around the genre.

Fourth is to be unique. I’d say Alexis did okay in this regard. She stood out somewhat in comparison to the other contestants, if only for the judges telling her to be dirty. But she also had a sort of generic blonde look to her as well. Say what you will about Megan Joy (and believe me, I will say what I will), nobody would call her “generic.” The same can be said of Allison and Lil. Alexis needed to do something to stand out more.

Apparently, the same can be said for the fifth rule, which indicates the need to be memorable. I never had any trouble remembering Alexis, and I wouldn’t think any red-blooded man would – especially with all the “dirty” comments. But her performance, as indicated by Simon, was forgettable. And to be honest, even her personality and back story were somewhat forgettable – every time she was introduced as a mom, I said, “Oh yeah, I’d forgotten.” It just didn’t stick with me.

That made it difficult for her to show herself as a package, in accordance with the sixth rule. She needed to show a bit more personality and charm – not just dirtiness (sorry, Kara). It’s not that Alexis had a bad personality or people hated her and wanted her to leave; it’s just that she didn’t have a personality that drew them in and made them want for her to stay enough that they hopped on the phones and voted.

The seventh rule – advising against arguing with the judges – was not a problem for Alexis, as she actually tended to do whatever the judges told her. But the eighth one apparently was. She had not yet been able to pull together a viable fan base to keep her around in times of trouble – like country week. Contestants like Danny, Adam, Lil, and probably even Scott, Anoop, and Matt, could have an off week like Alexis’ was and still be pushed through by their fans. But Alexis didn’t seem to have that fan base set up yet – and now she never will.

It’s been said before and I’m sure it’ll be said again, but on American Idol, you either want to do great or you want to suck so bad that it’s obvious you should lose. The worst performance possible is a boring one. Alexis didn’t suck, she was just a bit dull this time around. That meant people didn’t vote for her because they loved the performance; they also didn’t vote for her because they thought she was in danger and needed to be saved. In fact, they just plain didn’t vote for her.

Why not? Well, I don’t think Alexis was the worst singer in the competition. But nor was she the best. Her main problem, though, was that she hadn’t given viewers enough of herself to make them want to vote for her no matter what her performance had been like. She had an off night but didn’t have a way to make up for it with personality and a fan base. That is why Alexis lost.

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Yo_girl_36 a écrit :

Dernier commentaire... Je ne comprends pas comment Danny peut être aussi haut dans les sondages et sur Dialidol après avoir donné une aussi mauvaise performance.