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American Idol 9: Why Katelyn Lostby David Bloomberg -- 03/16/2010
View Printable version of this article Is it a bad sign that in the process of preparing to write this column – including gathering info on Katelyn and finding her picture, etc. – I’ve repeatedly forgotten who Katelyn even is? I’d have to say yes, it is a bad sign, but it may be indicative of her problem in the American Idol competition. Was Katelyn’s inability to be memorable her only issue, or were there others? Why did Katelyn lose? I began this final week of four articles at a time by addressing such questions about the guys, Todrick and Alex. Now it’s time to begin with the two ladies. As usual, I’m going to start with the one for which our answers will likely turn out to be easier, and that would be Katelyn. And as always, we will obtain our answers by going through What ‘American Idol 9’ Contestants Need to Know. So let’s get to it before I forget once again who we’re talking about! 
Before we get to the issue of what’s-her-name’s ability to be memorable, we’ll begin at the first rule, which talks about singing and performing well. How did she do in her final week? Well… not great, to say the least. The on-site judges were pretty unanimous in their feelings about Katelyn’s performance. They liked her hair. Oh great, you know you’re in trouble when they comment on your hair! Indeed, beyond that, they felt there was nothing special about the performance and no connection to the song. They did comment that she has a good voice, but she didn’t use it to her advantage. Simon even noted it was like watching a keyboardist playing at a local restaurant and taking requests. Our Foxes On Idol staff had similar feelings. Recapper Jenn called the performance “awkward” and “kind of lackluster.” She noted that Katelyn’s voice sounded good, but there was not much energy and her performance was hurt because she had to stay anchored to the keyboard. Due to technical issues, our We’ll Be the Judge of That! panel of Tyler and myself were split up this week. Tyler thought it was a carbon copy performance without anything new being added by Katelyn. I noted, like Jenn, that the keyboard restricted her movement. Even worse, it was pointless and distracting. I was not at all wowed by either the singing or the performance. Finally, The NGH Report’s Joseph rated her sixth of eight performances and said she phoned it in, putting herself in possible danger. Indeed. Part of everybody’s criticism was that Katelyn made a poor song choice. I immediately thought it was a bad idea. Kara noted that it was a simple song and Katelyn didn’t do anything with it. And at the results show, Simon noted once again that Katelyn made a poor song choice. All around, not a good idea, Katelyn. Nobody really understood what you were thinking. 
Moving to the third rule, how consistent was she? The answer: Not very. Simon addressed this point briefly in the results show as well, saying she only had one good week. I think most people would tend to agree. I really don’t have anything more to say on that point. The fourth rule tells Idol wannabes to be unique. Unfortunately, Katelyn failed her as well. Going back to the first prediction column with Sting7 and myself, Sting noted that Katelyn was one of the “the PSBs – the Pretty Singing Blondes.” He noted, “Seriously, I can’t truly tell Didi Benami from Katelyn Epperson from Janell Wheeler,” and I pointed out that Katelyn had wavy hair but otherwise agreed. In discussing some changes Siobhan made to her look, Sting made the very important point, “At this stage, you want to stand out from the pack.” While the pack had been somewhat slimmed down due to eliminations by the time Katelyn got the boot, she still blended into the background far too much. What was even worse was that she was also eminently forgettable, as I noted earlier. It would be one thing to look like several other contestants if there was at least something memorable about you. But there wasn’t when it came to Katelyn. At least, there was nothing that I remember, and I suspect most viewers felt the same way. As Simon indicated at the results show, she had one good performance. I sort of remember that, now that we’re discussing it. But otherwise… nothing. She’s a blank spot in my memory. Certainly her final performance was nothing that would make her stick in our minds and encourage us to dial for her! As such, she failed in terms of the fifth rule. And, frankly, also in terms of the sixth. This one tells contestants to turn themselves into a complete package. But if we consider Katelyn as a package, it would have to be one in a plain brown wrapper – or maybe a plain blonde wrapper – because that’s about all she showed herself to be. Sure, she was a pretty girl and had a nice voice, those are a dime a dozen. She never showed herself to be special. At least when it came to the seventh rule, she did okay. That one tells contestants not to argue with the judges. She did talk to them a bit, but only to try to explain herself, and then she did so again with Ryan Seacrest. She said she was trying to perform her best and not worry about the cameras. So if it looked like she didn’t care, that wasn’t the case. As Jenn noted in her recap, “Too late now, honey.” Besides, how can a contestant on a TV show say she wasn’t worried about the cameras?! You have to know what’s going on with the cameras and play to them. Heck, that was known in the very first season – remember the way Justin Guarini would give his looks to the camera? Ignoring them is just plain dumb and takes us back to one part of why her performance didn’t go off well, as we discussed in the first rule. The eighth rule indicates that singers need to create a fan base. Well, here’s the first hint: You’re not going to do that by ignoring the cameras! But since I’ve already beaten that dead horse, here’s an interesting point that Jenn noted in her recap: When the judges slammed Katelyn’s final performance, nobody booed. That is never a good sign. It’s not that booing means you will make it through, but the audience’s failure to boo means you really don’t have much in the way of fans to defend you. That is a likely sign of doom in your near future. Katelyn had one decent performance but mostly faded into the background. She did little or nothing to make herself stand out and stand firm in people’s memories. Without much of a fan base compared to some of the others, her best hope of making it through as she headed into the last week of the semi-finals was to wow viewers. Instead, she chose a terrible song for it, anchored herself to a keyboard, and gave us a dull performance. That was not the way to be remembered, it was the way out the door. That is why Katelyn lost. Now you can follow Foxes On Idol & RealityNewsOnline on Twitter and on Facebook! On Twitter, you can get up to the minute notifications on article postings and other reality TV news by following us. So head on over to RealityNewsOnline’s Twitter page! On Facebook, you can become a fan, join discussions, and more! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol & RealityNewsOnline:
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