|
|
American Idol 9: Why Lacey Lostby David Bloomberg -- 03/18/2010
View Printable version of this article Well, that was predictable! After the last American Idol semi-final round eliminations a week ago, including a couple surprises, it was somewhat refreshing to have a nice, normal, predictable goodbye this week as we saw the last of Lacey Brown. But why was it so predictable? Why did commentators and viewers so nearly unanimously expect her to leave? Why did Lacey lose? To answer such questions, we will tread the same path that we’ve been going down four times per week over the past three weeks (and thank goodness that’s done with – one of these columns per week is enough for me to write, thank you very much!). That path takes us step by step through What ‘American Idol 9’ Contestants Need to Know, so let’s get walking! 
The most important factor in sticking around is discussed in the first rule and basically comes down to showing you can sing and perform well. How did Lacey do in that regard here in the first week of the finals? The general feeling seemed to be that she wasn’t horrible, but she wasn’t very good either. Randy wasn’t excited about it. Ellen found it confusing because Lacey moved around during the slow parts of the song but sat down when it picked up speed, and it was somewhat sleepy overall. Kara agreed with Ellen and criticized the quality of Lacey’s vocals. And Simon noted that Lacey performed like an actress, with everything being precise and seemingly planned ahead. What did the Foxes On Idol writers think about Lacey? Recapper Jenn gave Lacey points for the arrangement, but not for her voice – and noted that she still didn’t really like Lacey. The We’ll Be the Judge of That! panel unanimously picked Lacey to leave, so that obviously wasn’t a good sign for her (whenever all three of us agree, you know somebody’s in trouble!). Tyler called the performance better than a disaster (high praise!) but “strange.” The best he could say about it was that she was “vocally okay.” Preston was the kindest of the three of us, saying her voice was “open and resonant.” However, he also noted Lacey’s need for more technical work as well her off-key singing and lack of vocal power. As for me, I knew there were problems with the performance, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on specifically what they were. I did, however, know that it wasn’t good. Finally, The NGH Report’s Joseph ranked Lacey in the middle of the pack for the night, but also noted that he expected her to go home. He thought she started off well but fell apart about midway through. 
So nobody was exactly (ahem) singing her praises. But what about thoughts on the song she picked? Did she do okay by the second rule? I would have to say yes, she was fine there. It wasn’t her song choice that killed her chances – it was what she did to the arrangement of the song and how she performed it, as discussed above, that caused her problems. Another problem came up in the third rule, which talks about consistency. Lacey has been iffy throughout the semi-finals – and sometimes worse than iffy. Heck, it is not an uncommon opinion that she perhaps shouldn’t have even made it to the finals. As I noted in my pre-show prediction column with Sting7, “I don’t think she’s proven herself enough just yet.” While I didn’t pick her to be eliminated (until after I saw her performance, that is), I did put her in my bottom three based on factors including her lack of consistently good performances prior to the finals. I think one reason Lacey made it this far was that she managed to somewhat follow the fourth rule, which tells contestants to be unique. If you look at the photos of the semi-final women, two stood out among all the rest – Lacey and Lilly. Lacey gave herself a unique look and I think it paid off for her (though it obviously wasn’t enough for Lilly, as I discussed previously). While we lost some of the ladies my fellow writer Sting7 calls the Denim Skirts (basically, generic young female contestants), Lacey managed to stick around. She might not have stood out with her performances, but she did with her look. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to make her memorable in the long run, per the fifth rule. Indeed, let me tell you a secret: When I was trying to figure out my predictions in “We’ll Be the Judge of That!,” I listed the safe performers and those who were in danger. But in doing so, I completely forgot Lacey at first! It wasn’t until I heard from my fellow panelists that I realized I had wiped her from my memory. It was like she was already gone! Obviously, this is not a good sign. Going fourth out of 12 is not great positioning, but it wasn’t nearly as much of a problem for those who went before her. Lacey needed to do something memorable that viewers could carry through the entire show and then vote. But she didn’t manage to pull it off. Even though Lacey created a unique look for herself, she was unable to use that as a basis on which she could create the entire Lacey package, as the sixth rule advises. We didn’t really get to know Lacey the person, meaning there was one less reason for viewers to care whether or not she stuck around. At least she followed the seventh rule and didn’t argue with the judges. But that was small comfort as she tried to follow the eighth – pulling together a fan base – and failing. I’m honestly not quite sure how she made it into the finals, but it seems fairly obvious that it was not due to some massive upswelling in fan support. Or else it was a very shortlived upswelling! I began this article by noting that Lacey’s elimination was predictable. However, that was really the case only after she performed. She was certainly near the bottom of most people’s rankings, but there were also a few others who could have easily gone before her. When she took the stage, she had the opportunity to do enough that she could stick around. But she was unable to make good use of that opportunity, to the point that even Ellen and Kara criticized her! Lacey came into the finals without the greatest Idol résumé, and her big-stage “interview” didn’t do anything to make viewers think she was ready for the job. Lacey was mediocre at best, and gave a somewhat confusing and lackluster performance. Without having anything else, short of her hairstyle, to set her apart and put her ahead of the other contestants, that performance simply was not good enough. That is why Lacey 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:
David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. You can also follow him on Twitter! Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about American Idol, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol! View Printable version of this article
| Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook! On Twitter, get up to the minute notifications on article postings and other reality TV news. And become a fan on Facebook, join discussions, and more! |
and 
and you can also 
