Why Trenyce Lost

Many people are shocked - SHOCKED - that Trenyce was voted out this week instead of Joshua. They are further shocked that Ruben was in the bottom two. But the second part is not what this article is about, and I already addressed it in my recap of the Results Show. We're here to look at why Trenyce lost. As always, we'll do so in part by looking back at What American Idol 2 Contestants Need to Know and in part by looking at things that have occurred outside the domain of that article.

We begin with the most important feature (or so we should believe) - have some singing talent. Trenyce was never a personal favorite of mine, but there is no doubt that she has talent. Certainly, she has more talent than one person who still remains, but we'll get to that in a bit. In Trenyce's case, I think it was really a matter of leaving fifth or fourth, because although she turned it on this week, in the eyes of many she was still a bit below Clay, Ruben, and Kimberley.

The second item to watch out for is song choice. Trenyce's song choices have not been perfect, but this week they were right on the money. She did two great songs with a lot of energy. This particular item did not play into her loss.

The third rule is to be different - find a way to stand out. Obviously, to her fans she definitely did stand out. All one has to do is look through Phil Kural's articles on this site to see an example of how much. But what about to the viewers at large? It's hard to say. Sadly, whenever there is a situation with "similar" singers, there may be a splitting of votes. We saw it last year with Tamyra and Kelly - both are extremely talented singers who appealed to similar audiences. So when the Nikki fans hit the phone lines, Tamyra got a raw deal. Here, it has been suggested that Trenyce was competing for votes with Kimberley fans. They are not really all that similar, but their fan bases, I think, might have been. I received e-mails saying people were voting for both of them. However, if those votes had been more concentrated, Trenyce might still be around.

On a related note, we have the rule to be memorable. Trenyce was criticized recently by Simon because he said that he didn't really know anything about her. While many of her fans were outraged at such a statement, I have to admit that I know what he was saying. I mean, unfortunately, the one thing that automatically pops into my mind when I think about what I know of her is the revelation of her past arrest. While I don't let it color my view of her now, I still get e-mails from people - several every week - saying that she shouldn't be allowed to stay because of it. So obviously there are some people out there who still have a problem with that situation and it influences their voting. In other words, the one thing she may be most memorable for is a negative.

Fifth is the rule against karaoke. Here we have a possible issue. While she did a great job in singing, sometimes she seemed to be imitating the style of those who sang before her. This week, Neil Sedaka made a comment to the effect of, "If you find your own style, they will say, 'That's Trenyce.'" At the time I was writing my recap, I wondered just what that meant. I have received some e-mail with suggestions and I think they are right. It seems Sedaka was suggesting that she not sing too much like the original, but put a bit more of herself in it. As much as most people (though not Simon, obviously) enjoyed "Proud Mary," she did seem a bit like a Tina Turner impersonator. Do I think it played a major role in her getting voted off? No. But there you have it.

The final rule is to not argue with the judges. Here Trenyce did a fine job of maintaining her composure even in the face of things like Simon comparing her performance to a drag act. Even when he told her that he didn't know anything about her earlier, she just said she understood what he was saying. No snide remarks, just plain accepting it nicely. Well done in that regard.

Really, though, a lot of the reason Trenyce was voted out had less to do with her and more to do with a certain Marine who is still in the competition. I said a couple weeks ago that I expected Trenyce to go instead of Carmen or Josh - even though those two had horrid performances. I was wrong, and Carmen went. But it seems my prediction was just a week shy. I had suggested it at the time because the fan bases of Carmen and Josh seemed much more dedicated than the fan base for Trenyce. Trenyce's fans proved me wrong for one week. But only for one week. As I discussed earlier in my article on the mind of the voter, people have not necessarily been voting based on talent. Last week Trenyce was sent back to the couch. Joshua was in the bottom two. His fans knew he was in serious danger. Then Simon threw down the gauntlet and said he couldn't win. The lesson here may be: Never challenge the fans of a Marine. They took up that challenge and called - over and over again. Trenyce's fans, meanwhile, may have seen how well she did and perhaps slacked off a little or threw some votes over to Kimberley to make sure Josh would be the one leaving. Obviously, whatever they did didn't work.

As I noted in my recap, Josh has become this year's Nikki. He is in the final four and has stayed around much longer than pure talent warrants. He is coasting solely on the basis of a dedicated fan base for reasons other than his talent.

Trenyce is good. She's better than Josh. But she has not been a pick for the final three by most people. That put her on the list to be the next to fall victim to Josh's voters. And that is, in the end, why Trenyce lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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