Why Kimberley Lost

When it gets down to a situation like we had in the final three, it becomes more difficult to explain why a given person lost. Indeed, next week will be almost impossible, no matter who ends up winning. But for now, we’ll do our usual and take a look back at What American Idol 2 Contestants Need to Know to see why it is that Kimberley lost.

The most important rule, of course, is to have some singing talent. Kim definitely has this, and we will see it further when she gets the recording deal that is a virtual certainty at this point. However, we need to look further than that in this case. Does she have as much talent, right now, as Ruben and Clay? To that, I would have to say “no.” Out of the final three, Kimberley was the least consistent. She had some truly incredible nights. She also had some nights where she struggled. Ruben and Clay were good week in and week out (yes, I know, some of you will disagree, but I’m trying to represent both what I thought and what the majority of viewers thought). In the end, I think the audience made the correct decision according to talent.

The next rule is to pick good songs. Here again, Kim occasionally faltered. Mostly this happened earlier on and she seemed to find more comfort as the weeks went by. But again, when you’re looking at three incredibly talented people, the little things can add up.

Third is to be different. Kim had this one pretty well sewn up, but so did many of the others. Look at the top three and you’ll see that not a single one of them represented the typical “look” of the popstar. All stand out for their singing ability, not because they can bounce around a stage or double as wafer-thin fashion models.

Fourth is to be memorable. At first, Kim was memorable as “that girl who sang with Frenchie” in the early rounds. Indeed, if Frenchie had continued on in the competition, I think Kim would have been gone a lot sooner, overshadowed by Frenchie’s personality and ability. But Frenchie’s disqualification was a bonus for Kim because it allowed her to show just what she was made of and to become memorable to viewers in her own right.

The fifth rule is to avoid karaoke-like performances. Kimberley definitely succeeded here. When she was “on,” she took the songs and made them her own like nobody’s business.

Finally, the sixth rule is to not argue with Simon. Kim blew this one early but then, I think, learned her lesson. Way back in the semi-finals, she told Simon, “You suck!” because he had said she didn’t seem to have much of a personality. Now maybe he was trying to goad a reaction out of her. Maybe it worked, because she made it into the finals (even overcoming Clay, who had to wait until the Wildcard vote!). But once she was in the finals, I get the feeling she looked back at that moment and was not terribly proud of it. She didn’t do anything like it again even though she received criticism from the judges along the way. Personally, I will do my best to forget it (if the producers would stop reminding us of it!) and just concentrate instead on how she blossomed as a singer.

In the end, this edition of American Idol came down to the three best singers of the competition. One of them had to go. Ruben and Clay have shown all along that they deserve to fight it out in the finale. Kim is definitely the third best among the 70,000 or so who tried out, and that’s pretty damned good. She will get a recording deal and we will hear from her again. But the voters made the right decision, even if only by a slim margin. Ruben and Clay are simply a little bit better. And that’s why Kimberley lost.

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

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