American Idol 3: Why Leah Lost

So, we finally got our 12 finalists, and then it’s already time to start sending them home. You know what that means – it’s also time to dust off What ‘American Idol 3’ Contestants Need to Know in order to help explain why each person is sent home. Today, of course, we’ll be starting with a look at why Leah lost.

Now I don’t mean to toot my own horn here (oh, who am I kidding – sure I mean to do it!), but I predicted that Leah would go a week ago – long before we saw the performance episode. Let’s see how many of the reasons I cited back then were responsible for Leah’s demise from the show.

We’ll start with the first rule, and that is to have some singing and performing talent. Leah does have some talent, but often it didn’t come out. She was inconsistent, as evidenced by the way she sounded powerful in her Round of 8 but lacked power in the Wildcard show. As I noted in making my prediction, she didn’t really have much “oomph” in her performance – especially compared to the likes of a George Huff, Fantasia Barrino, or LaToya London.

The second rule is to pick the right song. Leah picked a song that got Vanessa Olivarez sent home first last year! While I doubt the two have anything to do with each other, it should at least be a hint. Honestly, I don’t know that she could have picked a song that would have kept her hanging on.

Third is to be different. Frankly, Leah wasn’t really. I mean, she certainly didn’t stand out. She’s a nice-looking teenaged girl. That’s about it. The only thing “different” about her is that her mom used to be a foreign popstar, but even that didn’t really stick in your brain very well – except that we were reminded about it every time we saw her.

On a related note, we have the rule to be memorable. As I already said, not much about Leah really stuck in the viewers’ head. Whenever there were discussions about the Top 12, certain names automatically came up, such as George, Jon Peter, John, Fantasia, LaToya, Amy, Diana. No matter who else came up, though, Leah was pretty much never one of them. She was eminently forgettable. While she did have the good story about her parents and her childhood, it wasn’t enough because the rest of her just faded into the background. Part of it is simply that she is young and may not be comfortable putting herself out there, so we may see her later in life. But it wasn’t her time yet for Idol.

The fifth rule is to avoid karaoke, and Leah had no problem there. So we’ll move on. The sixth is the avoid arguing with Simon and the other judges. Again, no problem there – she was far too demure to need to worry about that.

Next we have the advice that says contestants should treat every performance as if it’s their last. As the article notes, “Go for the home run on every swing; be excellent every time!” Leah wasn’t. In fact, she struck out with the viewers three times in a row – her original semi-final, the Wildcard, and the first Top 12.

Idols also have to remember that they are a package – personality plays a big part of their success. And some of these contestants have plenty of personality to spare. Leah, however, was not one of them.

Finally, we have the rule that says contestants need to create a fan base. Several of the Idols this time around already have them – Jon Peter, John, George, LaToya, and Fantasia have nothing to worry about for a while because they could have the worst night of their lives and their already-established fan base would still vote for them. However, as I noted in my prediction that Leah would go first, she had no such base. She didn’t get voted in from her semi-final round. She didn’t get voted in from the Wildcard round. Her only fan base was Paula Abdul, who put Leah through as her Wildcard pick. And Paula didn’t get to vote this time.

So where does that leave us? Well, it makes it pretty obvious that Leah was really the only choice to go first. She had a sub-par performance – and even forgot some of the words. She didn’t have a fan base or a personality or an “oomph” to keep the votes rolling in despite that performance. Leah simply did not stand out either as a great singer or a sparkling personality. That is why Leah lost.

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

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