American Idol 4: Why Amanda Lost

In my final thoughts of the We’ll Be the Judge of That! column, I predicted both Janay and Amanda as the two people leaving us. Excuse me while I toot my own horn. But while Janay’s loss came as a shock to nobody, Amanda’s was a bit more surprising to many. Since I predicted it, I’d better have some good explanations for why Amanda lost!

As always, we will be guided in our quest for answers by What ‘American Idol 4’ Contestants Need to Know. So let’s jump right into it with the first rule: “Have Some Singing and Performing Talent.”

Amanda was not bad. She was not knocking the ball out of the park, but she was not falling apart on-stage, either. Randy said her final performance was “okay.” Paula could only say that Amanda had given it her all. Simon said she showed herself “as an average singer and a good performer.”

As far as other commentators, Sting7 said in his recap, that she “did a decent, if not spectacular, job. In “We’ll Be the Judge of That!” Gil said the performance was “certainly not Idol-worthy,” Betsy thought “it just wasn’t the greatest performance,” and I yawned.

So Amanda wasn’t horrible. But she wasn’t great, either. She was average, but average doesn’t often win the day.

I don’t think song choice was a factor in Amanda’s departure. For her final performance, she picked an up-tempo number that should have gotten the viewing audience into a good mood. Instead, it was ho-hum. That wasn’t the song’s fault – that was Amanda’s.

The third rule says to be consistent. I suppose Amanda was consistent – but again, not consistently great, not consistently bad. Just consistently there.

Was she unique, according to the fourth rule? Well, she was different from any of the other contestants. She stood out in the way she looked, for one thing. But it just wasn’t enough. She failed to follow that up with the fifth rule, being memorable. Each week went by and it was sort of a surprise to see her there. The only thing I really remember about Amanda is that Simon made a comment the first week about wishing he were her microphone. If that’s the only way I could remember her, it’s not a good sign. Once again, Amanda gave us the average. People tend to remember the great and the awful, not the ones in between. This was made worse by the fact that Amanda sang first this week. By the time all the other ladies had performed, there was no reason to remember that Amanda was even there.

The sixth rule says not to give “karaoke” versions of songs. Simon pointed out in his comments this week that the only reason to sing the song Amanda did was if she could stand up to the original artist – and she couldn’t. While he didn’t use the term, “karaoke,” the basic premise was there. Amanda should have either put more of herself into her song so the comparison would fade away, or she should have picked a different song altogether.

At least she didn’t argue with the judges, so we have nothing to discuss as far as the seventh rule. But the eighth tells contestants that they are a package and needed to show some personality. Amanda, well, didn’t. Once again, I can’t say that I know a single thing about her. She just kind of faded into the background.

The ninth rule says contestants should create a fan base. Fans tend to flock to a few different types of people. There are the underdogs – the Jasmine Triases and John Stevenses of the world. There are the “nice guys,” like Clay Aiken. There are the cute ones, like Justin Guarini. There are, of course, the hugely talented ones, like Kelly Clarkson. Where did Amanda fall? Nowhere.

In the end, Amanda was not bad – not at all. However, she was not great, either. In American Idol, if everybody thinks you are second-best but disagrees on the best, you still won’t get the votes and you’ll lose. Voters have formed their favorites, based on pure talent, style, charm, personality, etc. Amanda did not stand out in any category. Amanda was an average performer in a field where “average” gets you sent home. That is why Amanda lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out RealityNewsOnline’s American Idol recap and Foxes On Idol’s other recent columns:

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

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