American Idol 4: Why Anwar Lost

Anwar, the voice teacher, may have had the best voice in the competition. But pure vocal ability is not the only factor when it comes to selecting the next American Idol. How did Anwar falter? Why did Anwar lose?

The key to answering this question lies within the statement that pure vocal ability is not the only factor. Indeed, if it were we wouldn’t need American Idol, and we certainly wouldn’t need What ‘American Idol 4’ Contestants Need to Know. But the fact is that we do need both, so let’s take a look.

Alright, no sooner do I say that singing talent by itself is not necessarily the deciding factor then we arrive at the first rule placing singing talent at the top. However, that’s not all there is to it. Indeed, the first rule also recognizes performing talent, which is somewhat different. Somebody who sings on-pitch every time is great, but if they are dullest performer in the world, they won’t win.

Anwar has had some iffy performances of late. I did not happen to think this week was one of them – I thought it was rather good. But it was certainly not unanimous. Randy and Paula agreed, while Simon thought it was something out of a ‘70s musical revival. As far as the other We’ll Be the Judge of That! staff, Brian thought Anwar’s performance had a variety of problems, Bruce and Gil agreed that Anwar started off shaky, and neither placed him in the above-average category. So I was in the definite minority – both with the other judges and obviously with the voters as well.

The second rule warns contestants to carefully choose their songs. Anwar has had some problems with this along the way, which helped contribute to his weaker performances. In this particular song, one of the main vocals involved a much higher voice than Anwar’s, and he didn’t even attempt it, leaving that to the backup singers. I have to wonder if this affected the way viewers saw him. After all, he was there to sing, not leave the tough parts to others.

But more important was that Anwar often failed to pick songs that allowed him – the man with the best voice in the competition – to show that he was indeed the man with the best voice in the competition.

This leads directly into the third rule, which says to be consistent. Anwar definitely was not. Sometimes he was great. Other times he was merely mediocre. With such variance, it’s hard to pinpoint a singer’s true ability. It also leaves too much up to chance, since one week voters may see a great performance and another week see a weak one.

Fourth is to be unique. Anwar definitely succeeded here. His hair alone would have made him stand out at the beginning of the show. However, he had more than that. Anwar has a pure voice that helped him to stand out even more. Then, if we move into the fifth rule, we see that he also had a great backstory – the voice teacher trying to become the American Idol. Now that is memorable.

Despite Simon’s comments about a ‘70s musical revival, Anwar never had to worry about appearing to be karaoke. Similarly, he didn’t go against the seventh rule by arguing with the judges.

He also seemed to realize the point of the eighth rule, that he is a package. Anwar had everything you could want in such a package – good looks, great voice, memorable story. Plus, he is just such a nice guy, how could you not root for him?

But rooting for somebody and voting for somebody are two different things. I do not believe that Anwar created the type of fan base that is necessary to survive on American Idol. Look at some of the others who performed this week. Several of them did okay jobs, but not great. However, they already have fan bases who could pull them through the weak weeks. Scott must have nine lives, he’s been in the Bottom Three many times, but his fans just manage to keep him afloat.

Anwar, however, couldn’t count on as large a fan base from what we could tell. He needed to wow viewers every time. This week, he didn’t.

And thus we come back to the question of the day – why did Anwar lose? The reason was not his voice, that much we know. But it was related, in that it mostly focused on his singing and, in particular, performing. “What ‘American Idol 4’ Contestants Need to Know” begins with a short introduction. One part of it says, “you need to know how to do more than just sing if you want to be the next Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, or Fantasia. Anwar found that out the hard way. That is why Anwar lost.

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

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