American Idol 4: Why Scott Lost

For several weeks now, I thought I would be writing this article. Each time it looked like Scott was going, his fans pulled him through. Then he had what might have been the best night of his time on the show, and… poof! That was it. What happened to cause this rather odd result? Why did Scott lose?

We could speculate randomly or make stuff up, as some other places do – but that’s not what we’re all about, right? Right! So instead, we’ll take the usual route and look back at What ‘American Idol 4’ Contestants Need to Know to find our explanations.

The first rule is to have singing and performing talent. Scott definitely can sing – he has a voice that doesn’t seem to go along with the image he had when we first saw him. His performing talent was not up to the same level – as the Foxes On Idol Voice Coach noted this week, “Scott needs a performance coach to help him with choreography that fits the moods of the songs rather than always using hip-hop arm movements.” Sometimes, he really could work a song, but other times he just seemed a bit lost on the stage.

This week he had probably his best night on the show. But last week, not so much. We have to remember that voting is not always a week-by-week issue. For example, think back to the very first season and Ryan Starr. She performed “You Really Got Me” and was horrible. But she stuck around that week. It wasn’t until the following week that she was sent packing. Sometimes, it takes a week for things to really sink in, which is why you need to be great every time out.

Also, to quote from the first rule, “you need to be confident when you are up there. … But don’t overdo it and become overconfident, because then people will turn against you, thinking you’re egotistical. I think that happened to Scott this week. First, he said something to Simon and then he made another statement about how he would be sticking around. Scott already had an image problem (we’ll get to that in a bit), and this only made it worse.

The second rule points to song choice. Generally, Scott has done a good job of this. There have been a few times he’s been off, but not by much. This week, for sure, he was right on the money. I don’t really think it was a factor.

Third is to be consistent. This goes back to something we mentioned already about doing well every time on the stage. The rule notes, “If you are ‘on’ one week and ‘off’ the next, viewers will tire of trying to guess which version of you they’ll see. Sure, your hardcore fans may drag you through the downtimes, but that won’t be enough to make it all the way.” In retrospect, it sounds like I was writing this specifically about Scott! His fan base pulled him through the tough weeks, but they weren’t able to support him after a great one!

The fourth rule says to be unique – and Scott was nothing if not unique! Some people tried to claim he was the white version of Ruben, but I never saw it. I mean, just because you’re a bit overweight you’re a white Ruben? Please.

Ironically, I think Scott was unique in his averageness. Many people saw themselves in him – the average guy, the 9-to-5 worker who just wanted his big chance, the underdog. So because of his averageness, Scott stood out!

It also made him memorable. Everybody remembered that Scott came into the auditions saying his father told him he’d never be a singer. How could you not root for him after that? Sure, the old charges against him came out as part of his back story too, but in the end that didn’t seem to hurt him at all.

The sixth rule says to avoid karaoke, which I don’t think was Scott’s problem. So we’ll move on.

Seventh, however, was a bit of an issue. Scott seemed to have a bit of an attitude, and it occasionally percolated into view. We saw it a couple times earlier in the show, but then on following weeks he would calm it down. This week, however, it came out full steam ahead. Scott was not happy that Simon had told him to pack his bags last week, and he wanted to show him up. Singing “On Broadway” and directing it at Simon was, in my opinion, funny. But then Scott went further and tried to stick it in Simon’s face. Not good.