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American Idol 5: Why Becky Lostby David Bloomberg -- 02/24/2006
View Printable version of this article After weeks of anticipation, bad auditions, and more, we finally made it to the top 24. But that only puts us halfway there, because we have to drop 12 of them in three weeks. We began with the first four semi-finalists leaving this week, and Becky O’Donohue pulled in the fewest calls of all the women. Many thought she would be a lock to go further, if only based on her looks. How did she go so quickly? Why did Becky lose?
We will look into Becky’s loss just as we will look at another 23 losses as we progress through the season – by peering back at What ‘American Idol 5’ Contestants Need to Know to see where she went wrong. 
The first rule, of course, is to have singing and performing talent. To make it into the top 24, everybody obviously has some talent – but to make it to the finals, more is needed. After her performance, none of the on-site judges were particularly overawed. Simon, for example, said it was better than he expected, but still only gave it a 6 ½. Paula said there were off-notes and she oversang. The Foxes On Idol “We’ll Be the Judge of That!” panel felt similarly. Sandy thought the performance dragged, Paris said she looked good but was outdone, Tyler said she was all over the place, Bruce felt she lost control, and I got nothing out of the performance more than watching a Barbie doll. When Simon, Paula, and all five Foxes judges agree that it was a poor performance, you know there are going to be problems for that singer! Becky’s song choice also contributed to the problem. RealityNewsOnline recapper Betsy summed it up well by noting “the song was just too big for Becky. She seemed overpowered by the whole thing.” Simon also noted that by picking that song, she came off as second-best to the original. After Becky was announced as the first person sent home, Randy added that she needs to find songs that suit her voice. All of these are absolutely correct – one of the reasons Becky’s performance was sub-par for Idol, as noted in the first rule, is because of the song she chose to perform. She couldn’t handle it. While some contestants might have been criticized for being “safe,” the fact is that they were, well, safe at the end of the night. The third rule really doesn’t apply yet since it talks about being consistent and Becky only had the one performance. As for the fourth, being unique, Becky was only “okay” there. While she technically can never be truly unique since she’s a twin, we won’t get into the technical semantics. In fact, being a twin is one of the things that made her unique in this competition – she made it all the way to the top 24! But beyond that fact, how was Becky unique? She really wasn’t. A pretty girl with a so-so voice does not necessarily stand out in a crowd of 12 on Idol. She was, however, somewhat more memorable than some of the other contestants. Viewers recalled how she could perform at the original audition but her sister couldn’t. Her sister had been cheering her on along the way. And the rerelease of the Maxim photos the two of them did only added to that memory. 
However, sexy pictures are not really what Idol is all about. It’s possible that some people remembered Becky in a negative light. When I saw her introductory video in the top 24 show, all I could think of was how plastic she was. That is the memory that stuck with me. Becky did fine in terms of the sixth rule, not arguing with the judges. But the seventh rule brings us right back to plastic. Becky, perhaps more than anybody else, knew that she was a package to be sold – from the background info I’ve seen on her, she’s been trying to sell herself in the entertainment world for a while. And she tried to sell herself on Idol. The problem was that it was a bad sales job. Like I said, she seemed far too plastic and her attempts to get people to vote for her were so transparent that they might easily have worked in exactly the opposite direction. It is somewhat ironic that Becky was the first person announced as going home, because she more than anybody else had the opportunity to follow the eighth rule, creating a fan base. From my memory (which is not 100% accurate, I’ll admit, but I think it well represents the Idol fan), we saw more of Becky through the audition process than of the other three who were sent packing – and indeed, more of her than some of those who stayed. But she was unable to turn that added publicity, and some of her own on the side, into a voting brigade. It is likely for the reasons I already mentioned – the attempts were simply too transparent and put people off. After Becky’s performance on Tuesday, I believed she deserved to go home. However, I also thought she would get by on her looks alone. I was happy to have Idol fans prove me wrong. They can be a smarter bunch than many people – including the performers themselves – give them credit for. Becky was a so-so singer who picked a song she couldn’t handle. She tried to get by on her looks and by attempting to create a package viewers would vote for. The latter was the right idea, but she went about it all wrong, resulting in her looking like nothing more than a singing Barbie doll. That is why Becky lost. David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Nashville Star, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol and Reality TV Fever! View Printable version of this article
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