American Idol 5: Why Bobby Lost

Becky was the first person sent packing from this season’s top 24, but then it was time for one of the guys to be first as well. It turned out not to be a terribly surprising result when Bobby was announced as the guy with the fewest votes. But what led to that result? Why was it so obvious? Why did Bobby lose?

As we begin the serious part of our Idol journey, we are at the point where we can look at each individual in light of What ‘American Idol 5’ Contestants Need to Know. What did Bobby do right? What did he do wrong? Let’s take a look.

The first rule of American Idol, of course, is to be a good singer. We have hit the first “wrong” right off the bat. There is little doubt that Bobby was the worst singer of the night – of the week, in fact. RealityNewsOnline recapper Donna went so far as to say it might have been the worst she has seen in four seasons! Simon called it an utter nightmare.

The Foxes On Idol “We’ll Be the Judge of That!” panel fell into a similar pattern. Sandy thought it was mediocre, Paris knew it wasn’t enough for American Idol even if it was fun, Bruce said he wasn’t half the singer of the other men, and I was entertained while acknowledging he doesn’t have a great voice and might not be long for the competition. As with Becky, when pretty much everybody judging the show agrees you aren’t a good singer, it’s tough to advance.

Of course, Bobby’s song choice didn’t help. Yes, he was singing it for his late grandmother. I’m glad he got to do that. But wouldn’t it have been better to pick a song he could actually sing well and honor his grandma at some later point? The first time America was seeing him perform was not the time to do it. Obviously, he had some talent in order to get to this point. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see it – and he didn’t pick the right song to show it to us in the one opportunity he had.

Since this was Bobby’s first performance for the voters, he didn’t have a chance to be consistent, so the third rule didn’t come into play yet.

And since it was almost the first time we even saw him, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to follow the fourth rule of being unique or the fifth rule of being memorable. In some ways, that’s too bad, because it seems like Bobby is a real character who would have stood out in the early rounds for his personality. On the other hand, maybe it’s for the best, since his pure talent didn’t seem to be at the same high level as his personality. If he had made it past this week, people would certainly have remembered him, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

The sixth rule says not to argue with the judges. Bobby didn’t – he took their criticism well. However, Ryan was another matter. Ryan argued with Simon while Bobby stood there, helpless. Considering that Ryan’s comments have played a role in other early evictions from the show, I have to wonder if it might have happened again here. Did people associate Bobby with the argument, which got a little heated? It wasn’t Bobby’s fault, but it’s possible.

Seventh is to remember that you are a package. Indeed, Bobby seemed to understand this and what little we saw of him did indeed promote the whole Bobby package. Really, the only thing that might have saved him is that he was entertaining, as noted by several on-site and Foxes On Idol judges. He used self-effacing humor, which is specifically mentioned as a good idea in the rule. In Bobby’s case, though, it just wasn’t enough to overcome the other problems.

Unfortunately for Bobby, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to follow the eighth rule and create a fan base. Given another week or two, he might have, but, well, he wasn’t given another week!

If Bobby had been featured earlier in the audition rounds, he might have had a chance to make it further on Idol, but he would have done so despite his singing, not because of it. Truly good singers can overcome the lack of publicity. Bobby had several things going for him, but being a great singer was not one of them – at least not from what he showed us. That is why Bobby lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent American Idol articles on Foxes On Idol and RealityNewsOnline:

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

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