American Idol 5: Why Ayla Lost

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Ayla seemed like a lock for the final 12. Like so much else in her life, everything was going her way. But in the blink of an eye, the Idol dream ended for her before it had really begun. What happened to the golden girl? Why did Ayla lose?

Interestingly, it’s possible that Ayla’s background may have worked against her. But let’s not jump to conclusions – instead, we’ll go through the usual paces by looking back at What ‘American Idol 5’ Contestants Need to Know to see whether that reason played a role and, if so, how much.

The first and most important rule is to have singing and performing talent. I think Ayla had both – but she also had arguably her weakest showing in that last semi-final week. The judges’ comments didn’t necessarily show that, though. Randy was the harshest, saying he saw no “wow” factor. Paula liked it (big shock there) and Simon thought it was good too, though not fantastic.

But over at We’ll Be the Judge of That, Sandy wasn’t thrilled, Paris didn’t like the performance, Bruce thought she looked clumsy and was struggling, and Tyler called it a “bomb.” I rated her the highest by calling it “average”! So while the on-site judges weren’t as harsh, the viewers obviously saw it differently.

The second rule talks about the importance of song choice. Ayla picked what Randy said was not a singer’s song, and I agree. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that the song she chose is currently on the charts. Making such a choice just begs for comparison between the Idol singer and the original artist – and in most cases, the Idol contestant is going to come out on the short end. Ayla did just that.

Third is to be consistent. We’ve actually pretty much covered this one already – Ayla was pretty good, right up until her final performance. She lost that consistency.

The fourth rule tells singers to be unique. Ayla did not succeed as well in that regard as others, like Kellie or Kevin. Some people felt she looked too much like Katharine. Personally, I thought she stood out – until she went through the hair and makeup for the show. At that point, she seemed to become more generic, which is never a good thing.

But her back story was memorable, as discussed in the fifth rule. She is the daughter of a politician and a television personality, she was a basketball star, etc. I certainly remembered her more than others who are still around.

The sixth rule, which advises against arguing with the judges, was a non-issue. The seventh, however, brings us to an interesting question. It says that contestants should remember they are a package. Ayla had everything she needed to sell herself to viewers. As we discussed, her back story was a good one. But there was one problem – it was a bit too good in terms of showing her to have had a pretty good life. While such a thing shouldn’t be held against her, it seems that some viewers felt she didn’t need Idol because she already had a pretty good thing going. People might not have been rooting against her, but they weren’t rooting for her either, because so many people like to root for the underdog. And we have to remember that Idol is all about calling in for somebody.

Which leads us to the eighth rule, creating a fan base. Apparently, Ayla just didn’t do it. I suspect it mostly had to do with the seventh rule. Let’s look at two of the strongest fan bases moving through the semi-finals – Kevin and Kellie. Both of them have appeared to be underdogs in one way or another, especially in the early goings. Ayla was never an underdog. Fans in this type of show simply don’t rally ‘round somebody who appears to have been born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

At the beginning of this article, we wondered if Ayla lost because she was the golden girl. In part, yes. Ayla did not have the advantage of being the underdog. While it may seem a bit ironic, her life was too good for Idol fans. When that was combined with her less than stellar final performance, the votes simply didn’t materialize for her. She didn’t have enough of a fan base to keep her propped up through the bad times. That is why Ayla lost.

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

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