American Idol 6: Why Amy Lost

Amy didn’t make much of an impression in the initial rounds, because we didn’t really see her. But the same can be said about other contestants who made it through the first week of voting, so that can’t be the only answer. Why did Amy lose?

Each week, we will answer this question by referring back to What ‘American Idol 6’ Contestants Need to Know and walking through the advice outlined therein. So let’s take a look.

The first and most important rule, given that this is a singing competition, is to sing and perform well. This is especially important in the opening weeks, and even more important for those who have not been given extensive TV time. In other words, if we take “important” and quadruple it, that’s where this rule falls.

So how did Amy do in singing what turned out to be a prophetic “I Can’t Make You Love Me”? Randy called it middle-of-the-road. Paula even agreed! Simon said she didn’t stand out. And RealityNewsOnline recapper Jenn said essentially the same thing, noting that she was “kind of boring” and “needs work.”

The Foxes On Idol panel at We’ll Be the Judge of That! were pretty much 100% in agreement with the on-site judges. Sandy said it lacked energy and emotion; Tyler ranked it as “okay;” Bruce echoed Randy’s comment about it being middle-of-the-road; Kathy said Amy butchered it; and I noted that not only was I bored, but Amy even looked bored singing it! Three out of the five judges picked Amy as most likely to be sent packing.

Part of the reason for Amy’s lackluster performance may have dealt with the second rule, song choice. Both Randy and Paula said the song was not a good fit for her voice. Randy said runs are her specialty, and there aren’t any in that song. Paula said Amy impressed the judges with a bluesy, R&B type of voice, which also didn’t work well with this song. Viewers did not get a chance to see what Randy and Paula were talking about, so we’ll have to rely on their judgment here, and conclude that Amy picked the wrong type of song.

The third rule plays into this as well, saying singers need to be consistent. As I have already noted for Paul and Rudy, some contestants survived the first week based largely on what we saw of them before. Amy did not have this luxury, and therefore could not rely on whatever past auditions she had done.

Judging by Randy’s and Paula’s comments, Amy had done well enough previously. Randy said she is better than the song, and Paula had been impressed early (as a counterpoint, Simon said he could barely remember her). She apparently sang well to get this far, but then blew it the first time the audience had an opportunity to vote.

The fourth rule tells contestants they need to be stand out and be unique. We don’t have to think too hard about how Amy did with this one – we can just look at Simon’s comments. He said she needed to do something to make herself stand out! When talking to Ryan Seacrest after that criticism, Amy even admitted she needed to let her personality shine through more.

Of course, this helped to make her, in both Simon’s words and my own – among others – forgettable. If she’s forgettable, obviously she was unable to follow the fifth rule, which says quite the opposite.

How forgettable is she? As I was typing this, I couldn’t even remember what she looked like. I pulled up her picture and, well, even looking at it I can barely recall her performance of only a few days ago! She simply faded into the background.

None of this boded well for the sixth rule, which tells contestants they need to be a complete package. Simon pointed out that it wasn’t just Amy’s personality that was lacking, but that even her clothes and hair contributed to making her forgettable. So Amy’s situation was as follows: Her performance was boring. Her personality didn’t come through. And pretty much everything we saw of her made her one of the least memorable contestants. Not a good recipe for success on Idol.

On the plus side, Amy did okay with the seventh rule. She didn’t argue with Simon or the other judges when they criticized her. Instead she said she would try to do better. America didn’t give her the chance, though.

Unfortunately for her, Amy really didn’t have a chance to do anything in terms of the eighth rule, creating a fan base. She was barely seen in the early shows, so she was unable to come into the semi-finals with a pre-made group of backers who could hit the phone lines for her.

However, part of the blame for this must lie with Amy herself. Those who are featured early on have something going in their favor – something interesting to make the producers want them on our TV screens. If we are to take Simon at his word, Amy has been fairly forgettable for most of the audition process, which would explain why we didn’t really see her.

Certainly, the fact that Amy was practically new to viewers contributed to her being voted off. But she was not the only one who had this as an issue. Five or six of the other contestants had about as little screen time as her and yet made it through the first week. Amy could have overcome her lack of screen time by showing viewers something to make them want to vote for her. She needed to show off her voice, to exhibit a spark of personality. But she failed to do either of these things. That is why Amy lost.

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

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

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