American Idol 7: Why Amy Lost

Almost a year ago to the day (February 26, 2007, to be exact), I wrote a column called, “American Idol 6: Why Amy Lost.” Now here we are in late February and I’m writing a column with almost the identical name, just one number has changed. This is American Idol 7, yet still a young lady named Amy was one of the first two women sent home in the semi-finals. Besides their first names, do the two Amys share any other similarities in the reasons for their poor showing? Why did Amy lose?

As we have done in past years – and will be doing for the next several months – we will seek to answer questions like these by looking thoroughly at What ‘American Idol 7’ Contestants Need to Know. Why do we need to do this? Because while Idol is a singing competition, there are many other factors that play into it. Contestants by now should certainly be aware of these and use them to their advantage. So let’s get started with Amy.

I know I just mentioned that there are other factors, but the most important is still discussed in the first rule, which says contestants need to have singing and performing talent. As I noted in last year’s “Why Amy Lost” article, “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.”

Last year’s Amy had virtually no screen time before the semi-final rounds. This year’s Amy did have some, but it seems like few viewers actually remembered seeing her, meaning she fell into the same boat. We’ll get to that issue more later.

But the main point here is that Amy didn’t show us an awesome performance. Indeed, the on-site judges were less than thrilled. Randy didn’t think it was great, Paula thought her nerves got the best of her and it was “lackluster,” and Simon thought it was boring. Recapper Jenn felt it was old-fashioned and rough, and didn’t expect Amy to be around after Thursday. Heck, even Amy herself admitted to feeling shaky and nervous!

Among the " target="_blank">We’ll Be the Judge of That! panel, Kathy and Bruce pointed out pitch problems while Sandy and I focused on how boring it was. In other columns here on Foxes On Idol, Sting7 ranked Amy dead last, saying the performance fixed his insomnia. And Joseph Banks, in his NGH Report, also listed her as the worst of the night, adding, “she is pretty much toast.” Indeed.

Interestingly, last year’s Amy was also criticized as being boring in her performance. So we have another point of similarity.

So I think we’ve made it pretty clear that Amy did not sing or perform well. But was that due to her talent or song choice? Frankly, it’s hard to say. Obviously, she could have chosen better, in accordance with the second rule, so as not to appear so dull. But as Simon and Randy noted this week, a really good singer can make almost any song come alive. Almost.

The third rule tells contestants to be consistent and able to sing in different genres. Unfortunately this season, Idol producers decided to hit the semi-finalists with forced genres. In the past, they could sing anything they wanted and show us their best. I don’t know why Idol changed it, but I don’t like it one bit.

Still, it means this rule comes into play more quickly than usual. Some contestants were able to handle it, as at least a few noted that until they were preparing for this week, they had never even heard the song they performed. Good contestants are adaptable.

That brings up the question of how Amy did here, though. Again, I just can’t say for sure. She only had one performance, so consistency didn’t come into play – other than the statement that the singers need to “be excellent every time” and Amy obviously wasn’t. Would she have done better without the restrictions on what she could sing? Honestly, I don’t think so. After all, I predicted she’d leave even before she performed!

The fourth rule tells contestants they need to be unique. Amy was unable to do that. She was just another pretty face among the women. Indeed, about the only way she could have been less unique was if she had been a blonde and blended in with the others.

As mentioned earlier, it seems viewers kept forgetting we’d seen Amy before, which is a problem when it comes to the fifth rule, which specifically says you need to be memorable. For example, both Sting7 and I, in our pre-performance prediction article, noted this phenomenon. In predicting her demise from the show, Sting said, “I keep forgetting who she is! She has an ordinary name, is a pretty but ordinary-looking girl, and there is nothing outstanding about her at all! No star quality. Yes the first week is just that subjective.” I also picked her to leave, adding, “I couldn’t remember Amy Davis when I wrote my top 24 article last week. I didn’t even recall that we had seen her before. The fact that she made so little impact on both our memories bodes ill for her.” Indeed it did.

For last season’s Amy, I wrote, “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.” And I have to say, I could have written those exact words again here. I do keep having to look at her picture to try to remember her.

The sixth rule reminds contestants that they are a complete package. Alas, with Amy, we never got to see beyond the wrapping – and while pretty, it just got placed to the side and forgotten.

I don’t think Amy had a problem with the seventh rule, arguing with the judges. But really, I don’t remember. See the issue that keeps creeping back?

As for the eighth rule, creating a fan base, Amy had little opportunity to do that. Don’t get me wrong – there are certainly already semi-finalists who had fan bases before they ever performed on stage for us. It didn’t happen for Amy because she had less screen time than them and she didn’t give people a reason to root for her (especially after that performance).

Many times, the votes in the first rounds rely on screen time given to contestants in the earlier shows. But that cannot be used as the only excuse. Amy may have been the most forgettable contestant of the semi-finalists. She could have remedied this situation for herself if she had given us an outstanding performance like, for example, Alaina did. Alaina received less screen time than, well, any of the other women, and I predicted she would likely go home because of it. But she did what she needed to do by showing us why she deserved to move forward. Amy, who actually did have some screen time, failed.

Amy gave a performance that even Paula called “lackluster.” You know that’s a bad sign. Everybody else yawned in boredom and quickly forgot about her, voting for other contestants instead. 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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