American Idol 7: Why Luke Lost

I had predicted Luke to go home for two weeks running. I was surprised he didn’t go in the second week of the semi-finals, and therefore not at all surprised that he did go this week. Why was it so obvious that Luke would be leaving us? Why did Luke lose?

Whether it’s obvious, like Luke, or less so, like Danny Noriega, we still treat everybody the same: We examine how they did in comparison with What ‘American Idol 7’ Contestants Need to Know. Let’s find out what it tells us about Luke.

The most important factor, as always, is to show singing and performing talent. It’s my belief that Luke does have some talent. He is part of an a cappella group that, by all accounts, has done fairly well. But sometimes, that sort of ability doesn’t translate well when there are instruments and TV cameras and the like. That would seem to have been the case here.

The on-site judges didn’t have a whole lot good to say about Luke’s performance of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.” Randy pointed out tempo problems. Paula mostly danced around the topic of this particular performance, which, as I pointed out in my article on Danny, usually means she didn’t like it but she likes you and doesn’t want to say anything bad. Simon didn’t like it at all, finding it weak and saying Luke had no chance to make it through. He was right, of course.

Our very own recapper Betsy also felt there were tempo problems and indicated that it wasn’t all that exciting a performance – nor would it launch him into the finals. And our other Foxes On Idol writers had similar thoughts.

For example, Joseph’s NGH Report ranked Luke dead last out of the guys. “There is no way he makes it through this round.” Correct again.

Then there was the We’ll Be the Judge of That! panel. Bruce felt Luke did better than he had previously, but that wasn’t really saying much. Sandy thought he was okay, though he missed some notes and wasn’t exciting. Kathy called it cheesy and listed other problems with it. And I thought he was just okay and seemed uncomfortable on the stage. Overall, Luke was the unanimous pick to go home – that doesn’t happen often with this group of judges!

Part of Luke’s problem this week was in his song choice. He said he did it because he wanted to do something fun. But have contestants learned nothing? The goal is not to pick a song that you will have fun with, but one that the audience will enjoy. That was not it – and was certainly not the song he needed to prove he deserved to advance to the finals. Luke needed a song with which he could demonstrate his talent – something like a stripped down version of a song that might be close to his a cappella singing. He went in exactly the opposite (and wrong) direction.

Luke also failed in terms of the third rule, which says to be consistent. Well, let me clarify: Luke was pretty consistent – consistently dull and not very good. But he didn’t do what he needed to. As the rule notes, “you need to treat every performance on Idol as if it could be your last… Be excellent every time.” With Luke, I would have been happy to see “excellent” one time.

The fourth (be unique) and fifth (be memorable) rules were not very good for Luke either. Or Luke was not very good with them. Even today as I write this, having seen Luke perform for three weeks running, I cannot picture him. I can’t get an image in my mind, no matter how hard I try. Heck, I can even picture each of the interchangeable blondes, but not Luke.

Luke was just a bit too generic. What was unique about him? Ummm. Nothing. What did he do that would cause viewers to particularly remember him? Again, nothing. And that’s really a killer when you perform first; I bet some viewers forgot all about him before the show as even over!

For whatever reason, Luke was never able to accomplish success for the sixth rule, which says every contestant is a package. Maybe if he had, he could have stood out some. But again, what do we really know about him? He sang with an a cappella group – which I might have forgotten if I hadn’t read today that he started performing with the group in a town less than an hour from where I live. And he… um… well, that’s about it. An empty package.

At least Luke did okay with the seventh rule, which says not to argue with the judges. Thank heaven for small favors.

But he had no chance at success in the eighth rule. How could he have created a fan base when we’ve already talked about how poorly he did at being unique or memorable and at turning himself into a complete package? He couldn’t.

Luke stayed on American Idol a week or maybe even two longer than he should have, all things considered. But it was only a matter of (a short) time. Luke had everything possible going against him. He went first. He picked a bad song. He didn’t perform it particularly well. There was little unique or memorable about him. He pretty much was hit on every rule possible. That is why Luke 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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