American Idol 7: Why Chikezie Lost

For the third week running, we have a situation on American Idol where the worst singer did not go. And I’m not just talking about the worst singer overall (Kristyjaya), but even the worst singer of the night. Chikezie might not have been great, but he wasn’t terrible either. So with that in mind, why did Chikezie lose?

Well, situations like these are exactly why What ‘American Idol 7’ Contestants Need to Know is a useful tool. We all know (or at least should know) by now that simply being a good singer is not enough. There are many other factors, so we’ll follow our usual path in going through them.

As it happens, the first and most important of these factors is still to be a good singer and performer. This week, there were definitely some differing opinions as to how well Chikezie did on that front.

While Paula thought Chikezie did a great job, Randy thought it was boring and old-school. Simon said he sang it well, but the performance was cheesy and copied the original, plus it lacked personality. Recapper Betsy thought his voice sounded fantastic.

This is key, and the rule recognizes it: “Pure vocals are not enough. You need to perform the song.” The examples listed include contestants like Season 4’s Anwar and Season 5’s Elliott and Katharine. Indeed, of Katharine I wrote, “Sometimes [her performances] were entertaining, sometimes not.” I think the same is true of Chikezie. He had an incredibly entertaining performance two weeks ago, followed by one last week that was more confusing than anything. And then this week, he went for the ballad and failed to show as much of his personality as some people were apparently expecting.

This seems to bring us directly into the third rule, so I’m going to jump there for a moment. Indeed, that rule talks about the need for consistency – something we’ve just seen that Chikezie didn’t have. Indeed, it goes back further than just the past two weeks. Even in the semi-finals, there was always a question of which Chikezie would show up. I don’t know that he gave two consistently good performances in a row. Eventually, that’s got to catch up with you.

So moving back to the second rule, how much of an effect did song choice have? As Simon indicated, it played a pretty big role. After all, choosing the song determines in large part how the performance will go. It’s not totally dependent on the song choice, but it’s not like Chikezie could have run around energetically with this one, as one example.

The fourth rule tells contestants to be unique. I would say that Chikezie was unique to this season, but not necessarily overall. Whenever he sang ballads, I heard people compare him to Ruben – often calling him the “pocket Ruben” or the “little Ruben.” Being seen as something of a copy of a previous Idol is rarely a good thing. Personally, I thought he showed enough personality to be his own person, but sometimes what I think and what the masses think are two different things.

Moving forward, the fifth rule talks about being memorable. I will say that Chikezie’s performance this week was not the one to be most remembered. And that’s not good when you need people to have a reason to dial in for you. Yes, his voice was good. But overall, he didn’t do anything to make people remember why they wanted to call in for him. Two weeks ago was his high point in that regard.

I think there was also some confusion among viewers as to just what kind of overall package Chikezie is, as addressed by the sixth rule. Let me explain: We all know David Cook is a rocker. David Archuleta is a cute kid with a big voice. Kristy Lee is the country girl. Etc. But just what is Chikezie? If he were to win, what kind of album would he have made? I don’t know – and I doubt most viewers did either. He kept showing such different sides of himself that it got a bit confusing. Yes, it’s good to demonstrate adaptability, but it can be taken too far. Is Chikezie the wild man running around on stage, or the quiet man singing to the girls in the front row of the audience?

Chikezie needed to clarify that in order to help him with the eighth rule, which talks about acquiring a fan base. But without a solid impression of who he really is, the fans were hard-pressed to stack up on his side.

You’ll note that I skipped the seventh rule, because I don’t really think it played much role. However, it could have had a small impact. Chikezie did disagree with Simon a bit regarding whether he should have put his hand into the audience. Chikezie was wrong to say he was singing to them – he wasn’t. He was singing to the viewers, the voters. That’s who he needed to concentrate on impressing.

Unfortunately, he didn’t impress them enough. It’s great to have a good voice, and very important overall in American Idol. But it’s not everything. Contestants need to do something with that voice. Chikezie was all over the place in what he did, being inconsistent from week to week even when he did well vocally. Who was he, really? What kind of album would he record? These are unanswered questions. But voters want to be a fan of somebody. Chikezie didn’t give them enough of a reason to join up under his banner. That is why Chikezie 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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