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American Idol 7: Why Kristy Lostby David Bloomberg -- 04/17/2008
View Printable version of this article You know, I fell into a trap and I should have known better. I was predicting Kristy’s demise for weeks, and then I stopped. She had gotten better and I made the incorrect conclusion that she would therefore be safe. But I forgot something I had said myself. Back in my predictions for who would fall in seventh place, I said I hoped Kristy “actually has a decent performance. Not great – because I don’t think it’s possible – but average. Because the better she does, the less likely her fans will dial ‘til their fingers bleed, knowing they have to save her.” I’m pretty sure I said it a couple other times as well, probably in “We’ll Be the Judge of That!” columns. But then, somewhere along the line, I forgot it. I let that thought become subsumed and fell for her better performances. But could it really be that as Kristy got better, her chances got worse? Or is there something more? Why did Kristy lose? Regular readers know there is only one way to really determine the answer to that all-important question. We will discover it by going through What ‘American Idol 7’ Contestants Need to Know to see what Kristy did right along the way (and no matter what I thought of her singing, she definitely did some things right) and where she went wrong. 
The most important rule, of course, is the first one – to have singing and performing talent. In the very early goings, it seemed Kristy had that going for her, and many of us predicted great things for her. But once the voting rounds got under way, Kristy seemed to fall apart. We’ll deal with that momentarily. For now, how did she do this week? Paula was blown away – as if that’s difficult. Randy said it wasn’t amazing. Simon went a little further in saying she did the best she could, but it was whiny at times and it wasn’t great. Recapper Betsy liked what she did with the song and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. As for other Foxes On Idol commentators, Joseph Banks, in his NGH Report, had Kristy above both Brooke and Syesha. She was still labeled as “Not Safe,” but Joseph said Kristy “has successfully erased her bottom feeder image from my eyes,” and, “she has done very well recently.” The We’ll Be the Judge of That! panel was split (as usual – it would be boring if we all agreed!). Sandy found her performance “frightening,” while Tyler thought “she delivered vocally.” Bruce said she was “almost perfect in her pitch and her voice was absolutely gorgeous,” while Kathy and I disliked her Twang while still recognizing that she had some flaws. If we average it all out, I’d say it could be classified as a “decent” performance. And remember what I said earlier about Kristy having a decent performance. But where Kristy really had been shining in recent weeks was in her song choice. It really started when she picked “God Bless the USA” a few weeks ago. She seemed to realize that this was what her fans wanted. Not only did she pick songs that would please her fans, but she appeared more comfortable with them and was better able to perform them. This fact was not lost on viewers or judges. Paula and Simon both pointed out her smarts in song choice picking, and Tyler even noted this week, “Kristy Lee really is one of the smartest Idols this season, if not the smartest.” As the rule notes, when it comes to song choices in a specific genre, “a smart strategist can figure out a way around it.” After a few weeks of flailing, Kristy figured it out. But one problem was that it did take those few weeks. Thus, she did not follow the third rule, which is to be consistent. As I noted earlier, Kristy didn’t do very well in the early voting rounds. Indeed, that’s what led to me (and others) repeatedly predicting her demise from the show. But week after week, she foiled us! Kristy’s lack of consistency hurt her in a somewhat backwards manner. She had gained fans early who wanted to make sure she stuck around. So while she performed poorly, her fans knew they had to save her – and they did! But at the same time, she wasn’t gaining as many new fans as, say, David Cook. So as the number of contestants shrank down, her voting bloc became a smaller percentage compared to the others. Then, when she started singing well, at first her fans responded positively. But then she didn’t seem to be in as much danger, so it perhaps wasn’t as necessary for them to vote as often. After all, she was singing better! But that’s not necessarily the way things work. Moving on to the fourth rule, was Kristy unique? Among this group, I’d say yes. While Brooke also had a bit of a country thing going on for a couple weeks, I wouldn’t say she is a country singer. Kristy? Definitely. Once she embraced that and showed it every week, she stood out more than ever before. I don’t think Kristy was trying to be the next Carrie Underwood or even the next Kellie Pickler, but comparisons would seem inevitable. In such comparisons, I think Kristy would end up with the short end of the stick. Yes, even with Kellie, who has since become a star and even won some awards. She was not a stand-out like Carrie, and thus could not replicate her success. Kristy certainly was memorable, though. From the very first, we knew she was the girl who sold her horse. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that the phrase, “beating a dead horse,” came from her talking about it so often! As much as we might have complained, though, she was right to ensure people remembered who she was. After all, that was part of the reason she managed to stick around in the early goings. 
I’m not quite sure what to say about the sixth rule, though. It tells contestants to remember that they need to be a complete package. I’m not sure Kristy ever quite understood that or made use of it. I don’t think her personality really won anybody over, and she did not exactly have the optimistic, bright personality people usually want in their Idol – recall when she brought a note out to reserve her place on a bottom three chair. Kristy didn’t really fail in the seventh rule, which says not to argue with the judges. I cannot recall any specific instances – they might have happened, but weren’t big enough to be particularly memorable. But it was always clear that she disapproved of Simon’s comments, even if she didn’t flat-out tell him to go to hell. We’ve already discussed some parts of the eighth rule, which talks about creating a fan base. Kristy (and the producers) did a good job in the very early goings, giving her a cushion for the first rounds. But then for a few weeks, the more she sang, the worse she did – and that was not winning people over. Sure, her current fans voted their hearts out, but she wasn’t bringing in significant numbers of new ones. By the time she finally started doing better, it was almost too late. It’s ironic that Kristy went out after a pretty good performance, when commentators and viewers were finally starting to come around and see that she did have some talent – it had just been well-hidden earlier. But it shouldn’t have been unexpected. It’s been said before, both by me and others, but the truth is that often a really bad performance is worse than a just-okay performance. Kristy’s fans did what they could to get her to this point, but then they didn’t necessarily see the need to keep rescue-dialing. Plus, as noted earlier, her weeks of poor performing meant she wasn’t gaining fans while others were – that had to come back to haunt her at some point (indeed, we saw something very similar with Michael Johns last week). Kristy Lee Cook did pretty well this week and in the previous couple. Her excellent song choice overcame her lack of consistency for a few weeks. But then her past finally caught up to her. That is why Kristy 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. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol and Reality TV Fever! View Printable version of this article
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