April 1 , 2004 - Pruning the Pink

Then host Ryan Seacrest pulled down the three contestants who'd had the fewest votes. The first one didn't surprise me: Amy Adams.

Even the second one didn't really surprise me: Jennifer Hudson. Although she'd had a strong vocal performance, I don't think she's connecting with the audience any more.

But the third person called down was an absolute stunner. They were down to John Stewart and LaToya London, and even John Stewart seemed to believe he'd be the one called down to the bottom three. But he wasn't; LaToya was.

After they called her down and for the rest of the show, John had a look on his face that was a cross between shock and, I think, fear. Perhaps he realized that even the best performers are not necessarily safe.

They did send one person back to safety right away, and that was LaToya. And after another commercial break, they announced the person going home would be Amy Adams.

As they showed a retrospective of her, the interesting thing was that, aside from her performance on last week's country show, they didn't show many vocal performances. I think part of the reason was that her personality off-stage was stellar but on-stage she was just not the same. She didn't have the same confidence, wasn't as much fun. She went for a lot of safe standards that didn't show off her voice. So it was inevitable that this would happen.

Last week, she bought herself time by picking a song that fit her personality and by having fun with it. This week, she didn't deliver. So truly, it was no surprise.

Now, why were the other two there? Good question.

Jennifer, as I said, might be suffering from her image makeover: straightening her hair and wearing safe and ordinary clothes. So the person they were rooting for no longer appears to be there. Not to mention that her attitude has become a bit bitter and cynical over the weeks, which will make her look bad compared to the perennially sunny Fantasia Barrino and George Huff.

LaToya may also be feeling a backlash to her image makeover. In her case, the problem is not that she's changed her image from something people liked to something they can't get behind, but that she has no fixed image. From week to week, you scour the stage trying to figure out which one is her. Until she starts singing, it's difficult to place her face.

This might sound ridiculous, but consider that Jon Peter Lewis got through again, despite a lackluster performance. I think it was because people have a real good fix on who he is, and they know what they like about him. I don't think they can say that about LaToya, except that she's a strong vocalist. I've said this before: she's got to show people she's got a personality that goes beyond being a good vocalist. She may end up in the top three, but she'll never win until she can do that. Even if she is, as some would have it, the strongest vocalist on the show.

I don't expect to see LaToya in the bottom three again next week, because I think seeing her there clearly shocked the judges and probably many viewers, as well. Perhaps they'll realize that you have to vote for your favorites, even if they seem safe. Nothing is guaranteed. There are now contestants with strong fan bases, who will vote for them every show no matter how well they do. So as the number of contestants winnows down, each particular contestant has a better chance of ending up in the bottom three.

We don't know how close the votes were. If John Stewart was actually fourth from the bottom, how far above LaToya was he? It might have been close, and he might have squeaked by because people have fallen in love with his shy personality.

It's way past time for LaToya to be messing with her image. She needs to pick something and stay with it. Jennifer Hudson, if she wants to stay in, should reclaim her funky style and get back some of the fun she showed early on that people loved.

Other Musings by Alyce on American Idol:

American Idol Index

Moral:
Be true to yourself, on stage as well as off.