It’s official. Phillip Phillips is He Who Can Do No Wrong. He is the Teflon Idol. He was, by a healthy margin, the worst on Wednesday night. And yet… he was the second one to be sent to safety. What does he have to do for the collective Idol voting fanbase to decide to send Dave Matthews Dave Matthews back to South Carolina and shoot a pilot of Southern Pawn Stars for the History Channel?
On the other hand, it may take a week for us to know the full damage that this week did to Phillip’s chances – if any. After all, the well-documented Mighty Mouse effect may have been in play – though oft-repeated denials by Phillip fans in multiple online forums suggest that at least some of his fans felt no need to “rally”. After all, wasn’t he called an artist by the judges?
Still, you have to respect the kind of fanbase power that Phillip has demonstrated so far. Once you get to the finale, if you’ve always been voted by America into the Stools/Couch of Safety, you win. (The only exception: David Archuleta, but only because he was up against someone who’d also avoided being all season. Clay Aiken does not count, because he had to get into the finals via wildcard.) It’s not like I’m sold on the rest of the top four either: Jessica had to be saved, Hollie is still digging out of her hole, and Joshua got sent to the bottom three despite Runaway Baby.
As it stands, Phillip has to be considered the prohibitive favorite to win. The trouble is, we don’t know if that would be a good thing for Idol as a franchise. Having a fifth so-called WGWG win would delight only Vote for the Worst. Notably, it’s a sin both The Voice and X-Factor have avoided to date. What kind of message would it send for a competition show if it was clear as day that only one kind of singer could win? We already saw how last year’s all-country finale went: ratings from the top 3 performance night fell.
Sidenote: to be fair, adding Scotty to the list of WGWGs is a bit unfair. It was never as vital to him as it was with either David Cook, Kris Allen, or Lee DeWyze. Even within those three there are pretty sharp stylistic differences. To be honest, the whole WGWG label is a little bit unfair if you look at the facts. But sadly, perceptions do count. Even if the popular perception is not accurate, the fact that it’s out there is what matters.
If this whole chain of events doesn’t convince the Idol PTB that the voting system is broken, then, well, nothing will. Let’s all remember how we all thought a girl was going to win this year. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and… that’s looking more and more unlikely by the week.
Not too surprising: With a lot of hindsight, Skylar had a lot of things going against her that explain why she went home.
Yes, she was a country singer, but there was a big difference between Skylar and most of the other country singers that have been on Idol before: she had basically zero crossover potential. Yes, Idol tends to like country, but for girls it tends to like it a bit milder, more pop-country than traditional country. Just look at last year: Lauren Alaina had plenty of crossover potential. For guys, it doesn’t matter much: Scotty had limited (if any) crossover potential himself, but that didn’t hurt his Idol run at all. But a more traditional female country singer, well, that’s novel for Idol. When Skylar ended up in the bottom three in spite of Gunpowder and Lead, maybe that was a sign that there wasn’t as much taste within the Idol voting base for that sort of music.
However, all that means is that the traditional country boost was weaker for Skylar. She had two problems that really hurt her: one was her inability to really elevate her songs from the very good to the excellent, to the I-was-blown-away stage. Yes, she could be very, very good – but she never seemed to find that one song that left everyone wowed and speechless. I’m talking about the kind of song that would get a standing ovation (back when that meant something, instead of being overhyped pimpage). There was no Whole Lotta Love or I Will Always Love You equivalent for Skylar. It’s not necessary, mind – I’m not sure Scotty really had something like that last year – but it definitely helps.
The other problem was simple: power. Or rather, her lack of it. Jessica, Hollie, and Joshua can basically reach for any note and sound effortless. Skylar can’t. When it’s a song in her comfort zone, she knows when to stop. But hand her something outside her comfort zone – say, both of her songs this week – she goes to her instincts. Those can be summarized as: attack, attack, attack. The end result, unfortunately, is she starts screaming and sounding very unpleasant. It was very evident this week, but even last week with Show Must Go On it was there for all to see.
Take Phillip’s dual trainwrecks out of the equation. Skylar did very well to get to the top five, given that she was definitely short-handed in the power department and the country boost was less than expected. She got this far because she interprets songs pretty well and never comes off as an emotionless robot the way Jessica and Hollie have been at times. I wouldn’t worry too much about her post-Idol career: she’ll get signed, she’ll get material that suits her well and producers that fit her well, too. You could ask for worse starts to an honest to goodness musical career.
Idolguy, your take on Skylar is perfectly accurate. I wish her the best, she gave it her all. At this point, with the Phillip-thrill-is-gone, any of the other 3 could win fine by me.
If you look at the scores at WNTS, neither Phillip nor Skylar ever got a 5 star performance. They’ve come close, but not qute. Hollie is actually in the lead there, with 4 to Jess and Josh’s 3 apiece. Skylar was very, very, good, but never great.
If Hollie survives this week, I hope that there is not another song from the Happy Feet soundtrack waiting in the wings for her. If she can knock off one of TCOs next week – or even Phillip – then I would be surprised.
Though stranger things have happend. Hey Syesha!
Yeah, but WNTS, and people who follow Idol online generally, are not representative of all Idol viewers. Case in point: Scotty just barely had one 5-star performance a year ago, and his peak was the lowest of anyone in the entire top 7–lower than even Stefano’s top-rated performance.
In addition to the factors mentioned above, I might add that Skylar might not have connected with the traditional Idol country audience for more superficial reasons than lack of vocal power. When you put Skylar up against Carrie, Lauren, and Kellie, she’s not blonde, demure, or ingenue-like–and as much as I like Miranda Lambert, Carrie always has and always will sell more records. (I know Skylar actually did better on the show than Kellie did, but Kellie was also pretty mediocre and got as far as she did purely on likability.)
It seems unlikely Hollie and Jessica could both survive next week. Even though their fans have spent the last month sniping at each other, the ladies are the most obvious people left who are sharing a sensibility, and they’ve both shown more weakness than Phillip and Joshua (Hollie with her repeated trips to the bottom, and Jessica of course was voted out).
In an ideal world, Phillip would have been gone a couple of weeks ago, or at least would have at some point gotten a scare that might have provoked him into changing his approach, but he has no incentive at all to change his no melody, no effort style.
I’m beginning to wonder how bad Phillip’s kidney condition really is, and how much it’s affecting his performances. I may be wrong, but I don’t think he was in this weeks Ford commercial, and the other Idols have said that he gets excused from a lot of stuff. That, combined with Jimmy Iovine’s comments about how much pain he was always in, makes me curious- P2 doesn’t seem like the type to make a fuss about anything. I still like his voice, (a lot) and I’d buy his stuff- I see him more as a James Taylor type artist.
However- I’d still much rather see Hollie in the finals. I’d hate to see her go home just as she’s getting her act together. I really like her voice, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she picks up a lot of Skylers votes. At this point I think you either are or you aren’t, (I’m not) a fan of Jessica’s.
Speaking of Jessica, I was SO glad Jimmie brought up her hoochie mama outfit! Those stylists are SO bad- and you had to love Jlo’s idiotic comment about how “Middle America doesn’t get it, but we’re in show biz here, so it’s O.K.” Hey Jlo! She’s still 16, ALL ACROSS AMERICA! God, I think all the judges are awful, but Jlo is extra bad. Jessica just hasn’t found her way to likeability yet. It’s kind of odd.
It’ll probably be Joshua that wins, he or Phillip. Who knows- a lot of people thought Bo Bice got screwed when Carrie Underwood won, they thought Bo was going to be a huge star. I’ve seen him twice now at different county fairs.
I think at this point Hollie would be the best winner for the franchise. Jessica needs time to cook as well, but Hollie is getting it and she’s more marketable at this point than Jessica; Hollie reminds me of Carrie. She just needs a few more upgrades and she’s ready to go. Jessica needs to go back into the oven for a few more years before she’s ready to be Beyowulf 2.0. Joshua just wouldn’t be marketable like the others, but he’d be a great runner up.
I’ve said before. Kris and David C were much better than Lee and Phillip. They could and did sing well without guitars and did not sound the same every week, getting worse as the competition went on. Scotty was unique with his deep voice and country style. Maybe Phillip is in pain. His facial contortions look like he is. He should not be given sympathy votes for it though. Maybe he needs to rest and heal so he can entertain on the tour.
The other three are all deserving to be winners. Each have strengths and weaknesses. May the best performance win. Based on last Wed, I don’t see how could be Phillip. My ears still wince at the memory of his off key, off tune version of Time of the Season.
I love, Love, LOVE everyone’s commentary on here (and the blog post). The voting system is definitely broken and I really hope it gets fixed next season. It shouldn’t be this hard for an exceptional female contestant to get farther. If anything should entice this decision it should be the lagging record sales over the last 5 seasons (Scotty seems to do well, but his niche is a loyal one. that’s not exactly good for the legacy of American Idol).
Being objective, Joshua, Jessica or Hollie could win and revise the credibility of the show. Regardless, Joshua is going to do great in showbusiness and on the circuit while Hollie and Jessica still have a few years before they can turn into real artists (even Ke$ha writes her own music. It’s the requirement for newcomers as more is expected from female artists as time goes on).
In my opinion, Hollie is the clear winner. Aside from her little stagnation in the middle where song selection killed her, she’s been superb. A finale with Hollie and Jessica would be a clash of the titans that would really be amazing to see :]
Speaking of the finale, what should each contestant reprise?
I’ve been wondering this for a while. there seems to be two type of contestants at the finale stage: contestants who reprise their best performance and contestants who reprise their 2nd to best.
For Philip: “In the Air Tonight”
For Joshua: “Ready for Love”
Jessica: “I Will Always Love You” or her Billy Joel Selection
Hollie: “The Power of Love”
They should take a page from David Cook and not reprise any songs. Though if they are going to fill up 2 hours for finale night, they may be singing up to 5 songs a piece!
I think Hollie’s best choice would be Rolling in the Deep. Sort of how Haley reprised Bennie and the Jets for her sing out, RitD was Hollie’s momentum shifter. Also, it’s modern – which we have shown here the importance of picking new songs – and shows what kind of artist she could be; a neo-torch singer.
Would it be possible to convince a wide-enough swath of the Idolosphere to vote for everyone but Phillip this week, effectively voting against him? If he doesn’t Castro or Gokey out this week or next we are in serious trouble. Also, if he does go out this week he could have the surgery he so desperately needs and recover in time for the finale.
Reprising RitD would be a huge grave digging performance unless she changed it up dramatically. I went with “Power of Love” because her Studio version is just superb (better than the original in my opinion) and a lot of people liked the live version but commented on some of the mistakes she made. All she would have to do is clean it up and present as a more perfect version. I think one of the contestants could actually do a duet but sing it by themselves. It would be innovative is all I know
As for voting out Philip, people really have to keep voting for their favorites non-stop. The only way I see Philip going out is with a relaxed fanbase on two so-so performances and everyone putting in their best efforts for the other contestants. I’m just sad that we havn’t booted him sooner. Having a top 6 without Philip would have been just magical. I didn’t particularly care for Colton and Elise was either amazing or middling for me but the two of them were great in their own right and would have rounded out the best top 6 since season 7.
In that vein, Hollie could sing Stronger. It would fit her story arc and anything would be an improvment over them trying to out-diva each other.
Yup, Phillip is now in the league, if not miles ahead, of Gokey/Lusk/
Sanjaya as the competition troll. Never have I seen anyone as infuriating and frustrating as WGWG #5. Worse, he’s the cellar compared to the likes of David, Kris, Lee (yes, Lee) and Scotty.
So we’re down to Top 4 now? Since this is where the shock boots tend to happen, I’m guessing the likeliest shock boot from most shocking to least shocking would be:
1) Joshua – due to the Standing O Fatigue and he seems to be the one being most shoved down our throats
2) Jessica – she hasn’t been the same post-save and we all know what happens to saved folks
3) Phillip – he’s never been in the Bottom yet and he’s being handled with kid-gloves since forever
4) Hollie – she’s been in the Bottom weeks running and I’m still not convinced that TPTB are giving due credit to her recent high-quality performances
And since we’re likely gonna have 2 hours again next week: chances are it’s either (a) three solos from each of them (12 performances), (b) two solos each with two duets (10 performances) or (c) two solos each and at most, SIX duets (considering that they could jumble the pairs around). If (c) is gonna be the case, good luck to whomever is paired with Phillip, or in any case, good luck to the three since they’d all be paired with him in that scenario.
Chances are it’s 2 songs a piece as well as two duets. Idol has had two hour shows with 10 performances before so it’s the norm.
Which leads us to one question… who’s most likely to be paired with dead-weight Phillip in the duet: the over-pimped Joshua, the de-pimped Jessica or the un-pimped Hollie? My guess is on Joshua, considering TPTB can be very uncreative in pairing people up.
And our “shock” boot, if you don’t consider Skylar the shock boot? My guess is it’s either Joshua, since he’s being over-pimped or Jessica, because it’s a distinct possibility that she’s splitting votes with a couple of the remaining folks. What do you think?
The only shock at this point would be Phillip leaving–this week or any week. Joshua would be treated as a shock by the judges and by a segment of the entertainment press who treats what they say as gospel. But he’s already been in the bottom three once, displaying some early weakness that I doubt has totally disappeared. Jessica wouldn’t be a shock either, as she’s already been voted out once, and was the only person among the four left who received any criticism (albeit mild) from any judge a week ago.
What’s interesting, though, is that the bottomthree/bottom two has been incredibly stable for three straight weeks, with the smallest possible number of different singers (four) taking up those spots. The bottom two last week were the survivors of the previous week’s bottom three, and the week before that, it was the two survivors from the previous week plus newcomer Skylar. I would bet that we’ve never before had an Idol where 3 of the top 4 had been out of the bottom for 3 weeks in a row. And Hollie has become permanently endangered even though she’s had one pimp spot in there, and even though the reviews for her performances have gotten much better.
I’m not sure Hollie can do anything else at this point to improve her chances. Getting the pimp spot again might help, but that would be the third time overall and twice in 3 weeks, so that’s probably not going to happen unless the producers really want to stack the deck. So in that respect, it would probably be a mild surprise if anyone other than Hollie leaves, but she’s been amazingly persistent.
Agree with the Joshua and Jessica assessment. Everyone’s expecting Hollie to go week after week but this is definitely where we start weeding out the contestants who don’t take their run seriously enough but the only person who matches that character is Philip who I’m hoping does get the boot this week.
As for who’s paired with him I hope it’s Josh. Hollie and Jessica really deserve a duet together but there hasn’t been a Jess/Phil & Hollie/Phil pairing yet so we may go in that direction. Haha, no matter what, Phil is screwed less one of the other three feels sorry for him and decides to come down to his level.
I keep forgetting that I haven’t addressed one of the better points of this article and that’s the viability of American Idol if Philip wins:
I believe the results of Idol losing over 4 million viewers in a season is absolutely the result of Scotty McCreery winning. I’ve already put myself to rest over his win. He didn’t prove himself but we could’ve done much worse with Paul McDonald who was truly the seasons white guy with a guitar (IdolGuy really did make me change me mind about this circumstance. Well played). There is a huge problem though in types that are winning that remains and that is that they are white, instrument playing, and straight guys. Notice that Paul McDonald isn’t the biggest stereotype of masculinity, nor was Colton Dixon this season. True that Adam Lambert did have a fanbase, but he was gay and Kris Allen took up the role as the “Straight Guy”. Same in season 7 where David Cook won over David Archuleta and a host of other talented musicians and vocalists.
With the advent of X-Factor and The Voice, it’s only natural for those 4 million who are tired of undeserving white males to advance not only beyond their means like other contestants have in the past, but to win the whole thing, to go to these shows where the formats to victory are much different. Should these 4 million have voted en mass as well? Yes, but there is no denying how undeserving the crown both Lee Dewyze and Scotty McCreery have been, not to mention how very perverse it would be for Philip to win. Thus, it is another urgent reminder that the producers HAVE to change the voting system, restricting the number of votes that can be sent in any given device.
But while we go on about the voting system, we miss the penchant for the judges to mess the season up as much as possible. Jennifer and Steven are wonderful additions to the show and they have shown a competence in picking dramatically greater singers in the two seasons that they’ve been. It is however, very obvious that Jennifer is unable to set aside her favoritism and be an objective judge (as well as Randy but we all know he should have been go before the start of season 10) and therefore she must be dismissed. Kid Gloves is not something that Idol is known for and just because they don’t want to be known as the Show that immitates Simon Cowel, they shouldn’t go overboard and give every contestant a standing ovation on every other performance.
Many things need to be rectified as Idol has the best format in my opinion and better singers than the previously mentioned Voice and X-Factor. They are interesting in their own right but Idol is the name brand standard bearer with the most quality. It would be ashame to throw that all away just because some cougars couldn’t keep their hormones in check.
I know that there are a lot of people who feel that Phillip is sick. However, I personally feel he is suffering from a case of Bromance. Did you see how affected he was by his best friend being voted off. He sat down and nearly cried. He hasn’t been the same since. Maybe his sickness is just missing a friend.
Sick or not, what I care about is that they bring their A-game every week and put in a great performance.
I was going to say just that. Sick of all the excuses for Philip. It’s time for him to put up or shut up. He needs to earn his votes based on his singing, not his sexuality.
Thanks for your perspective. First time I’ve read your blog. I found it when googling exactly what “melody” is, since the judges seem to bring it up often regarding PP. Although I still don’t understand what “melody” is I find your blog instructive & enlightening. I was also relieved to read comments regarding PP, because I have felt, watching this season, underwhelmed by PP and have thought I’ve been missing it
Melody is basically the structure of the sound in a song. Like in happy birthday, the most famous melody of them all, you sing “Happy Birthday To You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday dear blah blah blah” you’ll zig zag with your voice in the way that it’s supposed to be sung and then on the last Happy Birthday when you name the person all of a sudden your voice goes high- that structure is what melody is :] That is one of the many things Philip is challenged with.
….I hope XD