'American Idol' season 17: Fans cite lack of connection with audiences and uninspired song choices for Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon's ouster
With just two episodes left of season 17 of 'American Idol', fans and viewers are eager to see if their favorites makes it all the way through. Now with just five constestants left, the winner is anyone's guess as the voting process has become quite unpredictable. On Sunday night when the Top 6 performed songs from 1969's Woodstock Festival and songs that inspired them, fans and viewers were left in shock when the contestants with the lowest votes were revealed.
Moving on to the next round, Alejandro Arana, Wade Cota, Laine Hardy, and Madison Vandenburg were saved by America. But sadly Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon and Laci Kaye Booth ended up with the lowest votes. With just one save left in their hands, the judges decided to save Booth and not Harmon. This left many shocked as no one expected Harmon to be eliminated. During the live shows in the past few weeks, Harmon was one contestant who was always saved by America's votes. But to see him get the lowest votes and face elimination left everyone befuddled. Moreover, fans and viewers were even more shocked when the judges decided to use their only save for Booth and not Harmon.
Wondering what might be the reason that Booth was chosen over Harmon and why he might have received low votes, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) spoke to fans on Reddit and asked them what they thought the reasons could have been.
"I'd bet that those who are on the fence about Jeremiah do not pay attention to the social media clap backs, and those that voted weekly for Jeremiah didn't see it as a bad thing. He didn't get the votes because his fan base isn't as big as the others, plain and simple. Look at his youtube views and social media count followers. There's your answer: after Laine and Alejandro, it's probably Madison and then the differences among Wade, Laci, and Jeremiah were probably relatively small," wrote a fan on Reddit.
Another fan added, "Personally I found his voice kind of shrilly and he belted during songs unnecessarily. I do think his last couple performances we're his best but I still didn't like him over the others."
One fan on Reddit stated three reasons for Harmon's elimination and not being saved by the judges. "Three Reasons: All we know is he scrubbed toilets in a church that did not like he was gay. I know not one other thing. His music exposure was one of the most dated and limited I have ever seen. For Woodstock, he sang Swing Low, really? Dear Lord, The Who, Zeppelin, etc. Swing Low is an encore after you earn your chops doing real music. He never seemed to grow, or take risks, in music. I am not against him but he held no interest for me on the show. He was not bad but not my playlist. The last, and I see this a lot with Church Singers trying to make it. There was a lack of connection to the audience. Church is devotional singing. There is a lack of audience rapport because the song is an offering to God. You don't sing to the audience in church. You don't engage them; you uplift them. That attitude in music is the one of tribute, encore, and a higher level of mastery than he has. His recital was one of the best, but this is not American Recital."
A few other fans agreed and said his lack of connection with the audience might have been one of the reasons for his elimination. "I think his biggest problem was a lack of a personal connection with the audience. As someone else said, all we know about him is that he’s gay and his family didn’t like him. Other than that, who is he? What’s his personality? Back in the old Idol Days, we would have had 10+ weeks to get to know the top 10-12 singers. We don’t have that luxury anymore, so you gotta let us know who you are quickly. And he just didn’t do that," said a fan.
Another fan added, "He was voted off because this show is a popularity contest primarily voted on by tweener brace-face girls who care nothing about vocal talent, but rather the girl they wish they were, or the boy they wish they were with. That puts the gay kid right out of the running in their fantasy worlds, and the black and brown boys/girls next to go after that. This is why the mediocre talents of Maddie and Caleb always rise to the top on these shows instead of the far more talented likes of Jeremiah, Uche, and alas, Alejandro. You'll see."
'American Idol' airs every Sunday night on ABC. Check your local listings for more information.
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