Elimination Performances

As we at WhatNotToSing.com are fond of pointing out, the single most effective way to stay alive in the competition is to sing well from week to week. Only around 15% of all elimination performances have rated at five stars (80+) or four stars (60+). And even a great many of those "shocking" eliminations can be readily explained:

• Most occurred in the Final 4 or later, when there are few contestants remaining and secondary voting factors come into play. Case in point: Melinda Doolittle was eliminated despite turning in three strong performances because fans of Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis were motivated to vote hard to ensure their favorite was the "other" contestant in the Finale along with Melinda. Whoops.
• Some had a companion performance that was well below par. For example, Josh Gracin's rendition of To Love Somebody earned a solid 68 rating, but his other performance that evening, Jive Talkin' clocked in at just 17. We're certain that Tamyra Gray sympathized.
• Some had high standard deviations, meaning that there was considerable disagreement among the reviewers. Case in point: Jennifer Hudson's  "Weekend In New England" had an enormous σ of 25 – many viewers loved it, but quite a few didn't like it at all.
• The dreaded Sesame Street Syndrome explains a large number of shock boots.
• Phil Stacey's  Blaze Of Glory was a special case, as he had the misfortune of turning in his best performance in one of the highest-rated episodes ever and on a night in which two of the remaining six contestants would be sent home. Bad timing.

Contestants are particularly well advised to knock 'em dead early. No semifinalist has been eliminated on a five-star performance, and just four in the first seven seasons went home after a four-star number: Kelli Glover, Aliceyn Cooney, Lisa Leuschner, and Suzy Vulaca. (Don't ask about Season Eight, in which several contestants were bounced from the competition on four-star performances, including Ricky Braddy twice. But then, we'd don't think AI8 was staged as a real competition.)