Top 20 'Idol' Contestants of All Time - 20: Lisa Leuschner
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- January
- 11
Who? Only the most prematurely, unjustly eliminated contestant in show history.
With soulful pipes and a pleasant, confident demeanor, Lisa Leuschner wowed audiences and appeared to impress show judges with her performance of Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing” and other soulful selections.
Leuschner sang her way to that season’s wildcard round (now defunct, for good reason). In this round, the judges eliminated her without explanation yet allowed other wild card contestants the chance to perform to make the top 12. Absurd.
Forget “potential.” In what wound up being a subpar “Idol” season, Leuschner had the flat-out ability to make it all the way to the final episode had she been given a fair shot. With respect to Season 3 runner-up Diana DeGarmo and future Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson (who didn’t seem to bring her A-game while she was on the show), Leuschner was the only contestant that season with a legitimate chance to beat Fantasia Barrino.
Curiously, the voting format was changed the next season to allow viewers to vote on everyone making the semifinal round. If you ask me, Leuschner is reason why.
Also see:
– Top 20 ‘Idol’ Contestants of All Time – Epilogue-No. 1: Kelly Clarkson
-No. 2: Carrie Underwood
-No. 3: Chris Daughtry
-No. 4: Jennifer Hudson
-No. 5: Sanjaya Malakar
-No. 6: William Hung
-No. 7: Clay Aiken
-No. 8: Fantasia Barrino
-No. 9: Blake Lewis
-No. 10: Tamyra Gray
-No. 11: Jordin Sparks
-No. 12: Melinda Doolittle
-No. 13: Bo Bice
-No. 14: Elliott Yamin
-No. 15: Ruben Studdard
-No. 16: Katharine McPhee
-No. 17: Taylor Hicks
-No. 18: Diana DeGarmo
-No. 19: Frenchie Davis
-Top 20 intro and criteria/Honorable Mentions (Nos. 21-31)
(Photo courtesy of FOX.)
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 9:15 am by Chris Serico.
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Uh, Lisa was given a fair chance. Voters, for whatever reason, decided they liked hacks such as Camile Velasco and Matt Rogers more. To assume she WOULD have made the Top 2 had she been allowed to perform in the Wildcard round when she couldn't even make one of the two Top 12 slots available to her group of eight is quite a leap.
The uproar over Lisa was absurd at the time, and the fact that some people are still harping about it is unbelievable. Yes, based on her audition and semifinals performance, she appeared to be a much better vocalist than the majority of the finalists that season. But we saw one real performance of hers. Even Sanjaya gave one good performance. For all we know, she could have sucked in the finals. Time to get over the Lisa thing already.
Uh, no. Lisa was not given a fair chance. If you remember correctly, and you don't, she was told to sit on the site with Tiara and Eric. The judges decided to not let them continue. This article is 100% correct.
And – you said it yourself. We only saw ONE real performance of hers. But people like Camile Velasco and Matt Rogers – American Idol was showing them all the time, shoving them down our throats. They figured a big loud personality like Rogers was better for the show for a few weeks, and then would be voted off, than a sassy girl who could actually SING, who could make it far, and they wouldn't know how to market if she won. Just part of the AI machine. (See: Sanjaya.)
Does anyone remember Elizabeth LeTendre from this season?? I really enjoyed her a lot as well!!!
You're all missing my point.
Viewers were given the chance to vote for Lisa in her original group of eight and did not even vote enough to advance her into the Top 12. So the idea that she was the only one who stood a chance of beating Fantasia had she only been voted into the Top 12 is a huge leap. COULD she have beat Fantasia? Sure. Might she have made the Top 12 if she would have been allowed to perform in the Wildcard round? Quite possibly. Would she have had a BETTER chance than anyone who actually made the Top 12 of beating Fantasia? The answer is obviously no because if she had a better chance of beating Fantasia than the likes of Diana, Jasmine and LaToya, she would have been voted into the Top 12 the first time.
Sure, Clay was the wildcard pick in S2 and made it to second place, but the competition in his group included eventual winner Ruben and third-place Kimberley Locke. Matt and Camille placed 11th and 9th, respectively. Regardless of Lisa's talent, the fact that she couldn't even make it to the Top 12 against competition like that says she simply didn't have a lot of public support, whether or not one feels she deserved it. How can anyone assume, then, that she would have suddenly had enough public support to rival Fantasia given one more performance? It's possible, but to take it for granted that such a thing would have happened is absurd.
Furthermore, the argument that she was "robbed" simply because we heard one good performance is flawed when you consider how inconsistent most of the contestants are. I think Lisa should have advanced based on her performance, but I don't think a person can say one way or the other whether a semifinalists was "robbed" based on one performance. For all we know that could have been her peak. On the flipside, someone who performed badly during the semifinals could have had their one rare off-performance and we'd never know it. It takes more than one week of performances to judge who really deserved to win.
BTW, Joseph, you clearly can't read because I had said, "had she been allowed to perform in the wildcard round," which obviously means I know she didn't. I just find it besides the point.
I'm sorry, but I've watched Idol from day one…and I don't even remember her.
Your loss, Jessa.
Lisa Leuschner was robbed big time..anyone who knows anything knows that the votes don't count..it's in the contract that the producers can change anything they want..and they wanted less competition for Fantasia..the fact that they called her back for the wildcard round and then didn't let her sing speaks volumes about their agenda..they knew that people were outraged at the results of round 2 and they also knew that the claymates were planning on mass voting for her so they couldn't let her sing..when Randy said she had one of the best voices in the competition but sorry you can't sing that was the most unjust thing this show ever did..sorry if you don't appreciate her talent ,Heath, but she is one of the best voices to come out of A.I…and Jessa…i feel bad for you ..you missed out on a great talent
oh and did you notice they got rid of the wildcard round after they screwed her over?