‘American Idol XIV’ reflection: The Daniel Seavey legacy
To further along our “American Idol XIV” coverage the rest of the season, we’re going to have a new feature published every week after the elimination of a contestant, looking somewhat at what this contestant did wrong, how they should remember the competition, and how we should remember them.
We begin here with a kid in Daniel Seavey who was, ultimately, a kid. He was the youngest contestant of the season, and he felt like the youngest contestant since Lauren Alaina and High School Student Aaron Kelly. We’re going here based most only our Stephen Colbert-esque gut feeling here versus actual facts. He seemed by all accounts to be a very nice young man, and we’ll give him credit for handling the competition well. After all, he may have received so much backlash at times this season that some may have compared him to Sanjaya.
Where things went wrong – Daniel is not a contestant who made a big mistake and paid for it. He is a contestant whose fatal flaw was mostly not being ready. The judges probably put him through because he was that endearing teenager who would represent a certain demographic, and he could improve overtime. To Daniel’s credit, there was some improvement at least before Kelly Clarkson week. Unfortunately, he had a long ways to go to get to the level of the other contestants. There just wasn’t time for him here.
How should he remember this – As a great experience. This was a chance for him to reach out and find new fans at a very young age. What he should do from here is go back, create a YouTube channel, and upload covers of some popular, super-current songs to go along with some originals. Develop your fan base on there, and then maybe release an album in a couple of years when his voice matures. He should consider this a foundation, and not be frustrated if nothing comes his way immediately. Katie Stevens is a great example of a young contestant who eventually found success (albeit more in acting than singing), but it took patience and time.
How we should remember him – Hopefully, as a nice kid who just was a little out of his depth. It’s not fair to blame him for the voting public keeping him around too long. In the end, him going out now probably spares him from being a lightning rod moving forward.
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