Idol 59 - Chikezie Eze

59. Chikezie Eze

Season 7, 10th Place

Ok. So, when Chikezie first auditioned I thought he had a nice voice, but I couldn't help think that he was a "poor man's Ruben Studdard". I mean, that's not a terrible thing - I think Ruben has a terrific voice - but Chikezie's voice just wasn't nearly as good.

Now, by the time Season 7 rolled around it had been a very long time since a black male did well on American Idol. Yes, the best place any black male has gotten on Idol in a while was George at fifth place - now, Michael Lynche at fourth place. Maybe they are just forever destined to do poorly on the show.

Well, I instantly saw Chikezie as one of those same people. I thought that he'd make it through a few semi-finals performances then disappear, never to be remembered again.True enough, his first semifinals performance proved my point. I was very disappointed and I was really okay with him leaving after that week.

Luckily, Chikezie is a quick learner. He came back the second week with I Believe to My Soul and completely stopped the show. I mean, he really laid it out on the floor, and it made me reconsider him again. He learned that risks can pay off and get you instantly noticed.

Now, the only problem I had with Chikezie was that he had to do upbeat songs to get a positive reaction. To me, he came across as a tad whiny when he performed ballads. Yes, he still sounded very good, but it didn't have the flare as his upbeat performances. Good thing, he managed to show some manic and crazy Chikezie performances that will not be forgotten anytime soon, I think.

Favorite performance(s): Hands down! My favorite Chikezie performance is She's A Woman. I mean, I've never heard of the song but he managed to sell the song to me. He showed new facets to his voice that sounded so cool and soulful and he performed with tons of charisma.

She's A Woman

#58 - Simon Cowell's Season 3 Wildcard Pick