Idol 35 - Anwar Robinson

35. Anwar Robinson

Season 4, 7th Place

The original dread head of American Idol. Jason Castro, eat your heart out! Haha.

Anwar, to me, was clearly the best technical singer to show up on my list so far, but that doesn't mean I have to like him. Well, I do like him, but not enough to call myself a fan. If you asked me two seasons ago, I'd probably rank him higher than #35 but things change. Ha!

Now, when I wrote my review for Lil Rounds, I spoke about how most seasons have someone who gets a case of front runner treatment and then ends up a victim of it. Well, Anwar is a shining example of this. I mean, he really delivered amazing vocal performance after another amazing vocal performance in the semifinals and all three performances progressively got better each week.

He was a huge force. One that probably had Mario Vazquez, Bo Bice, Carrie Underwood and, yes, even Constantine Maroulis shaking in their boots. Heck, the betting odds even had Anwar higher than the aforementioned going into the Top 12. He really had a lot to live up to. Sadly, he didn't. Not at all. Anwar peaked way too soon in the competition and found himself leaving at seventh place.

So, why did Anwar get an early boot? Well, Anwar's lower range, well, sucked. Sure, he could really hit some chill-worthy big notes, but those were usually a small fraction of the songs he sang. I mean, throughout most of his performances, the first verse was not as good as his glory notes. But this went undetected by the judges - and, maybe, America - for several weeks, so maybe it wasn't a bad strategy.

Another reason why Anwar was a let down was because his song choice formula became ever-so predictable. Every week, except maybe two, he chose a ballad that started off subdued - with a weak lower range - and eventually swelled into a series of huge notes, with full-force belting at the very end. Basically, it were the exact same Anwar performances week after week with different lyrics. Where is the fun in that?

So unfortunate because he really does have an amazing voice. But with all things considered, he probably left at about the right time.

Favorite performance(s): Anwar's What A Wonderful World tops anything by anyone who's showed up on my list so far. Brilliant vocal performance and easily one of the best of Season 4 - and probably on Idol history. I think he did a good job of staying in his comfortable range in this one. He also did wonderfully at changing up all of the phrasing of the song. This, to me, was a vocal masterpiece. But, as I've mentioned, all of his three semifinals performances were all pretty amazing.

What A Wonderful World

Moon River

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