I was looking at some photos of Taylor Vaifanua, and looking at them reminded me of another previous American Idol contender, Kelly Pickler. I actually thought Kelly seemed really sweet and sincere but I thought that one of the things that shouldn't have happened was the makeover. She went into American Idol looking young, and fresh, and perky, and when she made it deeper into the American Idol show, she was still perky and at times funny, but the makeover she was given made her look old. Old. She went from a teenager to someone who looked like she was past middle aged. Not that I have anything against people who're middle aged or anything, because I don't. But geez. Why did they have to make Kelly Pickler look so old?
And that's sort of the feeling I got looking at the photos online of Taylor Vaifanua. In some of them she looks young and sweet and well, young. I mean she's still in her teens after all. But in some of the others, mostly the ones where she's wearing makeup, and in at least one video I saw, she looks old. Old. And I just don't get it. Where's the upside to looking old? Is there some sort of expectation that a singer who looks older gets more respect? I mean, I just don't know if that's true. Look at David from last season (Archuleta, not Cook, though I liked them both). The guy looked young. I mean, he was young. As young as Taylor Vaifanua is now, I believe. And while they did try to spruce up his look, they didn't try to make him look middle aged.
I mean that was part of his charm, the fact that he was young. And I'm thinking that same youth could play to Taylor Vaifanua's advantage. She could give off the kind of energy and excitement that's expected of young people. Maybe people might be more forgiving if she makes the odd mistake or two because, well, Taylor's young so she has room for those types of mistakes. But if they make her old, well, she might just look tired, even if she doesn't actually act that way. And I just don't see how that can help her on American Idol.
I'm hoping that Taylor Vaifanua brings her A game and her A voice over to American Idol, especially if she makes it deep into the competition. That said, I hope she takes the time to also be mindful of the entire performance package. She doesn't have to look perfect. Maybe the industry expects it, but I personally don't mind quirkiness. All I'm saying though is that she needs to make sure that she doesn't handicap her chances by going through a makeover which I think is more handicap and hindrance than help.
