American Idol Spoiler Watch: Paige DeChausse Reportedly Makes Top 24 Voting Rounds

According to JoesPlaceBlog.com and other spoiler sources, Paige DeChausse has made the Top 24 for American Idol 9. Paige was already featured in the Chicago auditions. Her backstory, like so many, was quite a stretch. Paige has asthma and almost died from an attack when she was younger. Paige sang Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" for her audition piece. Simon did not vote her through, but the other three passed her on to the Hollywood auditions. Due to vocal issues, Paige will likely not emerge as a strong favorite to win American Idol this season.

Paige's audition showed rather shaky vocals and lacked an air of sincerity. Taylor Hicks, who went on to win the fifth season of Idol, sang the same song during his audition. Taylor has soul and good vocal control when he sings. Paige frankly paled in comparison, and even Randy stated these problems after her audition. The show made it look like the girls talked Randy into giving her a "yes," but that could have been just an act. Nonetheless, Randy is right about Paige's vocals.

It is possible that a singer can just have an off day when it comes to pitchiness and vocal control. But Paige's YouTube performances show the same signs of vocal problems. While Paige certainly is trying to display soul in her performances, the vocals are inconsistent. The Paige DeChausse version of 'Rock Me Right" on YouTube is full of rough notes. Paige's version of "Angel of Montgomery" shows the same inconsistent vocals. She certainly has some talent, but the track record suggests an unpolished singer with a fair amount of soul in her voice.

One thing Paige can do to improve is to control her volume. Most of her problem notes seem to be the louder notes where she is pushing her voice. She has a good voice, but can she learn to tone it down to a manageable level? Paige seems to be trying to create a soulful sound instead of feeling it from within her soul. This is a perception, not a fact. She may feel her performances throughout her whole body, but it is not coming across that way.

Paige is a very attractive girl, but neither that nor her weak backstory will likely determine how far she goes on Idol. Her ability to "feel" the performance instead of artificially trying to create a sound may have a much bigger effect during her stay on American Idol.

All things considered, Paige DeChausse got through without Simon's approval (assuming that was not staged). This means nothing by itself, as Simon has been wrong on many occasions (think Chris Daughtry and David Cook). But Simon had a point. Paige needs to improve her presentation skills to become an American Idol favorite. She obviously got through to the Top 24 if we can believe the spoilers. But the record suggests that Paige will have trouble showing the fans consistent vocals unless she gets a grip on her vocal control.