This week brought an end to LaKisha “Kiki” Jones’ run on American Idol Season 6 as she bowed out in the number 4 spot. So this seems like an appropriate time to look back and reflect on a powerful singer and contemplate how she got this far and why she didn’t go further.

Way back, 2 months ago, when the Top 12 was formed LaKisha Jones stood out to me as a forerunner in this contest. Her first performance in the Top 12 was “God Bless the Child.” Both my wife and I were very impressed and put her on the level with Melinda Doolittle at that point. We weren’t the only ones impressed either. Randy said, “unbelievable… sensational.” Simon echoed our sentiments when he said, “the quality difference between you and Melinda, you two are in a different league… you were very much in control, performed like a star.” At that time I really expected this race to come down to Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones standing side by side on finale night.

Unfortunately Kiki’s high points didn’t last long. The very next week after performing “Diamonds are Forever” we heard the judges say: Randy, “It was alright, just alright for me.”; Simon, “It wasn’t my favorite performance.” Interesting trend started to appear that night. Lulu had urged LaKisha to perform “You Are My World” and “make it [her] own.” Obviously LaKisha ignored that advice and that wasn’t the only time.

During the Top 9 week when Tony Bennett came on as the musical coach LaKisha wanted to add an extra little bit to the end of her performance of “Stormy Weather”. Tony got a little agitated and strongly suggested she do the song the way it was written. Again she declined the advice, this time of a much more established performer, and did it her own way. The performance went well, but it was interesting to see her ignoring solid advice from the people that were brought there to do just that, advise them in their best interests. That was the last time I can recall seeing LaKisha go her own way against the direction given her, but that just means that we don’t know for sure either way as we don’t see everything. Could there have been other decisions as she went along that continued to push her down in the rankings, away from that top two scenario with Doolittle?

From there things continued to crumble around the Kiki empire. Her Top 7 performance of Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” was anything but pleasant. Simon said, “It’s like eating a hamburger for breakfast. It didn’t go together… The song couldn’t hold it… Felt like you were shouting at us… You blew us away 8 or 9 weeks ago, but now you’ve got to choose the right kind of song for you.” Just before that performance was the last time I remember seeing LaKisha Jones really happy on the show.

LaKisha seemed to have accepted her fate too early and appears to have become reserved to her near term departure. This seems to have taken hold for me during the Top 7 Results Show when during the group performance of “I’m Alright” she looked as though her puppy had just been run over. She didn’t look too happy to be there and appeared to think she was the one heading home. She was in the bottom three that night, as expected, but instead not only was LaKisha spared but the rest of us as well when Sanjaya Malakar was sent packing.

During the second round of Top 6 performances we got a brief reprieve and were visited by the ghost of LaKisha’s golden days when she performed “This Ain’t a Love Song.” Her performance started out a little boring but by the second half she was back into the full form of LaKisha Jones. The judges were wowed by her again as well: Randy, “LaKisha is back this week… you blew it out of the box”; Simon, “I could actually kiss you after that… on the lips… You rose to the challenge… You absolutely nailed it… You are back.”

Sadly, for LaKisha, she wasn’t back for long. This week for the Top 4 with the Bee Gees theme her duel song choices were “Stayin’ Alive” and “Run to Me”. Her second performance was better than the first, but neither were strong enough to keep her alive any longer. The next night LaKisha Jones was voted off the show as she stood next to Blake Lewis.

I was really disappointed to see LaKisha fall from grace so quickly and so far. Eight weeks ago I would have put money of LaKisha being in the top 2, yet here we are. There’s certainly no shame in being in fourth place for a national contest of any sort though. However, I think LaKisha ended up selling herself short and missed out on a few extra weeks of performances. I thoroughly enjoyed Kiki’s high points and full on nights, but those nights became few and far between and ultimately led to her dismissal this week.

So then there were three: Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, and Melinda Doolittle. Picking the Top 2 here is an easy task for me. What about you?

Check out the rest of our American Idol coverage.

SirLinksALot: American Idol

SirLinksALot: LaKisha Jones