I was never a fan of Lil Rounds.  Here's what I said about her initial audition, which took place in Kansas City:  

The last contestant is Lil Rounds.  She is a 23-year-old mother of three.  A tornado made the family of five vacate their apartment.  Kara likes her name.  She sings "All I Do" by Stevie Wonder.  Nothing special, a little out of tune, but good enough to get a pass to Hollywood.  She gets out of control on the high stuff.  The judges are big fans (though, they might be a little loopy after a long day).

Lil never improved a lick from that first audition, and never gave one performance I completely enjoyed.  Sure, she had potential, and her voice was big and strong, but there are thousands of people like that out in the world.  Why did American Idol hitch their train to Lil? 
Sometimes, the aesthetics of a person can really throw you off.  Lil Rounds had an outward confidence about her that fooled a lot of people.  She looked like a good singer (why, I don't know, but she just did, didn't she?), and combined with that confidence Lil was bound to be over-hyped as an artist.  There is a larger problem with American Idol that Lil's season perfectly encapsulates.  The judges are able to skew the voting, especially early on, with disingenuous praise.  Lil did not come close to deserving the big ups she received in the Top 36.  Early in the season, voters are more susceptible to the judges' influence.  When Simon pimped her relentlessly after her Top 36 performance, the audience shrugged and said, "Well, we better vote for Lil."

It's frustrating because American Idol was basing their view of Lil on her perceived potential.  Lil was and remained raw as a performer, someone who had a voice but had no idea what to do with it.  It's unfortunate that people like Jackie Tohn and Kristen McNamara were tossed aside in favor of Lil.  I suppose race could have been an issue, and the producers may have desired a diverse Top 13.  That's all well and good, but I'd much rather have the 13 best singers.

But, even if Lil didn't deserve a spot in the final 13, I actually don't have much of a problem with her inclusion.  Sometimes people do get better and reach their potential.  I'm sure the vocal coaches tried their best to get Lil to the next level, but for whatever reason Lil was either unreceptive or overly stubborn, too confident in her own (lacking) abilities.

The seismic shift in the judges' outlook on Lil that began a couple of weeks ago only proves that they were overly supportive of her early on in the season.  They used to shower her with praise, but when they realized she was not going to improve, they turned on her.  The problem is, throughout that whole time, Lil did not change.  She remained exactly the same singer from the Top 36 to the Top 7.  This is why I understand the confusion that Lil must have felt these last few weeks.  She'd been doing her thing and getting props for it and then, suddenly, it just wasn't good enough anymore.

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-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)