Singer Eben Franckewitz: American Idol 11 (2012) Spoilers and Predictions

Eben Franckewitz is a 15-year-old singer from Milford, OH. He is a contestant on the 11th season of American Idol. According to spoilers over at TheIdolPad website, Franckewitz has made the Top 24, which means he will sing for America's votes. Based on the current system, Eben only needs to get through that one round to make the Top 12. He could also get a wildcard, but that is somewhat unlikely for a 15-year-old contestant unless all of the other young contestants also fail to make the Top 12 on the public vote.

So far, there is too little information to give a strong prediction about how Eben will do. His initial audition, which was "Ain't No Sunshine," was very pretty and displayed perfect vocal control. At the same time, it was also unoriginal. Many people will love him just for his excellent vocal tone. Generally, though, that is not going to be enough to win American Idol. Something more is needed.

If he does not play instruments, perhaps Eben can choose more unique performances or find a way to twist a song to a different style. These are gimmicks to an extent (especially when basically "stealing" unique covers off of YouTube), but such performances often create buzz and could gain fans and votes.

Apparently, some people think Eben Franckewitz looks like Justin Bieber. Any kind of thing like that that increases memorability can get votes initially. Because he is somewhat memorable and likely able to deliver at least one near-perfect performance, Eben has a reasonable chance to make the Top 12. After that, the road will get much tougher. The only contestant who won with a style even remotely close to Eben's is Ruben Studdard, and Ruben seems to have a much stronger voice. Over the years, it has become very apparent that just singing well is not enough to win American Idol. You either need general popularity, artistry or something extra. While Eben has not shown that something else yet, it will be fun to see if he has that something special to make a run for the Idol Season 11 championship.

Sources:

TheIdolPad: American Idol 11 Contestant Spoilers