Scott Savol, Left Holding the Baggy

It had to happen. It's just astonishing that it took eight long rounds of voting. Scott Savol had to be dismissed from "American Idol."

Had to.

There were many reasons why Savol could not win, the least of which was his inability to stay on pitch. Pop stars do not need perfect voices and one only has to listen to Jennifer Lopez or Mary J. Blige as proof. But they do need to be compelling. They need to have a stage presence so magnetic that they mesmerize the audience. The audience must want to emulate these performers -- dance like they do, dress like they do, sound like they do. They must idolize them.

Boxy jackets and oversize pants had Scott Savol looking ordinary to be idolized.(Ray Mickshaw - Fox)

Savol could not be the "American Idol" because he does not inspire mimicry. As judge Simon Cowell once noted, the inexplicably swaggering Savol was ordinary. Audiences might admire the chutzpah of an ordinary man. But they do not aspire to be him.

In one of the recorded interviews shown before his performance Tuesday night, Savol noted that one of his favorite things about his time on "American Idol" was having a fashion stylist select his clothes and help him look his best on television. Savol may have wanted to rethink some of that advice.

Savol was styled in a jarring puzzle of hip-hop cliches, business casual jackets and debate club eyeglasses. His jeans were oversize and with the kind of washed-out look that announces their designer credentials. His style signature became boxy jackets and loose-fitting camp shirts. He always seemed to be swimming in yards of fabric. Occasionally, he wore a suit jacket. It gave his shoulders more definition and made him look more polished. But then the next week he would be back in a baggy, striped shirt that looked like it had been cut from the same material as a lawn chair.

His glasses did not evoke nerd chic or artistic intellectualism. They certainly did not speak of rock star sex appeal. (See Usher. See Lenny Kravitz. See Bono. See the guy on the corner peddling eyewear.) Savol's glasses said, "I've managed to get you a larger deduction for your charitable giving."

Idols make the audience envious. Covetous. Savol inspired empathy. He darkened his hair and invested in a puddle of gel. He looked like a guy who was trying so very, very hard and not quite getting it right. The audience knows that guy. There's a million versions of that guy sitting at home watching "American Idol." Why idolize someone else for being what you already are?

In Savol's many performances, he had a tendency to wave his hands about in a self-conscious display of thug-boy gestures. All that was missing was a crotch grab and an exclamatory "Yo, yo!" The body language and the clothes and the hair did not give him a charming demeanor. Gesturing like you want to send a shout-out to your homies does not make sense while singing "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha."

Selecting an idol is a lot like choosing "America's Next Top Model." (And yes, it is startling to realize that life lessons can be teased from a show in which a model is lowered into an open grave and asked to convey "pride.") The first inclination is to assume all that matters is beauty -- or in the case of a singer, vocal skill. But it soon becomes clear that certain women end up on the covers of magazines and certain stars end up capturing the public's imagination not just because they meet the basic skill requirements but also because there is something extraordinary about them.

In moments of self-congratulatory political correctness, people claim they want to see more regular-looking people in fashion magazines. But they don't. They want to see impossibly good-looking people who can inspire them -- if only for a moment -- to accessorize with greater care and curl their eyelashes on a regular basis.

An idol must provide the same kind of inspiration. If the performer's voice can't transport an audience to fantasyland, then he must do it with charisma, clothes, body language -- all the elements that make up style. How lovely that an ordinary man heard the sound of applause and saw his name written in glitter on fans' poster boards. But being happy for him is not the same thing as wanting to be him.