Ayla Brown's run on "American Idol" is over, and staff photographer Mark Stockwell and I have returned home from Hollywood. The difference is I planned to return home this weekend, and Ayla's elimination caught me by surprise. I know several local residents feel the same way. (Comment below in the blog)

From my short time on the West Coast I saw enough of the "Idol" workings and the city it takes place in to understand a little bit about why Brown got prematurely (as many people believe) voted off the competition. The show, like the city, is as much about style as it is substance, if not more so. Talent is only half of the necessary "Idol" package. The other half is some nebulous combination of appeal, charisma, popularity, and the quality that makes teenage girls nearly faint over Ace Young.

For whatever reason, Brown was lacking in one or more of those areas, at least in the eyes of a national audience.

I don't think there's any question about Brown's talent. She demonstrated that on a weekly basis. "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield, which Brown sang the Tuesday night before being eliminated, may have been a poor song choice. Then again it may not have been. The too-perfect image that "Idol" painted of Brown may have worked against her in the end. Or it could have been something else entirely. Maybe other contestants just seemed more "interesting."

If explanations came along with audience votes we might be better able to understand Thursday night's outcome. But they don't. We're left to guess about reasons why, while the answer floats somewhere in "Idol's" star-studded universe. Maybe what matters most is not so much ending, but what led up to it. An impressive run by a talented young singer. Hopefully Brown's unlikely return home will be a welcome one.