American Idol 2006--Live Thread (Part III)

Fox ^ | 5-8-06

[silent_jonny]

always for Tammy

[floridaobserver]

Simon tried to sabotage Taylor even to the very end. He told Taylor that he had already won the competition on Tuesday night. Taylor thinks Simon just said that to lull his fans not to bother voting for him, as his victory was considered a sure thing. Simon can be quite treacherous that way.

[misterrob]

He is a nice enough guy but offstage he is no social butterfly and somewhat reserved. The whole stage persona is just that, an act. I have heard absolutely nothing to suggest that he is not a genuine guy or a pretend friend to people. People had nothing but good things to say about him.

[merry10]

We were watching youtube and Simon also passed on Chris, initally!

[merry10]

I think Paula said that too, that he is very, very focused off stage. Watching some of the youtube stuff (husband says I am obsessed) the guys and Paris looked thrilled for him when he finished Do I Make You Proud, the first time.

[CajunConservative]

YUCK! Constantine needs to go away! His 15 minutes are so over.

[misterrob]

That boy needs a date with a bar of soap.

[SirLinksalot]

A must watch video:

MSNBC “Did Idol Get It Right?”

I’ve come to love the controversy. Taylor is stirring things up. If he were a cookie cutter American Idol talent he would be accepted graciously by the press but Taylor is different. He’s real, he’s got soul, he’s the “un-idol.”

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=a6ba47ba-6253-49c4-9123-3f4648277023&t=s5&f=06/64&p=hotvideo_viralvideos&GT1=8199

[over3Owithabrain]

Thanks for the MSNBC piece. Taylor seems to have brought out (yet again) the elitist snobbism of so much of the press. Not political this time, but cultural. The ivory-tower media types claim to hate the phony mass-media Britney Spears pop stars, but then they diss real people and heartfelt performers who appeal to the positive side of America.

[over3Owithabrain]

He is a nice enough guy but offstage he is no social butterfly and somewhat reserved. The whole stage persona is just that, an act. I have heard absolutely nothing to suggest that he is not a genuine guy or a pretend friend to people. People had nothing but good things to say about him.

Thanks for the inside scoop, MR! If indeed accurate (and I trust you that it is), I have absolutely no problem with that description of Taylor Hicks. It seems he took his mission to win AI, and his music, real seriously - as he should. But he appears to have class and treat others with respect. Those qualities should serve him well post-Idol.

[Sue Perkick]

ROFLOL. The Anti-Idol. I love it! It's about time.

[misterrob]

A man who is 29 years old, comfortable with his music, understands stage performing and is serious about his business would resemble the comments that I have heard about him. He allowed himself to get knocked off track by AI's backstage BS and Simon's comments for a bit but when he went back to being himself he simply owned the voting week to week.

[over3Owithabrain]

Yeah, it seemed that after Bocceli week when they jerked him around, he just decided to make or break his way.

From what you have seen and heard, do you project a lot of success for him going forward, beyond the initial Idol-boost? I know it's speculative at best, but please feel free to supply your take.

[misterrob]

On another note, has anyone gotten hold of the compilation CD that they have released? We bought it this weekend I have mixed reviews on it.

Taylor--Sounded great. A smokey version of Michael McDonald which is an improvement in my book.

Elliott--Did a great job on his Jazz piece. Hard song to sing but technically he was great. Not a winning single but a good addition to a Jazz type of album.

Chris--Not as good as Bon Jovi but a very solid piece.

Mandisa--Overmixed, Bandzilla effect, too much in the way of back up vocals. They did not do her justice.

Melissa McGhee--Good studio work but you could hear the limits of her voice. That said, she could likely do well as a country singer. Needs to work on her raspiness to introduce more of it into her song but I think she's rather sexy.

Pickler--Didn't hate it, didn't love it.

Paris--Sounded like a precocious 17 year old singing that song. She has major talent and potential but she needs for her voice to mature.

Lisa Tucker--Good vocalist but a bit too bubble gum for me. I'd like to see what happens when her voice gets older. I could hear a really nice girl singing that song.

Kevin Covais--The boy sounds Irish when he sings. Limited in his range and again the sound of a boy singing it.

Bucky Covington--Not the best song for him. Limited range hurts him. The parts when he steps up and growls into the song make him enjoyable.

McPhee--I passed on the song. Her act is old.

Ace Young--Passed on that one as well. I don't care for George Michael's music.

[misterrob]

I see Taylor having a loyal fan base that he can cultivate for several platinum selling albums. I don't know if he will ever have a 4-5 million selling album but I could be wrong. The vote totals are so horribly slanted by people voting several hundred times that it's hard to measure what is fan base looks like in terms of numbers. The single they gave him to work with is marginal so while he will have the benefit of a big pop from winning is it a keeper? Not in my book.

It really comes down to what they will allow him to do. If they give him room to collaborate on the music then he can stay true to himself and really appeal to a base of people that he can build on. If they try to just squeeze a quick album out of him to make a fast buck then he could be another Bo Bice who didn't sound like the guy that people really liked in season 4.

To market Taylor they need to get his music on adult oriented stations as well as into venues where older people tend to frequent like Starbucks for example. They can really move product. He is also going to have to tour like no tomorrow and pick venues where he can do his thing. Outdoor venues would be great as would things that are 7-10k capacity. I don't see him doing large arenas or a stadium any time soon except for sporting events where he can do the National Anthem or a good half-time show.

[Pure Country]

Kat not on it?

[misterrob]

It's there.....

I won't listen to her though

[gopheraj]

Oh Good Lord! I wonder if he gives her the "look"? Got her mesmerized like a snake. LOLOL

[sirchtruth]

In other words, Simon had to admit he was wrong about the finals because Taylor DID get there and everyone alrady knew Simon was wrong. LOL

Yes, but my simple point is Simon used his uppity attitude to move Taylor. People had been giving Simon positive feedback on him and such that Simon had to acknowledge Taylor had the whole package. I still insist that Simon LIKED Taylor's singing...and his "interesting" aspects and at the very least was constantly thinking about what it was about Taylor that made people like him. Just they way that Simon watched Taylor was very telling, because like you I believe that Simon didn't like Taylor's style, but he knew Taylor had something. AI better thank their lucky stars that Simon is on that show because Randy and Paula wouldn't have the gumption to tell someone they sucked, when they thought they did and needed to be told!

The only reason I keep bringing this up is because AI without Simon would only survive sporadically.

[sirchtruth]

He's laughing all the way to the bank, so I guess it's cool with him. The guy knows how to make money, but he doesn't know REAL American music if it kicked him in the bum.

This is why Simon understands marketability, it doesn't really matter what "he" likes or not.

Randy said it best, there duty as judges and mentors is to drive the contestants to do better, and that's exactly what Simon does because that's what takes him to the bank!

[EmilyGeiger]

Taylor Hicks will be on Regis and Kelli today and will be on Friday on the Ellen DeGeneris show.

Hope everyone is ok. :)