SOME ANALYSIS FROM MSNBC.COM THAT I AGREE WITH AS TO WHY TAYLOR WON (I won't post the entire article, just the relevant portions )....
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12940569/ SNIP SNIP
The Birmingham native was a fan favorite from his first audition, and stayed above the fray throughout the season as the rest of the early leaders faltered. With a distinctive style and memorable voice, he was an easy choice to win the title.
That’s interesting, because the man behind “Soul Patrol” was the one finalist who totally defied convention. In searching for the next star to cast atop the pop-music landscape, the voters picked a winner with a style that’s hasn’t been found in the Top 40 in years.
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It was easy to see how the rest of the 12 finalists could find a niche on the airwaves: Pickler and Bucky Covington on country stations, Mandisa belting out gospel, Kevin Covais performing educational videos for the preschoolers watching Noggin, and so on. Hicks’ sound is more classic soul and R&B, which isn’t among the current priorities of the ClearChannel empire. That means it’s not heard on the radio very often.
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Perhaps that’s the point. The 63.4 million votes that led to his victory could be read as a signal that maybe not everyone is in the market for cookie-cutter pop music. Maybe the viewers are asking for some variety in their radio diet, rather than just another manufactured Jessica Simpson/Britney Spears clone.
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Or it could mean that millions of Americans just like a goofy guy with a Southern accent.
It all came down to Hicks and McPhee, and Hicks was clearly the more natural fit to join the established stars on stage. His central appeal is his ability to entertain, which is far more developed than any of the other contestants in “Idol” history. There have been numerous contestants in the five seasons of “American Idol” with more talent than Hicks, but nobody has come close to being as fun to watch.
That’s more than a gimmick, however, as Hicks proved in Tuesday’s final sing-off. Because he can move an audience, he can overcome obstacles like an original song that sounds like it was written in 1947. (“Do I Make You Proud?” Is the show getting its music ideas from the Self-Help section of Barnes & Noble?) That ability displayed the star potential that McPhee lacked, and it proved to be the difference.
In an earlier show, Rebecca Romijn, the supermodel-turned-movie-actress whose posters have hung in a generation of college men’s dorm rooms, requested nothing other than a Taylor Hicks encore. When a supermodel drags her fiancé (actor Jerry O’Connell) to a concert to hear you sing, that’s a clear sign that you’ve made it.
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