American Idol's Top 24 : My Take on Season 5 (VANITY)

02/27/2006 | Sirlinksalot

[new cruelty]

From the little I've seen of the show, you are right, Taylor Hicks does stand out, and in a good way.

[ansel12]

The show is very upfront about not looking for the best singer. Simon has often pointed out when someone has talent but not the look, that the show is looking for the whole package, a good singer that has the marketability to become a pop song commercial hit among teens.

[cowboyway]

This post proves that there is balance in the universe.

I've never watched a single episode of Idol ever and it appears that you haven't missed a second in the last 5 years.

[StrictTime]

(...rewind Quentin Tarantino's comments about Diana Degarmo in season 3 after she sang the theme from the Titanic ).

Could you refresh my memory? Couldn't find it in Google (although there were numerous references to the re-taping of QT's "f-in power house!" critique.

[paudio]

Good review. Thanks. I think Taylor may go far. Apart from him, my other favs are Kathrine, William, and Patrick. I think a guy will win this year.

I don't like Kellie. Her 'innocence' doesn't seem to be real. Never sing accompanied by a piano or a band? Come on...

[conservativebabe]

Excellent analysis.

On the AI live thread, we call Kevin Covais, Pee Wee. He is a little man with a big voice, and he and Taylor Hicks are my personal favorites for the guys at this point.

Paris is good, but annoying to me. I predict she will hang for a little while, but when people start voting, her bubbly squeaky personality will become grating to most.

Same with Brenna. Just not at all likeable.

Becky O'Donahue is drop-dead gorgeous, but in my opinion, is pretty weak in the voice. She should be on magazine covers and would make a great Revlon spokesmodel.

Katharine McPhee has the best voice and "it" factor package in my opinion, but Kellie Pickler has the story and the All-American girl look about her. Unfortuantely, for Kellie, her twin one last time around.

[edcoil]

What are their chances of winning ?

1 in 23


Do I pass?

[Wyatt's Torch]

You are right. Taylor Hicks is an original and completely out of the pop mainstream mold which is exactly why he has zero chance of winning. I love him, he's my favorite and I'd buy his record. But he is not the formulaic marketing star that they want to pump out millions of boring and unoriginal music to the masses. That is who wins this. It is not a singing competition, it is a marketing competition.

BTW, I've watched every episode of every season as I love music and love watching people perform to the best of their abilities. But this is not about the best singer/artist. Unfortunately.....

Also, as a dedicated fan of Bo last year, I was appaled at the complete lack of originality of his record. Sounds like every other "rock" song you'd hear on a top 40 station. I;m sure he had no choice as the "producers" and "A&R" men know best....right?

[SirLinksalot]

Could you refresh my memory? Couldn't find it in Google (although there were numerous references to the re-taping of QT's "f-in power house!" critique.

Quentin Tarantino liked Diana Degarmo's rendition of MY HEART WILL GO ON during movie night ( that's the theme song of the TITANIC if you remember). His one main complaint was that she was too technical with the song. Not enough emotion. He felt that there was a "glass wall" between him and Diana.

And here's the thing folks -- It is possible to be technically polished without putting your heart into a song. The audience are not automatons when they listen to you. They are people with heart and soul so if you wanna connect, you have to deliver more than technical polish. Diana got it in the end. Hopefully, Lisa Tucker will too. Diana was 16 when she joined the competition ( she is now a grown 18 year old performer on Broadway's HAIRSPRAY ). That was exactly the same age as Lisa Tucker is now.

[SirLinksalot]

Also, as a dedicated fan of Bo last year, I was appaled at the complete lack of originality of his record. Sounds like every other "rock" song you'd hear on a top 40 station. I;m sure he had no choice as the "producers" and "A&R" men know best....right?

You've hit the nail right on the head my friend. What happened to Bo could well happen to someone as polished and experienced as Taylor Hicks.

As a huge fan of Taylor Hicks -- I find myself in a dilemma at this point in time. Why is that you might ask ? Well, on one hand, I want him to go far in the competition -- FAR ENOUGH TO GAIN NATIONAL PRMINENCE. BUT NOT FAR ENOUGH TO WIN.

Let me explain why ...

Simon calls him VERRY INTERESTING ( he even made this comment to Paula and Randy : 'Part of me asks 'what is he doing her, yet another part wants to know what he's going to do next ..'), and I believe I know why — It's because he doesn't know quite what to expect from Taylor based on his personality and style.

Here is the 64 dollar question --- What is Taylor going to do during performance time ? He's obviously a pro musician, he's got an interesting SOULFUL voice (not of the pop genre) and he seems pretty fearless. What will he do when some theme night doesn't fit his BLUES/SOUL style ? What will he sing when he hits say, DISCO NIGHT ???? THAT IS WHY SIMON IS CURIOUS.

So, folks, Taylor has a dilemma…. which is also a dilemma for someone who is a huge fan of his, namely —- ME.

If he pulls back to blend in, he might get further in the competition. But in doing so, he might be selling out his personal style.

Does he want to win this thing and get saddled with some crappy 19E pop album? Or does he want to be himself…16 year old voters be damned….and gain a smaller, but more appropriate audience for his own music by sticking it out for a few episodes ? *THAT* my friends, is my question.

That is why Simon said what he said — HE WANTS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS as a learning experience in the music industry. This is just something he never expected and has not seen before.

I don't think Taylor should even be on American Idol, but I love that he is and I love that's he's awesomely divisive and I think he's going to prove himself to be pretty incredible next week. I think the fact that he's such an oddity for AI is exactly why they've let him through. Simon knows he'll have lots of fans as well as detractors ( expecially the teen crowd ) --- and this divisive phenomena WILL increase ratings.

My dilemma is I want him to gain the widest exposure so that some major record label (preferably NOT 19 entertainment) that UNDERSTANDS his genre will discover him and sign him so that he can CREATE the sort of music that people like me love and appreciate (to heck with the Justin Timberlake crowd, they are a dime a dozen too many ).

So I concur wholeheartedly with those who hopes he doesn't win but goes DEEP.

It would be terrible and a real "nails on the chalkboard" moment for him to win and on coronation night, forced to sing one of those Dianne Warren songs like : "A MOMENT LIKE THIS" or "ANGELS BROUGHT ME HERE". YUCK ( can you imagine Otis Redding singing songs like these ??). I DREAD HAVING TO SEE THIS. It would be like forcing Pavaroti to do rap.

[weegee]

The gags on the Monkees were funnier. And you could count on hearing new rock songs by sold songwriters (Carole Kind, Neil Diamond...)

[ansel12]

The monkees are a favorite of mine. We began by mocking those Beatle rip-offs, but they proved to be such good guys and their music so pleasing, they won us over. They ended up earning a place as a true band of the 60s.

[weegee]

And "Not Your Stepping Stone" became an anthem for high school garage band "Rolling Stones" wannabe toughs.

Many covered copies were recorded on vinyl.

The Monkees did eventually learn to play their instruments and write their own songs. Wasn't what they were hired to do but they did it. I think that Head is better at deconstructing their packaging than 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.

[weegee]

sold should have read "solid"

[Wolfstar]

Er...not to be picky, SirLinksalot, but unless you use the screen name Houster over on KellyClarksonExpress.com, your unattributed review above is a rip-off. Here's the link to Houster's review. With the exception of some minor editing, what you posted above is identical to what appears at KCE.

p101.ezboard.com/fkellyclarksonexpressfrm9.showMessage?topicID=884.topic

[smith288]

Carrie Underwood chose her own songs on her record, and most likely, Bo did too. Perhaps Bo just picked very safe songs or wasnt as sure of himself?

[FreedomForce]

I'm hoping Taylor Hicks does well, too. Here's a link to one of his songs. He's good. A couple more of his songs and an interview can be found at this website(wbhm.org/Tapestry/bands/TaylorHicks.html)

http://wbhm.org/songs/Soul%20Thing.mp3

[Hildy]

We're going to see who really votes in this competition...I don't believe older people vote, like, a thousand times like the younguns do. If they do, Taylor will win. But I suspect that Ace, because of the young girls out there, will be the one to beat.

[plushaye]

Taylor is amazing. He has the most amazing throwback song we've heard in years, and he's like a breath of fresh air in the AI competition. He's some strange cross between Joe Cocker, and Ray Charles and he sings soul music straight out of his soul. Have you heard his version of "Georgia on my Mind"? It's incredible. He'll have to sing that on the show closer to the finals.

The big secret is he doesn't only sing soul music. He's not a niche artist. With his band he sings a wide variety of pop with a soul-edged tone. Check out what little we saw of "First Cut is the Deepest" and "Ain't No Sunshine".
Powerful stuff. Tonight he sings Elton John's "Levon". That's a superpowerful evocative ballad that is part of his band repertoire. It's ambitious to go after Elton on that classic, but with his voice he could probably pull it off extremely well.

As for me, I've never watched any reality show before this year. Not Survivor, not AI, or anything else. I got hooked to AI in January through my daughter's watching it. Now I can't get enough of hearing Taylor. He's quirky, and strange, and phenomenal. He's on the brink of superstardom. The yahoo buzz is real. There's a huge grassroots fan movement that's sprung up to push him further up in the competition. As Simon Cowell is now admitting, Taylor is going to go far - very far indeed.