American Idol: Simon Cowell Was Wrong About Taylor Hicks!
For much of the competition, Simon Cowell has been getting it wrong about Taylor Hicks. When the charismatic judge first saw Taylor Hicks in Las Vegas, he was against sending him through to the next round and told Taylor Hicks that Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul “will not put you in the final group to be judged by the public.” Cowell probably took one look at the nearly thirty year old, slightly chubby, gray-haired singer and thought it was too late for this guy to ever have any type of substantial career.
Of course Simon Cowell turned out to be wrong, and the judges did put Taylor Hicks through to be judged by the American public. After a semi-final performance of “Levon,” Simon Cowell even seemed to be coming around and admitted his error saying “I said in the beginning, if you remember, I didn’t think you should make the finals of this competition, I was wrong.”
However, during the early stages of the top twelve finalists competition, it became obvious to many viewers that Taylor Hicks was not Simon Cowell’s favorite. While Simon Cowell would sometimes begrudgingly acknowledge how good a singer that Taylor Hicks was, he constantly criticized his dancing style, ridiculed his wardrobe, and made insinuations of intoxication. While the true motives of Simon Cowell are often a mystery, the perception among many fans was that Simon Cowell did not like Taylor Hicks because he did not look marketable.
However, looks can often be deceiving. When a nerdy looking guy named Clay Aiken auditioned in Atlanta, Georgia, there probably weren’t many that imagined he would eventually finish second in the competition (and go on to have the most successful career of any of the competitors that season). Even though vocally the two singers sound nothing alike, there is one large similarity between Taylor Hicks and Clay Aiken.
Both Taylor Hicks and Clay Aiken have extremely loyal and supportive fan bases. There is something about seeing a singer that probably wouldn’t have a chance otherwise make it on American Idol that can build a strong level of support among fans. How many executives would have given a geeky looking Clay Aiken or a gray haired Taylor Hicks the time of day? In fact, Taylor Hicks had been trying to make it in the music industry for years and at his age, American Idol was likely his last chance. At its best, American Idol takes the decision of who will make it out of the hands of executives who think they know what America wants and puts it in the hands of the American public.
Even though Simon Cowell jumped on the Taylor Hicks bandwagon and proclaimed him as the favorite after Chris Daughtry was eliminated, Cowell seems to still not completely get what makes Taylor Hicks so special to his fans. After Taylor Hicks gave one of the most exciting performances in Idol history with “Living For The City,” Simon Cowell couldn’t resist taking another shot at Hicks wardrobe calling his purple jacket “arguable the worst jacket I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Where Simon Cowell is still getting it wrong is that he is criticizing part of what creates the mystique of Taylor Hicks. The unusual wardrobes, the crazy dancing, the head bopping screaming out of “Soul Patrol” is all part of what Hicks' fans love about him. Perhaps more than any other Idol finalist, Taylor Hicks sends the message “I’m here for my fans, and I’m going to do what I think is best for me and my fans, and nobody’s going to change me.” Taylor Hicks has a special connection with his fans that builds trust and creates a level of support so strong that he could do an album that defies what is normally accepted in mainstream music and it would be tremendously successful. Great singers don’t conform to molds, they make the molds and often redefine the type of music that becomes popular to the public at large.
By the end of competition, Simon Cowell did finally get it right for once. After Taylor’s performance of the new single “Do I Make You Proud,” Simon Cowell declared “assuming that I was right that the show was tied, then you just won American Idol.” Perhaps, Cowell finally realized that a singer doesn’t have to look like an Idol to be an Idol. America doesn’t need another cookie-cutter pop artist. America needs a Taylor Hicks in all his crazy dancing, purple jacket wearing, harmonica playing, soul singing glory.
Sure...and this time next year you'll be asking "Taylor who?" If talent was gray hair he'd have a lot of it. But it isn't and he doesn't.
Cowell was right about one thing: he said when Hicks dances around he looks like the drunk dad at a wedding.