Taylor Hicks - Season 5

[Muduh]

Justice may or may not be Taylor winning. Justice is that Taylor's Soul Patrol - a group of loyal followers who will still be around when all of the other contestants' fans move on - has grown from hundreds to millions.

So are you saying that Taylor is the only one who has fans with staying power? If so, how could we possibly know that at this point? The idols that I've been a fan of, I still am and I have to assume that I'm not alone.
Also, we actually have no way of getting an accurate head count as to how many fans each idol has, do we?

[bbnbama]

Nope, unfortunately I wasn't there today...some of us unlucky bums have to work! Got these pics off the B'ham Fox website...

[echo226]

Everyone knows about the contracts, nothing new there. Nowhere did I say that he was not required to sing. However this was not an impromptu thing, despite that little banter between Ryan and that other guy. I've watched enough reality TV to know that stuff like a performance is always scripted. Nobody sings out of the blue, or is told "Maybe you'll sing if Rebecca picks you".

It was not a favor, no. It was what we call around here "pimping" and it's a double edged sword. It's pushing a person, positioning a person for a certain advantage. What I said is that with Chris gone, I see TPTB needing to establish a new frontrunner firmly and that I see Taylor as malleable, as in eagerly wanting to be in the frontrunner position that they are placing him in, for lack of a better word. I don't think he'll make too many waves in the future either.
Or maybe TPTB are trying to ensure a backlash. Either way he's being "pimped".

All understood including the term "pimping" as used here. I certainly wasn't faulting you ... but responding to my worry that, like you, many people might begin to resent Taylor when none of it was his choice or fault ... and pointing out that being pimped is not usually pleasant for the pimpee ( is that a word ? )

In any case, I think they may be positioning him (Taylor) for a backlash rather than as the frontrunner. In fact, Paula is now publicly pimping Elliott and taking credit for his favor rising.

In a perfect world, everyone would simply get one vote and they would vote for their favorite and noone would be pimped. But that would be boring and leave us with little to talk about.

Thanks for responding.

[delia88]

In a perfect world, everyone would simply get one vote and they would vote for their favorite and noone would be pimped.

I really wish they would do this. If they would go to one vote per phone, they could pimp 'til the cows come home and it wouldn't bother me. And I think the one vote per phone scenario would also cut back on a lot of the vicious backbiting amongst fanbases.

Of course, they never will ....how else would they and their partners in crime, Cingular, make millions off people buying Go phones, buying texting packages and racking up hundreds of 10-cent-each text messages?

[echo226]

I really wish they would do this. If they would go to one vote per phone, they could pimp 'til the cows come home and it wouldn't bother me. And I think the one vote per phone scenario would also cut back on a lot of the vicious backbiting amongst fanbases.

Of course, they never will ....how else would they and their partners in crime, Cingular, make millions off people buying Go phones, buying texting packages and racking up hundreds of 10-cent-each text messages?

As said ... in a perfect world ... and nothing is perfect and that's a perfect example.

[Enya Windo]

Here's a new article about Taylor's early years from an interview with his parents
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...605120304/1005
May 12, 2006
Alabama 'Idol' has long love of stage

By Desiree Hunter, The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM -- Brad Hicks fondly recalls the time he and wife Linda settled down for dinner at a small Mexican restaurant in Birmingham years ago and spied a curiously familiar face on stage with the band.

That lanky frame and thick mop of hair, the way the young man jerked around as he coaxed sweet melodies from the mouth harp at his lips -- the mysterious musician could only be their son, Taylor, who was supposed to be at home.

"Linda looked up and said, 'Well, there's Taylor,' " Brad Hicks reminisced recently from the family's home in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover. "When he was 15 or 16 he would sneak into bars and play harmonica." I love it!

With his distinctive dance moves and soulful singing, the 29-year-old Hicks has provided some of the more unpredictable performances this season, like his failed attempt to topple a microphone stand while singing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the April 11 show.

Antics like that and his trademark silver hair are what make Hicks a favorite, says Birmingham fan Pat Hummel, who's been attending Taylor Hicks Band performances for the last 18 months.

"What people are seeing on TV, that to me, that's really Taylor," she said. "He gives it his all. He just lets go, he just has a good time."

It goes on to say Taykor was born in Birmingham but the family moved to Hoover, a suburb, when he was still a young boy. When he was 8 his parents got divorced and his father and stepmother, Linda, share custody. Taylor's half brother, Sean, plays trumpet in the Georgia Tech. jazz band, so I guess music runs in the family.

Taylor is 6-foot-1, played varsity basketball in high school and his dad says "He was an athlete and he just loves sports. ... He loves to eat too -- we all do. But he's lost weight out there. He's a meat-and-potatoes boy. Sushi's great and all that, but he'd like some greens and some potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and iced tea." He's lost weight on Idol? From the pics I've seen he looks heavier than during the audition and semifinals. But with a diet like that, I'm surprised he's not 20 lb. heavier! (I guess the workout he gets on stage burns off a lot of those home cookin' calories!)

[Brad]Hicks, a dentist, remembers the performances Taylor would put on when he tagged along with him to work as a boy.

"Here's this skinny little kid -- he'd walk around to each person and say, 'You want me to sing for you?' and then he'd just wail on Kenny Rogers," he said laughing. "What adult is going to say 'No' to a 5-year-old kid?"

It also says he's been doing all kinds of dancing since he was a kid and was close to getting a bachelor's degree in business at Auburn University when he dropped out to pursue his music full time.

[razorbacker]

In a perfect world, everyone would simply get one vote and they would vote for their favorite and noone would be pimped. But that would be boring and leave us with little to talk about.

Thanks for responding.[/QUOTE]

In a perfect world the 3 Idiot judges would quit publicly picking a favorite. They would concentrate on judging the singing & performing abilities & let the public vote. Instead, they have to pimp certain individuals & that is coming back to haunt them more this year than it ever has in tha past.

[OldSchoolBabe]

"You Are So Beautiful" is confirmed. The "Desperado" pick by Simon was just some poster on another board making stuff up - like that never happens for spoilers.

[razorbacker]

"You Are So Beautiful" is a little repetitive. It was never one of my favorite Joe Cocker songs.

[angelic_one2002]

Oooohh..I like "You Are So Beautiful" for a slow pretty ballad. I think this song will give his voice lots of potential. It's slow..he doesn't have to rush through, and it's very emotional..kind of his style.