Taylor Hicks: American Idol 2006

I gotta say though, I wasn't all that upset when Taylor won last night. I guess it's just because it was pretty much a given that he was going to win so it wasn't really surprising. It certainly wasn't like Carrie/Bo last year. Hopefully he'll actually have a career and not turn into the next Ruben.

I actually thought that the finale was really, really good last night. This was the first time that it was just a big celebration about the whole season and was a great way to cap it off. I loved all of the performances and the Golden Idol awards. But let's talk about the guests that they had. How sad is it that you get 12 unknown kids on stage and they all outsing the so-called "legends" of the music industry. Let's start with Meatloaf. What the hell was that? Singing? I think not. How about creating a vibrato by shaking the mic? I felt so bad for Kat , who clearly sounded much much better than Meatloaf but had to put on a performance with him.

Then there was Mary J. Blige. Someone needs to teach that bitch the meaning of a duet. It's a fucking DUET! That means two people sing together, not you jump in front of him and sing (pretty crappy I might) so no one can see or hear your partner. Elliott was sounding amazing on One (I wish he would have pulled that out during the competition sometime) and Blige comes out and ruins what could have been the best song of the night. I remember she even pulled that shit with Bono and turned their duet into a solo. Bitch, it ain't your song! At least Elliott sounded much better than she did too.

Toni Braxton. Can she sing? I don't know because I couldn't hear a word that was coming out of her mouth. Maybe next time she'll stop dressing like slut and stop trying to molester her duet partner and actually try to sing. She was so out of breath it was sad. At least Taylor got felt up though.

Dionne Warwick. Now this is supposedly a music icon. But when you get 12 young singers standing next to you and you can barely get enough air to get the words out you're not going to sound good. Especially when you go for that last big note and you're FLAT! Oh man was she flat. I don't even know if she was flat, she just may have been in a completely different song (senility sucks!). That note was no where near what the rest of the group is singing. I cringed.

Prince was awesome and was very much a surprise. I know that they have been wanting to get him on the show all season and I was shocked when he walked out at the end of the finale. That was great! I hope that he comes back next season and they do a Prince week. I'm not really a fan of "artist theme weeks" but I think a Prince week would be fun. He's got a lot of great songs to choose from.

I loved the Bacharat medley and was even shocked when Bucky sang. He sounded really good (what?!). I liked the guys/girls medleys as well. It was funny to see Clay's wannabe freak out when Clay walked out behind him on stage (what's up with Clay's hair? I mean, he's gay now. He should have better fashion sense then that.) and it was nice to hear Clay busting out a song again. Damn, that boy can still sing. Too bad his CD sucks though. Carrie sounded amazing on her current single and I loved seeing her sing with Taylor, Kat and the rest of the top 12.

Overall, it was a great show. I'm sad it's over because now I have to wait until Jan for it start all over again. But at least I know my tivo is ready to go. :)

Wanted: Idol or Alive

Unless you live under a rock you've heard about my little obsession with American Idol. As you may or may not know, the Top 10 American Idol contestants tour after the show ends (which occurred tonight) and every year I have been in attendance, in a wonderful floor seat. To my horror, I missed the 1/2 hour window to get my ticket to the show and now I am left numb and forlorn.

People, let me get to the point.

RYAN NEEDS A TICKET TO THE AMERICAN IDOL TOUR.

Now a gift of this nature would obviously be accepted, but I am definitely willing to pay as well. But I do have my pride and I just can't justify spending equal money on an AI Tour ticket as some people are paying to see Mariah or Madonna (i.e. I'm not going to pay over $100).

So how can you aid in this worthy cause?

Beg, borrow, steal...lie, cheat, deceive...sell your body, soul, mind. Really whatever it takes, you know I'm right there beside you. That's how deep my Idol-sickness runs. So spare me the snide remarks or tepid jokes (I know most laugh at my TV love) and "try a little tenderness" (bonus point if you can name the TWO Idols who have sang a song with this lyric).

But if you have a heart, help a brother out.

:(

The Finale Part 2

So being at the finale today was pretty fun. I saw a ton of old Idols that were there. Unfortunately, No Pubes wasn't there but Federov was. I saw him a lot. I also saw Nadia, George Huff, LaToya, JPL (so not cute), Constantine, Will Makar and Patrick Hall from this season, and all of the Top 12. It seems like they're all coming out for this finale.

Judging just off of the audience reaction in the room, Taylor won this thing by a landslide. He has so many fans that were screaming everytime he got on stage. There was even a time when people were booing when Simon said that Kat just "tied it up". People definitely want him to win.

Now in terms of tonite's show, I actually think that Kat had the better performance. Taylor won the first round (bad choice for Kat), but she sang circles around him with Over the Rainbow in round 2. Now, round 3 was the important one. Both songs pretty much sucked ass. Kat's was horrid. I can't believe that was what they chose. It may be almost as bad as Inside my Vagina but not quite. you can tell that she didn't even like the song but at least she sounded good on it (except for a couple of bum notes up on top). Taylor's song was a little better but he was all over the place vocally. Watching it back on tv you can't really tell because it was drowned out, but he wasn't on key for the entire 1st verse. And then that horrible high note at the end of the song, yeesh! I would give that round to Kat and call her the winner. However, based on the crowd I am almost 100% positive that Taylor's going to run away with this thing. I don't even think it's going to be close (that's how many fans he had there). Oh well, at least the season was really fun. I'm already looking forward to next year.

The Finale

So let's do a quick recap of last week. It really sucks that Elliott was eliminated because I sincerely think he wants it the most. He wears his heart on his sleeve and you can tell that he was really touched about everything that was happening to him. He would have been an amazing Idol. But alas, we're left with Kat and Taylor.

So that brings us to tonite. From what I've been reading they each have a different Idol single (like Clay and Ruben) and will sing two previous songs from the season along with their new single. I'm really excited to hear what they come up for the new singles (especially Taylor's). I'm sure Kat's will be a ballad much like "I Believe" from Season 3. I have no idea what they'll give Taylor since his style is so unique. But will these songs help determine the winner? Sappy ballads are easier to pull off for women so I think Kat would have the advantage, but if someone wrote a bluesy kind of song for Taylor he might be able to pull that off even better. It's going to be exciting.

What's even more exciting is that I'm going to be there tonite!! A friend of mine got tickets to tonite's show and invited me yesterday afternoon. This will be the first time that I see the show at the Kodak so I'm really pumped for that. I can just imagine how much more intense it's going to be. I just hope we actually get in (the tickets aren't guaranteed) but since it's the Kodak I think they'll be able to accomodate. I'm just bummed we couldn't get tickets for tomorrow instead but hey, at least all of the Top 12 (and a lot of celebs) will be there tonite as well. It's going to be fun.

My pick? I'm rooting for Kat. From the very beginning I said that she was going to win. Even though I'm not a huge fan of hers I still like her better than Taylor so I'm going to stay with my pick and hope she pulls it off. However, I think Taylor will probably end up taking it all.

IMHO

If I were in charge of the Season Finale, I would re-unite Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini and do some duets with Katharine & Taylor. Mix it up the four in different combinations... guaranteed success.

And it would be a nice gesture of American Idol to help Justin on a come-back after they did such an awful job promoting his first album.

I'll leave the recap of the Top 3 to the masterful wordsmith Jesse...

Top 12 Compilation CD

The season is drawing to a close and as always we are treated to the Idols recording some of their best audition/performance songs on the American Idol Season 5 Encores CD, available May 23 (same day as the Finale).

Here's a track-by-track listing (those in bold are the ones I agree with):

1. "What About Love" - Melissa McGee
2. "Superstition" - Bucky Covington
3. "I'm Every Woman" - Mandisa
4. "Wanted Dead or Alive" - Chris Daughtry
5. "Father Figure" - Ace Young
6. "Takin' It to the Streets" - Taylor Hicks
7. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" - Lisa Tucker
8. "Walkin' After Midnight" - Kellie Pickler
9. "Moody's Mood for Love" - Elliott Yamin
10. "Think" - Katharine McPhee
11. "Midnight Train to Georgia" - Paris Bennett
12. "When I Fall in Love" - Kevin Covais

Shocked as Hell!

Wow! I really can't believe that happened. I mean, everyone was so worried about Kat leaving (or trying to keep Elliott in) that Chris somehow fell through the cracks. In a way, it's good because now people can stop saying that the show is rigged and the producers ultimately decides who leaves each week because everyone knew that Chris was going to be the winner. But it just sucks that the most distinct personality in the competition is gone. I was very shocked and sad last night. And for the first time in all the Idol seasons I almost cried when he voted off. At least Chris is going to get an offer to be the lead singer of a major band tonite on Extra (I'm guessing it's still Fuel) so he's got opportunities already. He'll do well.

So now we have Taylor, Elliott and Kat left. My prediction is that Elliott and Kat are going to the finals and I think Elliott is going to win. I don't see Chris' votes going to Kat since she was the one that beat in him out in the end. And I don't see his votes going to Taylor since they've been pitted against each other from the beginning. So that only means that they're going to Elliott. And that huge fanbase to his constanly growing fanbase and I think that's going to be enough for him to surge ahead and into the finals. Once there, I think he's going to the get the "underdog" vote and come out on top of the competition. He'll be the first dark horse to win the competition.

I gotta say, beginning with this week this competition became very intense and unpredictable. It's going to be really tough next week. I'm excited to see how everyone performs and what ultimately happens.

Poll Results (Elvis Week)