Taylor Hicks - The One In A Million Winner

As we gear up for Season 7 of American Idol, I wonder if we'll ever see a winner like Taylor Hicks again (or even a Top 10 contender). My gut tells me no way. He was definitely that one-in-a-millon contestant who had everything going for him and played every move strategically correct. Over 64 million phone votes were cast for Taylor on May 23, 2006.

He brought an excitement and passion to the AI stage that I have yet to see duplicated. He was everybody's underdog - that ultra charismatic slightly paunchy prematurely gray headed guy who wasn't afraid to show you the passion he had for his music. He presented himself as a good natured southern guy but with the grit and determination that just makes you want to root for. Let's not forget he headlined the most successful AI tour ever and Season 5, his season, had the highest TV viewership to date. This is not a coincidence, my friends.



I loved it when Paula said "this is the authentic Taylor". At the time, I said to myself, "Taylor is playing this game brilliantly! He's tapping into the viewers good natured, have-a-good-time-make-you-wanna-vote-for-him heartstring! But if we look underneath the surface, her comment didn't do him any favors in his post Idol success and certainly Simon's snark about him being the perpetual wedding singer hasn't done any favors either. I hate to keep repeating this, but this perception of the wild and crazy singer/dancer is still dogging him, I believe, and he is on an uphill road to get that tag off of his back.

The truth is that the real Taylor Hicks is a serious, extremely hard-working talented musician, songwriter and singer, who puts every ounce of his being into his performances. During Idol, many took this as a goofy throw-back, but in actuality, he used his unconventional style to gain a huge fan base and springboard his career to pursue the kind of music he wanted. That HE wanted, not the Top 40 niche artist Clive Davis wants out of this talent show. Stubborn? Yes? Savvy? You betcha! Smart? Damn right!

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), he's become the black sheep of 'the AI family' because he refused and is still refusing to be manipulated by the powers that be. Whether or not he ever becomes a huge selling recording artist, a pop star that lands in tabloids, or bucks his own vision just to sell those "units", he is creating a long term career based on real cloth, not synthetic fabric. Long after the musical trends change and those who are big today are long gone tomorrow, I firmly believe Taylor will still be out there performing his heart out to his fans, doing it his way. He came into the show as his own man, and will continue on as his own man - and I wouldn't want it any other way.

You can be sure you will not see the likes of a Taylor Hicks again on that American Idol stage. The producers will make sure of that. He was too good for it anyway. Cheers!

So, What's Taylor Hicks Been Up To Lately?

First off, let's get one thing straight. Taylor Hicks is one of today's most talented straight to the heart authentic soul, funk, pop and acoustic artists. He is not a prepackaged, formulated, or manufactured 'pop music puppet' American Idol is known for loving and promoting. He represents real music, folks - not a computer generated pop idol.

Taylor is currently on a performing hiatus as he prepares for his second major label CD on JRecords, scheduled for release later in 2008. It is also rumored he will be doing an acoustic tour early next year. In the meantime, he has a brand new DVD that will be released shortly in both HD and regular formats, entitled "Whomp At The Warfield", that was filmed at the historic Warfield Theater in San Francisco on May 9, 2007. Release date is yet to be set, but should be released before the end of the year. Hopefully many of you saw this when it aired on HDNET TV earlier this in October. This high-impact 83 minute concert showcases a dynamic 7-piece funk band and includes six of his original tunes: The Deal, Hold Onto Your Love, Soul Thing, My Friend and Heart & Soul, as well as moving and touching acoustic performance of The Fall, a tune that he wrote when he was only 19 years old. That song can be previewed on Taylor's myspace page(www.myspace.com/taylorhicks). We urge you to listen to that song because we think this is the direction Taylor is moving towards in the next phase of his musical journey. We also urge you to do yourself a favor and purchase a copy of Whomp At The Warfield. It's pure joy!

Taylor Hicks in Concert