Simon Cowell was on Oprah today and again force fed the audience his acid pablum about how American got it "wrong" picking Taylor in Season 5. To add insult to injury, he then trotted out his money tool hopeful Leona Lewis from England for his American brainwashing. To that, Mr. Cowell, I submit my visual response (and America's) to your never ending pile of oral bullshit on the left.
And while I'm at it, here's a nice little blurb from the Masterclass Vocal website, who is still touting Taylor's singing skills two years later. Take that Mr. Cowell. Rosanne Simunovic writes:
I always take artistry into major consideration when evaluating the singers. Very important and, yes, Idolina, Brian Melo was a great example of this.
So was Taylor Hicks. He didn’t have the strongest voice, but was a master at interpretation. Also, he really knew how to entertain and stimulate his audience. He had great respect for the music and the listeners.
Okay onto some GREAT news on the Taylor Hicks front! We have more collaboration news from Nashville! Seems songwriter Zane Williams from Big Yellow Dog Music Publishing had an encounter with Taylor a few weeks ago. According to his write up over here, "Another fun surprise happened a couple weeks ago when fellow Big Yellow Dog writer Pat Mclaughlin introduced me to his co-writer up at the office, who happened to be Taylor Hicks. His season on American Idol was the only one I really watched on a regular basis, and I thought he was a really unique presence, so it was interesting to meet him in person!".
Pat's music seems like a perfect fit for Taylor in that it's a little bit country, blues, r&b, soul and pop all meshed into one - not to mention the guy sounds exactly like Taylor's hero Van Morrison.
McLaughlin's compositions have been recorded by a jaw-dropping array of artists including Bonnie Raitt, Alan Jackson, Taj Mahal, Trisha Yearwood, Al Kooper, Nanci Griffith, Josh Turner, Shawn Camp and Don Williams. Gary Allan recorded Pat's "Songs About Rain," securing yet another BMI Country Award for McLaughlin. An in-demand studio musician, Pat's guitar "chunking" finessed projects by Jamie Hartford, Rosanne Cash, Julie Roberts, Don Williams, Al Cooper, Shawn Camp, Cowboy Jack Clement, Neil Diamond and many more.
Check out a couple of these sites from more information on Pat McLaughlin:
http://www.bigyellowdogmusic.com/patMcLaughlin.html
http://www.patmclaughlin.com/Sounds-Discography.php
http://www.myspace.com/patmclaughlinrocks
http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/234438
Pat on The David Letterman Show a few years ago:
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