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New American Idol: Taylor Hicks

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Howard Cohen, The Miami Herald

May 25--It's Hicks.

Soul Patrol doused the flames of McPheever as Taylor Hicks, the prematurely gray, spastic-dancing, whiskey tenor who delighted millions of American Idol viewers this wildly popular fifth season, earned the title only four others have known before.

His victory Wednesday night on the Fox series came before an estimated worldwide viewing audience of 200 million on a season finale featuring a can-you-believe-it surprise performance from Prince. Surpassing the Boston Conservatory-schooled Katharine McPhee, Taylor, 29, bags the recording contract, lead placement on the Idols Tour (coming to Sunrise's BankAtlantic Center Aug. 5) and bragging rights as the oldest, most unusual Idol yet.

Consider: How many other gray-haired, pudgy pop stars pushing 30 are there?

None.

While Katharine certainly had the ravishing looks of an Idol and worked the cameras to her advantage, America cast a record 63.4 million votes to make their choice -- "More than any president has ever received," gushed host Ryan Seacrest -- opting instead for the unorthodox singer channeling Ray Charles yet performing like "a drunken dad at a wedding," according to acerbic judge Simon Cowell -- who initially didn't even want Taylor in the final 12.

BETTER RATINGS

For students of pop culture, American Idol: Season Five proved a petri dish of, well, something fascinating to observe.

After all, ratings grew 14 percent over last season, with an average weekly audience of 30.3 million viewers -- surprising growth for a mature program.

The show even held our interest despite its lack of scandals. Remember, last year, judge Paula Abdul had to defend herself against sordid accusations from a former contestant. Meanwhile, two finalists -- Bo Bice and Scott Savol -- had their run-ins with the law exposed late in the game.

This year, such nasty business was confined to early auditions when the obnoxious Brittenum brothers were axed when charges of forgery and identity theft surfaced, and when a gay-rights organization had a knee-jerk overreaction to Simon's just criticism of a tone-deaf transgendered candidate.

The only scandal that mattered this go-round was favorite Chris Daughtry's early dismissal in fourth place. Most figured the gifted rocker had to be a lock for the finals.

And how's this for a shocker? The bloated two-hour finale from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre didn't bore in the way these epic telecasts usually do.

That's not to say it was great.

The show opened with last year's Idol (Carrie Underwood) and the current finalists warbling Barry Manilow's old hit, I Made It Through the Rain -- and making it through some of the other performances just to get to the results was a feat.

The gimmick of pairing returning Idol finalists with pop stars for duets led to some real groaners.

A trembling Meat Loaf, clearly suffering the ravages of time, looked as if he was going to have a heart attack holding a note as long as Katharine during It's All Coming Back to Me Now. The poor Idol runner-up looked seriously worried that the portly rocker might collapse. Pairing 17-year-old vocal powerhouse Paris Bennett with 66-year-old Al Jarreau did no favors to the smooth jazz veteran.

AI:2 runner-up Clay Aiken -- what was that on his head? -- suffered the indignity of crooning Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me with a dorky audition reject.

But Chris, singing Mystery with his favorite band Live, was a special treat. Third-placer Elliott Yamin and R&B singer Mary J. Blige blazed on U2's One, and a special tribute to Elliott's devoted mom Claudette was a nice touch.

PRINCE PERFORMS

But the water coolers will be bubbling this morning not only with chatter about Taylor's win but with talk of Prince's performance. If the appearance of this hallowed funk-rock legend doesn't legitimize American Idol in some small way with critics, it certainly attests to the drawing power of the program -- originally passed on by all the networks and now honored by Entertainment Weekly as "the only show that really matters."

Wednesday night, competing with the second-season finale of Lost notwithstanding, it was.

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Source: The Miami Herald

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