I just watched the American Idol results show, and I'm happy.
I got to see Clay Aiken sing.
Even with the funny little kid freaking out on stage next to him, trying with helpless tone-deaf fervor to sing along, it sounded incredible. It took me a minute to recognize him, though! Some stylist took the spiky hair and... well... let's just say that all traces of nerd got removed, leaving me with oh my GOSH! Anyways, I had no intention of watching the complete two-hour results show, but Clay made it all worth it.
And yes, it was good to see Taylor win. He accepted the honor with true grace. Katharine played her part well, too, and all in all it was a good show.
Not having watched the beginning auditions, I didn't hear this till yesterday, but in Taylor's audition he said something that I respected. If for no other reason, I'm glad he won for this. One of the judges had asked him something along the lines of "Why are you trying out for American Idol?" He answered:
"I want my voice heard."
"Why?" Simon asked.
"Because I think I have one."
Way to go, Taylor Hicks.
...And, that's all for American Idol this year.
I'm downloading last night's Idol right now via torrent so we can watch ALL of it. For the last hour my wife and I were tuned into Lost and it was one heckuva mind-blowing season finale. But they went to commercial break a few minutes before 10 and we got to see Taylor crowned the winner. For the first time, I'm really 100% happy with how American Idol turned out. Taylor is everything that an American Idol is supposed to be: fun-loving, humble, is in the *groove* bay-bee, eager to take up challenges and try new things... that's what did Katherine McPhee in, in my mind. She played it way too safe on Tuesday night, using two songs she'd already scored a lot of points with.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to start hearing Taylor Hicks on the radio. My wife Lisa said, and I agree with her, that Taylor should sing "Man of Constant Sorrow" from "O Brother Where Art Thou?" sometime... he would so rule that song! Maybe he'll do that for his first CD :-)
Anyway, the right person won it this year. It's enough to make me feel a little hopeful that there's vitality yet in American culture :-)