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February 16, 2006
Ok, I don't watch it, but that doesn't mean I live in a cave. . . .
American Idol, that bane on humanity that is also the biggest and baddest TV show on the block despite the fact that so many people actually despise it.
For the record, I despise it.
Nonetheless, I live Birmingham, Alabama, so like Natalee Holloway (which I refrain from commenting much on for fear of lynchings or vigils on my lawn) I can't avoid hearing about it, and although I don't comment on Idol all that much, that doesn't stop people from commenting to me about it. (I'm talking in person here, not blog-commentary, that's now changed though.)
A blog reader (who must be shy, since they don't want their name revealed) asks why I don't comment on Taylor Hicks, the Birmingham contestant who's made it to the final 12/12 (that's 12 guys and 12 gals). The answer I'm afraid is simple. . . I didn't know he'd made it because I don't watch the show (that's not entirely true, but I'll get to that in a second).
I did know that Taylor Hicks was Birmingham's "contestant du season" for Idol, and I also knew that like Ruben Studdard (who was top dawg in Season 2) and Bo Bice (#2 in season 4), Taylor was just a little out of the ordinary for typical Idol finalists. In case you do live in a cave here's a picture to explain what I mean.
Yep, he's got gray hair, he's a geezer, a fogey, and he’s one step away from pushing up daisies. OK, well, actually he's only 29 and I've got 5 years on him, but that hair??? Even I don't have gray hair yet and I'm an old codger by comparison.
With the age comes experience though, and Taylor Hicks may be the most experienced contestant Idol has had yet make it to this level of competition. Sure Bo had a band, and so did Ruben, and both were older than your average Idol finalist; but Taylor Hicks has played with the likes of James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive by Truckers, and Percy Sledge.
Now despite reader comments and the general rumors that we're putting something in the water to boost our Idol candidates to stardom, there's nothing special about Birmingham (well actually there is, but it's not related to enhancing musical talent) and there's no secret tie between Simon, Paula or Randy and the Magic City. I think we're just a moderate to large Southern City that attracts and develops talent of all types and our proximity to Atlanta makes it easy for our kids to head over and audition.
Now I said I don't watch the show, but that's not entirely true. I try to catch the season premiere (actually my mother has tricked me into watching it the last 3 years) so I can see the truly horrid auditions and laugh/cry about the foolishness of people chasing their dream to be an "Idol". I also try to catch an episode or two at the end, and if there's a Birmingham or New Orleans contestant, I take down the voting number for them and fire off a couple of votes. Otherwise I could care less about it. It's not a show I can sit down and watch, nor do I care for the inflated dramas about contestants sleeping with judges, who's being mean to whom, the antics of young kids in Hollywood also don't interest me (I've done the young kid in Hollywood thing myself).
Living in Birmingham forces you to at least feign some level of caring about Idol, just like it forces one to acknowledge that Natalee is still missing and that the Aruban's botched the investigation when then tried to pin it on the security guards right off the bat. When I'm out of town people also ask about Taylor. "Have you seen him live? Is he popular in Birmingham?" Answers - No, and "a little." American Idol has now even barged its way into my blog, a reader forced me to pay homage to Taylor Hicks and now I feel just a little dirty about it.
All that being said, good luck to the home team, Go Taylor Go! Keep up the good work and. . .
Magic City Represent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--Jason
PS - As I prepare to hit the Save button, I can't help but think that this will just lead to hits I don't necessarily want and spam I'll just have to manually delete and hundreds of young kids who have no clue about most of the thing I talk about here will visit. Hopefully a few will look around, and even give a comment or two on things they find interesting. So in a way I'm making Taylor Hicks my blog-ambassador to a younger and probably "cooler" audience. Either that or on some subconscious level I'm just Google-whoring for hits. I don't know. At least I got the opportunity to answer some reader mail and give some props to Birmingham.
Click here for the blog's Main Page.
-JC
Posted by JasonColeman at February 16, 2006 10:48 AM
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Comments
My wife loves Taylor, and I think he's actually got a fairly unique sound that could propel him further in the show.
Keep up the good work Birmingham!
Posted by: jwookie at February 16, 2006 2:20 PM
I wondered why you were headed this way on a Tuesday. A sneaky attempt to watch IDOL with me!
Posted by: Mom at February 21, 2006 1:54 PM
