Sunday, April 29, 2007

Before we 'met'



Though we have learned more about Taylor's musical past since AI ended, I'm only including things I knew durring AI Season Five:

Taylor Hicks never had a singing lesson or a music lesson in his life, but is singing, dancing and playing the harmonica from an early age.

*Taylor drops out of college as soon as someone starts to pay him to play music. (In Rick and Bubba interview, his dad sounds like he is STILL upset about that.)

*Taylor works as a musician for 10 years struggling to ‘make it.’*He works festivals, weddings, bars and clubs.*He moves to Nashville for a while, but finds the market saturated and moves back to Alabama.

*Over the years he makes 2 cds that don’t do anything but are very good!

*His brother, Sean, encourages Taylor to try out for American Idol.

*His dad tells him he might as well just buy a lotto ticket instead of American Idol because his chances would be better.

*Taylor has never seen an episode of American Idol.

*Because of Hurricane Katrina, a flight of Taylor’s from New Orleans is cancelled and the airline gives Taylor a free ticket to anywhere in the country. Taylor uses the free ticket to get to Las Vegas to try out for American Idol. Later, Taylor says if he had not gotten that free ticket, he would not have been on Idol.

*Taylor is 28 at the Las Vegas auditions so he makes it in just at the cut-off age. He is only a few months from being too old for the competition.

*Taylor really liked the shirt in the pic above. A lot. (Photographic evidence available upon request.)

1/31/06 Taylor Hicks, America. America, Taylor Hicks.


• 1/31/06 AI performance: The Audition—Change Is Gonna Come and Swanee River Rock


I didn’t see the audition when it aired because I didn’t watch American Idol at that time. I preferred “CBS Rock Star” because it was a contest between people who could sing. And AI was a bunch of people who could not. At least that is how I thought of the show and so I didn’t watch it, and planned to never watch it.

Some people who did watch it are blown away by the audition. There is a small segment of America who is already obsessed with Taylor Hicks. You can hear their excitement in the old posts on ricky.org, and the AI message boards. The excitement of someone REAL on AI is almost too good to believe.

Now, of course, the audition burned into my memory from watching the clip over and over.. Every word, every note. It was all such a perfect beginning. And such a perfect song choice! Simon’s rejection based on anything but singing, Taylor’s voice, Taylor holding his hands behind his back at first and then just letting loose with his movements for Swanne… Taylor’s response to why he was there: “I want my voice heard” Why? “Because I think I got one.” Taylor saying , “Gimme a chance, Gimme a chance.”

It is history. The whole season is history.The magic had started:•

2/02/06 AI message board: first thread, “The Gray Haired Guy”•

2/02/06 AI message board: poster ‘wiseguy’ suggests the name, “Soul Patrol” for Taylor’s fans.•

2/04/06 AI message board: the first “Soul Patrol” thread with a poll…there was also a ‘silver foxes’ thread.•

2/05/06 Taylor’s CD, Under The Radar, comes out of nowhere to land on the Laser’s Edge top sellers chart at #3.



2/08/06 AI performance clip: The First Cut Is The Deepest airs on AI during Hollywood Week.•



2/12/06 Under The Radar tops The Laser’s Edges top sellers chart at #1…and STAYS THERE….it is still at #1 today, April 29, 2007.

www.lasersedgecd.com

Ain't No Sunshine...3 seconds that we will always dream about.

• 2/16/06 AI performance clip: Ain’t No Sunshine (the 3 second clip that nobody can forget) and The Harmonica Walk.



Taylor’s ‘harmonica walk’ has America talking and the fans are going crazy. More evidence that Taylor is the REAL DEAL! Dare they hope?? The Soul Patrol grows!!I still have not seen the program and I don’t know who Taylor Hicks is.People at work watch the show and convince me to give a shot, so that at least we can chit-chat about it on breaks.•

2/21/06 Taylor interviewed in The Birmingham News and says he needs a new couch:"I've been lying on a couch that I had in college," says Hicks, 29. "And it's not even a couch, just bundles of cotton. My friend's dog rolled in a cow carcass and sat on it." •

date ?????? Sojie and Connieb and the whole Soul Patrol decide to pitch in to get Taylor a new couch! These fans have seen him for maybe a total of 4 minutes on their TVs and they LOVE him. They really love him.

2/22/06 Levon

• 2/22/06 AI performance: "LEVON".


"Levon" gets a BIG response on the internet.

Ricky.org says, "interest (in Taylor Hicks) is burning up the internet."

Taylor’s shout out to the ‘Soul Patrol’ after the song THRILLS the fans on the message boards. He is talking to US! He used our name! He read what we said, and he is talking to us! It goes down in history as a "The first Soul Patrol shout-out" and the fans treasure the memory.

This is the first program I watch. I like Taylor, but I don’t get quite what is up with Jez, the obsessed fan I see on my regular, non-AI related message board. She made a dozen posts about him, just going on and on about him…! What the?? He is my favorite contestant after this first show too, but I also like Paris and Chris…Calm down, Jez!!

3/01/06

AI performance: "EASY"




I liked it. I can’t decide about the twitches, the wooo!s and the Ayyyy!s. Do I like it? Do I hate it? Is it fake? Is it real? Does he have ‘a problem’ of some sort?

America can’t decide, either. Taylor takes a lot of bashing for it. People debate the questions endlessly on the internet and around the water cooler. People say he is just ‘real’ and feeling the music, people say he has autism or Tourette’s Syndrome…

The song itself is ok…I like it. I see something there. Something interesting. What is IT? And more importantly, when can I see it again??


3/08/06 (a.m.) Taylor is interviewed on Rick and Bubba

• 3/08/06 AI performance: "TAKIN’ IT TO THE STREETS" WOW!!!



By the end of Taylor’s performance, I am on my feet, yelling and clapping! WOOOOOO! That was fantastic!!

Wow!



**This song is the magic moment!!!**

The internet EXPLODES!!! Taylor is THE topic at work, and on the radio talk shows the next day.I am completely overcome with Taylor Mania. I don’t know how bad I have it. But looking back, I see I was completely Taylorized by the time the song ended. My fate was sealed.

I want to watch Takin’ It To The Streets again!

I realize maybe I can see it on the internet. Sure enough, I find it there and re-watch the performance many times. I get the same thrill every time I watch it, and the same huge smile.



I find this cool blog called graycharles...

• 3/12/06 I make a Taylor fan post on my non-AI related internet board, complete with pictures and a sparkly "Vote For Taylor" image. I have it bad, and I don’t even know it. I still think I am a ‘casual’ fan!

• March, 2006 "In Your Time" is selling on Ebay for over $200 and up to $400.•

3/12/06 AI message board: Taylor’s folder has 91,655 posts and the next highest folder, Ace, has only 23,460

3/14/06 All he needs to do for the rest of his life to make everybody happy

AI performance: "LIVIN’ FOR THE CITY"



Taylor comes out on the stage and the first thing I think is, "Nice suit, Taylor!" and the second thing I think is, "Wow. He looks great in that suit…different then before…did they fix his hair…?" And then I’m listening to the song. So smoooooth! He sings this song and moves around as if he were the coolest dude ever. Like Dean Martin smooth, or Frank Sinatra smooth, but with some crazy Taylor moves thrown in, like the Taylor-Go-Round and some soulful growls in the vocals.

It is perfect. When he is done, I stand and cheer in my living room again. I don’t care about watching any other contestant anymore. They are all boring and uninteresting, while Taylor is FASCINATING.

I notice that when Paula tells Taylor that "This is all you need to be doing for the rest of your life just to make everybody happy," Taylor is for the first time at a loss for words and obviously moved by the comment. Seeing his feelings out there like that is adorable.. I hear myself say, "Awwwwwww, how sweet!"

And the harmonica tease...We all wanted that harmonica so bad, but we couldn't have it...

Graycharles starts distributing crack cocaine...I mean Taylor Hicks Band recordings



http://www.graycharles.com/index.php/2006/01/01/mp3-downloads/

• 3/15/06 Graycharles posts the first set of Taylor Hicks Band live
I find the mp3’s as soon as they are posted, and I download them and listen to them one at a time. The first one is good, I think as I listen for the first time… Oooh, I really like it. Hey, it is getting even better! Really jamming now…and nice finish! Great song!

I download another song and another song, and I love them. I listen to them over and over. The poor sound quality of the recordings does not matter. I am telling everyone I can find, "Hey! Listen to this!" No one around me seems to get it.

Downloading and listening to each mp3 was like opening present after present on Christmas morning...you don't what it is before you open it, but you know it's gonna be good. And it is!

The set was recorded in a bar, and you can hear people talking in the background. I wish they would all shut up! Still, I can hear the music…and I LOVE it. I wear out those mp3s over the next few days and then...

3/19/06 MORE live recordings from Graycharles! I can't leave my computer!! Maybe I should get one of those iPod things...

Graycharles posts the second set of Taylor Hicks Band live mp3’s



I repeat the same process with this batch of mp3’s, but these sound even better.

I listen to these two sets of mp3 all the time, STILL and now it's been over a year since I found them. Some from the first set I like better and some from the second Iike better…but I love them all. The band and Taylor really jam!

I notice the way he plays with the tempo of the music, the words to the music, the volume of the music…Taylor takes the listener on a journey or tells a story with the music and I can’t stop listening to see what will be happening next. And once I have heard the whole song, I have to listen to it again…and I keep noticing new things.

Also, I love the way Taylor kind of ‘samples’ pieces of different songs in the middle of another song. This set has the IMFAMOUS "Naked In The Jungle" performance where Taylor breaks into "gangsta rap" in the middle of the song, complete with swearing…and then ends the rap with a couple of yells.... very, very sexy yells. I have to say, it is hot. I don’t know why, it just is. Over time, it becomes a legendary song to the fans.

3/21/06 Taylor gets me to vote. What have I become?

AI performance: "NOT FADE AWAY" (50’s theme week)



Much to my surprise, I found I was waiting to see Taylor on Tuesday, March 21 for the entire previous 6 days. I was thinking of American Idol on Tuesday night ALL THE TIME… for a week! It was very distracting.

When American Idol comes on that night I was so excited that it was hard to sit still. What the heck is going on? Why am I so excited? I hope no one notices…

And then Taylor sang, "Not Fade Away." I was devastated. Where was that…that… spark? Where was Taylor? I feel sad. Let down. And then I thought: WHAT IF HE GETS VOTED OUT???

Intense fear overpowers me and this leads to: MY FIRST ACTUAL AI VOTE. I somehow overcame my overwhelming aversion to EVER voting for any contestant of this, the cheesiest cheese show on cheesy TV, and I dialed that cheese number, oh, 20 or 30 times, desperately trying to ensure seeing Taylor sing again next Tuesday night. Because next Tuesday, I was sure, the REAL Taylor would be back. He had to be back.

It worked. Taylor was safe until the next week.

Meanwhile: The internet is on fire with Taylor fans disappointed by "Not Fade Away"...they are insisting that this song did not show the ‘real Taylor’…they clamor for a song that shows off his voice…that shows off his feeling…that shows off Taylor.

They complain about song choice song choice song choice. They are angry at whomever is advising Taylor. (Somebody besides Taylor MUST be to blame for that song!! And they must pay!!!)

And who told Taylor to dance all over the place when he as such a great voice? "Just drop the stage antics, Taylor, and SING," the fans cried. "We want to hear your VOICE!" the fans typed on every message board.

Perhaps we, the fans can help Taylor, advise him…we have so many good ideas for songs he could sing that would be PERFECT for him! The song suggestions pour onto the internet…

3/28/06 Trouble. Wow. Maybe I should check out this Ray LaMontagne guy...

Graycharles did a big write up on Ray LaMontagne and hosted videos of his song, "Trouble." I thought it was an interesting song…And I worried about the next week…• 3/28/06 AI performance: "TROUBLE" (21st Century Music theme week)




Taylor answered all the fans’ fears, comments and demands in his opening clip before the song: He says he chose this song to show off his vocals.

(Just like we asked. He was listening to us and talking to us!!)

And they he just sang the heck out of that song, without dancing, just like we asked.

Hey! How cool!!

And then he shouted out to us at the end of the song, "Soul Patrol!" and it was like he loved us, his fans and thanked us.

And we loved him even more.

I loved Taylor’s version of "Trouble." I replayed it many, many, many times over the next weeks. There was something about that song…something that made me want to listen to it again and watch it again and again. Something in the way he sang it.

Ray LaMontagne had a huge surge in popularity and his music shot up the charts. All is right in the world. Taylor is, of course, safe for another week.

4/06/06

AI performance: "COUNTRY ROADS" (Country theme week)



The rumor is: Taylor’s Country song, "A Country Boy Can Survive" is taken from him at the last minute because the producers say his choice was ‘Alternative Country’ and not country.

The fans are not happy with "Country Roads" and it doesn’t look like Taylor is, either. Again, I fear for Taylor’s American Idol survival and vote like a MAD WOMAN…and I am kinda MAD…mad at Taylor.

What is he doing?? That isn’t him. He didn’t even TRY. I’m sort of pissed. If he is gonna’ just check out and give up like that, why should I spend 2 stinking hours trying to vote for him??!! Fricken freck, he’d better not get voted out. But if he does, it is his own fault. So he didn’t get his song choice. So what? Does that mean he gets to just phone the performance in? Was he protesting or something?? Where is my TAYLOR???

Some people on the internet insist he was sick. They are worried about his health. I try to latch onto that and forgive him…If he really was sick, I feel guilty for my frustration…but those WERE my feelings for about 2 seconds…Aww, shoot. Who can be angry with Taylor for more than 2 seconds, anyway? He is such a Q-T Pie.

Hummmm… have I crossed some kind of line, here??

(PS: The song being taken away is the rumor I heard and I believed and so I put it in here with my memories. This does not mean it actually happened. Maybe it didn’t. But there are reports of family and/or band members who reported the story. I have not been able to find the source of those reports.)(PPS: I also feel really bad that I was angry with Taylor for a second. Sorry Taylor!)

Message In A Bottle

• 4/07/06 AI message board: Taylorfirst and Tayloraholic start THE scrapbook thread and put it all together for Taylor. People want to get a message to Taylor and the message is: WE LOVE HIM!•


4/07/06 I register with a screen name on the AI message boards. I am so embarrassed that I did this. I can’t believe who I am becoming, but I really want to put a message to Taylor in that scrapbook...so I register. I figure I will make one or two posts, max.

4/11/06 CLTCL / I Miss Tayloraholic

After "Country Roads" the fans are again clamoring for ‘The Real Taylor,’ who they now insist must DANCE. Completely forgotten is the "Not Fade Away" fiasco!! The fans want the dancing, wild Taylor, and they will not rest until they get him.

Taylor answers the fans in the clip before the song. He says he was going to sing "We Are The Champions" and he loves that song, but he changed his song because he felt he needed to get back to dancing and so that is what he was going to do!!

Just like we asked!!! And HE DID!! And the crowd went WILD.





AI performance: "CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE" ("Queen" theme week)

Taylor danced like a mad man, missed the mic kick and we LOVED IT!

AI message boards, Soul Patrol members in real life, the American Idol TV show and Taylor himself all meet under one roof at the CBS Studios in Hollywood. Several Soul Patrol members attend the dress rehearsal of the performance, including Tayloraholic, who passes out when Taylor growls, "Take a long ride on my motor bike" right in front of her, AND she still manages to deliver the scrapbook to a stagehand who takes it to Taylor!! What a woman! The Soul Patrol thanks her for her for a job well done!

Flattery Is A Great Form Of Humor!

• 4/15/06 "Saturday Night Live" honors Taylor by doing a skit about him on News Update. Taylor is officially ‘pop culture.’

When asked how he felt about the joke on him, Taylor said, "I about fell out on the floor. Flattery is a great form of humor!"

The Soul Patrol thinks this verbal trip-up is adorable.....

4/18/06 You Send Me

Satisfied, so satisfied, and happy with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love, I waited patiently for the next week. I knew it would be good, as it was American Standards week. I think everyone knew it would be good. There was no clamoring from the fans, no complaining, no demands for dancing or no dancing and for once, absolutely NO song choice worries or complaints…we were all just in a happy Taylor haze…blissfully awaiting our next TuesTAY. We now had full confidence in Taylor. He knew what to do.


And then, women of all ages across the country pass out in their living rooms:



• 4/18/06 AI performance: "YOU SEND ME"

Holy mother of god $##%&*………!!!! That was HOT!!! I think the temperature rose like 20 degrees in my living room…dAmmmmmmmn!!!

People were worried that maybe he lost some votes because of all the fainting made it difficult to dial…

And that is all there is to say about THAT!!!

4/25/06 Just Once, thank goodness.



AI performance: "JUST ONCE" ("Love songs" theme week)

Taylor’s song choice of "Try A Little Tenderness" was rejected at the last minute by the producers because they said it ‘isn’t a love song.’ Taylor’s song is changed to "Just Once."

The fans are not happy! To try to show support for Taylor and their unhappiness with the song change, fans change their profile pics to Otis Redding. The Taylor Hicks folder on the AI message boards is TAKEN OVER by Otis Redding pics!

I wanted to cry after this performance, and not because it moved me. Some fans love the performance because of the emotion in it. I just can't...he just, missed somehow, on that song. It hurts me to listen to it.



By now I knew Taylor had a HUGE fan base, and I was fairly sure he would survive the night, but just to be sure, I voted 900 times. 900. Yes, 900 times, on my landline. The whole time I am voting for two solid hours I am thinking, "What happened, Taylor?"

I felt worried for him personally. Was he ok? And, am I ok? Why am I worried personally for some person on TV?

The fans on the internet share my sadness. And there is also some anger among the fans over the way his song was changed at the last minute. ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ would have been a PERFECT Taylor song. Many fans had been dreaming of that performance since Taylor’s audition.

People said that the last minute song change was proof that TPTB were trying to keep Taylor down. Some feel that The Powers That Be will never let Taylor win, and it is getting hopeless. Everyone was so sick of the AI crap…the judges, the song changes…we knew Taylor was special, we knew he was the star…we wanted him to be free of the machine and be himself.

4/27/06 Just after 'Just Once,' Vote For The Worst picked him as their contestant because the whole song choice thing proved TPTB were trying to hold him back.

What?! That isn't why they are supposed to pick people! They are supposed to pick the WORST! That was such a moment. People were angry about it, people where happy about it, people where laughing. Hahahaha! But a lot of Taylor fans were really upset.

Not me. Taylor got the most JADED, sarcastic AI watchers in America to vote for him because they LIKED him! I thought that was cool, man.

4/28/06 Ray Ray Has Something to Say Say

AND THEN IT SEEMS WE GET A SORT OF MESSAGE FROM TAYLOR!

The message comes to us through his cousin, ‘Ray Ray.’ (Hummmm, ‘Ray Ray,’ hu?) As reported on the internet:

ByMike SApril 28, 2006 11:23 AM They just had Taylor's cousin RAY RAY — Yes his name is RAY RAY — on the radio. He said Taylor is really down right now, and has decided that this next week he is going to give his fans in his words "A TAYLOR CONCERT" and is not going to worry about the producers, advisors, image consultants or the judges any more. He is going to be Taylor and do what Taylor wants to do for the rest of the time he is on the show. Ray Ray said Taylor tried to be what AI wanted him to be and he is not happy and feels that it is not working, so he is just going to sing and dance and do it the way he wants."

This message really picked up the fans’ spirits. It was just what we wanted to hear! The message seemed to be that he heard us, and he was sick of trying to please the judges and to play the AI game, and so hold onto your hats…here comes the REAL TAYLOR!! We could NOT wait!!!

And Taylor does not let us down.

5/02/06 the turning point

5/02/06 is the turning point of the season.• 5/02/06 AI performance: "PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY" and "SOMETHING" ("Song from the year of your birth" and "Song from ANY of this week’s music charts" theme)



Not only was this show the turning point of the season, the performances that won over America, it was also the show that I got to see live, at the dress rehearsal in LA. It was more fun than I had had in years!! I will NEVER forget it. I had a sign that said, "Here 4 The TAYLOR CONCERT!" and I waved it wildly and cheered. Our group of Soul Patrollers was so big and so wildly crazy for our hero that they actually brought him out before the rehearsal began to see us and wave. We were thrilled! Grayhair50 from the AI message board was responsible for the huge Soul Patrol showing at these dress rehearsals, and all of us who got to go can never thank her enough for all her hard work! That day, as we left the dress rehearsal, we all felt like we had shown Taylor some love. We really let him know how we felt, and we hoped it was of some support to him.



Taylor sang "Play That Funky Music White Boy" in a wild pink and blue paisley shirt. He danced every dance move known to man and several that I am convinced he just made up on the spot. He danced into the audience and drove us wild. And for his big finish, he fell on the floor. He sang his last notes laying on his back on the stage. If anyone else had done this, it would have been the stupidest thing ever. But Taylor did it, and we LOVED it!!



And then he sang the Beatles’ "Something." It was beautiful!!! Amazing!! The second line alone was worth the plane ticket to LA. This is what I wrote about it:"I was lucky enough to be at the dress rehearsal on that day and see Taylor sing "Something" live. I was there for the fun and funky Taylor...I was waving my sign with the rest of the fans...maybe yelling out, "Nice Suit, Taylor!"...just having a great time cheering on Taylor..........And then he came out and sang that song. And I couldn't speak, couldn't move....I think I let out a sigh once, and that was it. And when it was over, there was a 4 second delay before I could jump up and scream my support and love, BECAUSE I WAS BLOWN AWAY. Great, great performance, Taylor. Just Great."

I was on cloud 9. America was IN LOVE. Taylor won over hordes of new fans that night. You could hear it around the water coolers, and on the internet on message boards that were non-AI related. People who previously didn’t ‘get’ Taylor were Taylorized!!

This is the turning point because after this, everything changed. There was nothing but joy from here on out. Taylor had found his groove, and he knew it. And we knew it.
• 5/06/06 The Idols are at Graceland, and the fans are watching!!!
The Idols go to Graceland to work on their Elvis songs and film pieces for the show on Tuesday. Graceland has a webcam online, and the fans are hitting refresh every 5 seconds to see if the Idols have arrived. Whenever distant figures appear on the webcam, the speculation goes wild! Could that blurry figure on the right be Taylor?! He seems to have gray hair! No! Wait, it is the person with the blue shirt! I think it is him!!(insert webcam pics here)



For several weeks, fans would nervously offer up who Taylor reminded them of... Could they dare say it? In whispers, and tentative posts they spill what they had been thinking for weeks: Taylor reminds them somehow of Elvis. No, really. There is just something….The posts on the message boards kept popping up with regularity. Picture of Elvis with gray hair, pictures of Elvis and Taylor side by side to show similarities, and the famous ‘split’ half E, half T pic that ‘freaked Taylor out.’


(Yeah, it's kinda freaky.)

By the time Elvis week came around, expectations were high…not for him to BE Elvis, but for him to do a great job singing Elvis songs. There was no fear among the Soul Patrol. Only expectation! America and the Soul Patrol were not let down!

5/09/06 Elivs Week

Before the performance, Taylor’s brother, Sean, posts a message to the Soul Patrol on the internet. He says he has a fun way to help ‘motivate’ voters. He says if we vote Taylor to the top spot on Dialidol that night, he will post a cute picture of Taylor he has from Christmas.

The Soul Patrol thinks it is cute that Sean thinks we need some extra motivation to vote for Taylor! How sweet! He doesn’t understand that we are OBSESSED and already are ready to vote until our fingers bleed! But we do really want that pic and so we play along…

• 5/09/06 AI performance: "JAILHOUSE ROCK" and "IN THE GHETTO" ("Elvis" theme week)On this night, America was ON FIRE for Taylor Hicks!


Again, we heard new voices in the Soul Patrol, voices that had tried hard to fight the Taylor, but just couldn’t stop smiling about "Jailhouse Rock." They couldn’t put their finger on it…Taylor had something…something they had to admit, they liked.



Then, Taylor took "In the Ghetto" and, I hate to use the expression, made it his own. The Soul Patrol loved the falsetto!! I loved the song and it quickly became one of my 'most played' on my iPod.

Oh, and Taylor was in the top spot on Dialidol that night and Sean kept his part of the deal...

Speaking of "In the Ghetto"...

• Date? Someone, it is assumed from Taylor’s family, releases pictures of Taylor’s actual couch to the press...and it isn’t a pretty picture!



The Soul Patrol is glad they pitched in for a new one for their beloved.

They name the old couch, "Frankencouch."

5/12/06 Visits Home

• 5/12/06 visits home

Taylor’s visit home was amazing. He was mobbed by fans everywhere. He was on several radio programs, local TV programs, there was a big parade, but the biggest moment was the concert at the Galleria mall. 12,000 screaming fans packed the mall to see Taylor. 12,000!! He made a movie star entrance, by coming down a glass elevator. The crowed went NUTS when they saw him in the elevator!!



People were passing out, leaving on stretchers…He sees fans shake and cry…Taylor put on a great show at The Galleria and really worked the crowd. It was amazing. And you could tell Taylor was amazed by the crowd. He thanks the Soul Patrol over and over for all they have done for him.



I enjoyed that show at The Galleria very much when I watched it on the internet. I loved seeing his old band. I loved hearing and seeing The REAL Taylor, the off American Idol Taylor. Very cool! The other performance from that day that I enjoyed was the one on the roof at the local TV station. Taylor did a version of "Jailhouse Rock," Taylor style, that just makes me smile!

I, and the rest of the Soul Patrol who were not in Alabama, watched every single appearance Taylor made that day on the internet. It was like we were all there. We followed him everywhere in real time.

By the end of the day, Taylor looked exhausted.

It is at this point in the story that things get a little foggy for me. It is much more difficult for me to details of this point in the season.

Events are speeding along, and Taylor is wowing us with great song after great song every Tuesday. There is no more rollercoaster ride, no more "Just Once" performances, and we know we won’t be seeing that again. There isn’t even a worry.

We all KNOW we are on a speeding train heading straight to the finale. Taylor has the audience figured out and America eating out of his hand. He knows what we want and what works for him and for us. We just sit back and enjoy the ride. And it is a GREAT ride.

My obsession has become out of hand. I am on the internet WAY too many hours listening to Taylor and reading Taylor message boards. I talk about him and the show ALL the time. I am out of my mind, I know it, and I don’t really care. I am HAPPY. So very, very happy. This is FUN. Really, really fun.

THE picture

• 5/15/06 Graycharles posts THE Taylor Hicks picture. A picture so good, that there was a warning posted above the link to the picture. You know the one: The TV Guide pic. *Sigh*



The transformation was complete.

5/16/06

• 5/16/06 AI performance: "DANCING IN THE DARK" (Clive Davis pick), "YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL" (judge’s -Randy- pick) and "TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS" (Taylor’s pick)On 5/16/06, with the competition down to three, Taylor was forced to sing "Dancing In The Dark" and he did a nice job. I can hardly remember it. The crowd roared for him. He sounded a lot like Bruce Springsteen and I thought, "Taylor just Karaoke-ed that one and pulled it off!" (please don't throw fruit Soul Patrol! That is just how I felt about it!)But Taylor’s "You Are So Beautiful" made America cry. Because it was THAT good.It was, and remains, my favorite Taylor performance of ALL. I like it better than "Georgia" from the "In Your Time" CD and that is saying a lot.




When Taylor sang that song, time stopped for just a minute. Just beautiful. Beautiful.

After "Georgia," "Try A Little Tenderness" was the most requested song of the season. Taylor introduced the song and said:"I’m singing this for the Soul Pa-TROL!" and pointed at all of us in the camera.‘Thanks, Taylor!’ we all yelled back.‘Try A Little Tenderness" was JUST what we had been waiting for, all season long. The icing on the cake. He sang it perfectly, but it was over too soon. And I was still in a fog because of "You Are So Beautiful" so it didn’t knock me out musically quite as much.But it felt great to hear him sing it. That song was like a song of triumph. It was a symbol that Taylor had conquered the cheesy show, American Idol. He had made the show work for HIM, not the other way around.

I'm going to the Kodak

• 5/20/06 Saturday Night Live does another Taylor skit!

Now, the season is down to the final two, Taylor and Kat. We are down to the LAST performance show…the big one. At the Kodak Theater that holds 3,500 people. And then, all the stars align just right and The Idol AI message boards, the Soul Patrol, the American Idol TV show, Taylor himself AND ME all meet under one roof at the KODAK theater in Hollywood!! I got to be THERE!!Right there for the last performance! Live! In the flesh! It is like I got to literally throw myself into my TV. A dream come true. Wooooooooooooo!!!! I make some more signs and take off for Hollywood!!

Purple Haze

5/23/06 AI performance... THE LAST PERFORMANCES THAT WILL BE VOTED ON: "LIVIN’ FOR THE CITY" encore, "LEVON" encore, and "DO I MAKE YOU PROUD," the ‘winner’s single’ AKA ‘The Cheese Song,’ AKA "DO I MAKE YOU PROUD"



It is difficult for me to write about this now. I don’t know why. Here is what I wrote to a friend when I got home from the trip:

Ok, here is my story!
Well, I had the fricken time of my life!! It was SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!Standing in line outside the Kodak, the Soul Patrol group I was with was interviewed many, many times by press from around the country. Everybody was all excited and everyone had signs...Best time I ever had waiting in a line!

We got into the theater and sat down and right away. I noticed this lady on the other side of the theater just freaking out, jumping up and down with her sign, screeming for Taylor and I said, "Man, that lady has lost her mind! LOL!" and the people in my row nodded.

And then it was my turn!

I sat in about the 6th row, ON the aisle. THE aisle. THE AISLE that Taylor danced down at the start of "Livin’ For The City." The aisle where he stopped right next to me and danced for a few seconds and I almost passed out because that beautiful purple velvet jacket was really 3 inches from me!!!!!I think I lost my mind. People in my row say I reached out to touch him, but pulled my hand back. I don't know, I don't remember. Thank god I didn't touch the poor guy!



The whole show was fantastic and the seats were amazing. I would not have traded those dress rehearsal seats for the real taping seats in the nose bleed sections for anything!!!!! Taylor was RIGHT there!! He sounded great, he looked great, he was great! Kat was…Katt. Not many Kat fans in the theater.

The Soul Patrol was on fire, and the energy in the room was amazing! It was lots of fun!! After the show, some of us went out to eat...then we went to the press area to try and get some autographs or hugs.......No luck for me. I stayed as long as I could, and I was in a perfect spot, right in front, but I had to go and catch a plane home. Many of the other ladies did get autographs and hugs after the press or at the AFTER PARTY on the 24th!! Argh!!! I should have called in sick to work Wed and stayed in LA! So there you have it! My Taylor adventure! When the concert comes around, it is going to be fun!! I can't wait!******************Now, that night is just a blurry Purple Haze (thanks eileenwest!) memory. A great memory I will always treasure.******************

To recap: "Livin’ For The City " was fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t remember "Levon," but I know it was good, and "Do I Make You Proud "made me like cheese!!

strange, happy, hazy finale

• 5/24/06 The Finale, The Big Moment! Taylor Hicks Wins American Idol.



I can hardly remember most of the show. It is all just a blur. It was two hours long.I remember not being worried at all about the outcome. I knew Taylor had won.

I remember Taylor singing a duet of "In the Ghetto" with some famous female singer who didn’t sound good that night… I remember the performance with all the guys, where Taylor finally got to play his harmonica and the crowd going wild. I felt happy for him. Great moment. It was another symbol of his triumph.

I remember a former contestant, Bucky, singing "Raindrops Are Fallin’ On My Head" and thinking, "Wow! That was good!"

I remember the audience at the Kodak……they were ELECTRIFIED!!! You could SEE the energy on TV!

I remember Prince. He put on a fantastic performance. Awesome!!! WOW!! I love that guy!

And I remember the announcement.

Ryan announced that Taylor Hicks was our next American Idol and Taylor threw his arms out and his head back and let out a huge "Woooooooooooooooooooo!" and then he hugged Kat…and then he held up Kat’s hand and pointed to her to acknowledge her. Then he doubled over and covered his eyes…Then Ryan asked if there was anything Taylor wanted to say to his fans. Without hesitation, Taylor threw open his arms and yelled from the bottom of his soul, "SOUL PA-TROL!!!!! SOUL PA-TROL!!!!!!"



And we all knew it meant, "Thank you, thank you, so much!" And we all said, in our homes, to Taylor on the TV, "You’re welcome, Taylor! We hope you like it! We love you!"And in our hearts, we all rushed to hug him.

And then he had to sing his cheese song. And when he got to the line, "THIS is what we dream about…" he broke into an amazing smile that let us know he really meant it. The fireworks went off, the confetti fell, the credits rolled……and it was over.

withdrawls

The Soul Patrol spent the next week or so watching Taylor sing "Do I Make You Proud" eleventy-billion times. We watched every interview. Most of the interviews were, well, kinda lame. But we watched them all!

Still, all the press in the world couldn't give me what I was needing: A Taylor fix. Taylor singing a new song on TuesTAY night, on top of his game. One interview that did gave me a little thrill was the one where the did the break dance 'back spin' move...I don't know why, but it was, um...hot? Hilarious? Adorable? Taylor! And the Rolling Stone interview...that was good because they actually asked Taylor about music and it was cool to hear what he had to say...But other than that, there wasn't much except poor Taylor singing the cheese song again, and again.

I started working on writing down the season so I could remember it...

I can feel the magic of this experience fading, and I feel the need to finish writing the whole thing down before the spell is completely broken. It is as if the clock has struck midnight and everything is turning back to normal, but very slowly. *poof!* Suddenly, I don’t need to read that internet post about Taylor’s hiccup on the Early Show, and now *poof!* I can think for 20 minutes at a time about something other than Taylor Hicks…

And it is with a mixture of some relief and some sadness that I watch the enchantment of the last few months fade away. There is a big part of me that doesn’t want to go back to normal. I have had so much fun. The joy level has been off the charts. The JOY LEVEL was OFF the charts!! The adrenalin, the rush…I don’t want it to ever end. I smiled SO much. So much. (And I had not smiled much in a while before this.)

But a person can’t live like that forever. I got no housework done, no work at work done, I neglected my kids and my husband and I generally drove everyone around me crazy. The only people who could stand me were the other Taylor fanatics I met on my journey. Everyone else just wanted me to shut the hell up, for gosh sakes. And maybe do some laundry! There was a part of me, while I was going though it, just wanted it to be over so I could be normal again. The whole experience was out of my control. I COULDN’T stop. That was an uncomfortable feeling. But to be fair, it was only a small part of me that wanted to stop at all, and it was a huge part of me that just savored every moment and didn’t feel the least bit guilty for being completely selfish for 2 ½ months. I knew everyone could survive until the finale, and that I would be back. I just had to go on this journey.

Looking back, I treasure the memory. How crazy is that? I treasure the memory of a TV series that made me lose my mind. But I do. I treasure the whole experience. I wish I could thank Taylor Hicks, because he made me so happy. So happy. I want to remember every moment, write down every part of it.