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.