American Idol: Gone But Not Forgotten
Sadie and I went to a cookout at my youngest brother’s house today. My older brother and sister were there.
Out of the blue my older brother said that he didn’t follow American Idol, but saw a little bit of the results finale. He thought Taylor Hicks was the worst singer on the stage, and is completely baffled that he was the winner.
I thought that was intriguing; sort of like an unclothed emperor moment. All the more so because Taylor has at times reminded me a little of the brother in question. Go figure.
My sister-in-law’s mother and her boyfriend, a blues guitarist whose accent sounds like he could be from Jamaica or elsewhere in the Carribean, were nearby and while they never claimed to like Taylor, were surprised at my vehemence. They were avid American Idol watchers and kept being disappointed that “the good singers” got voted off early. They loved Elliot. They seemed to like Mandisa, and she particularly liked Paris. What I found interesting was that the talk of Taylor made him remark how bad Bruce Springsteen sounds to him; that his guitar playing always sounds “off.” I think that was part of the observation that you don’t have to be great to sell and get rich. They also thought it was a mistake for someone like Katharine to try to cover someone like Celine Dion or Whitney Houston on AI without the chops for it.
And so the water cooler effect continues, despite Idol being done for the season. It’ll be cool knowing there’s another pair of Idol watchers in the extended family next season. Give us something to talk about if we end up at family events together.
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