A NEW IDOL


... for those of you who care about opinions ...


Ok. I have some backpedaling to do. A middle-aged fella' named Taylor won this season's American Idol competition. From what I had seen of him, I hadn't thought more than little of him. However, he won for a reason, right? (.coughs. REUBEN STUDDARD .coughs.) I go online and find that you can watch quite a few of the performances Taylor gave during the competition, and, well, I was surprised, and impressed.

Usually Idol contestants seem to distastefully pick the top 10 songs that will somehow prove that they can hack it just as well as the next superstar. Well, if Taylor was doing that, it was top 10 for years ago. The one I did recognize was Play That Funky Music. He showed a definite style in his song selection, but it was possibly the strongest selection of songs by any contestant to date (that I've seen).

It felt like Taylor's performance were about music, not about Taylor. Strange. Haven't seen that yet. ... not even with Kelly. .coughs. His voice is awesome. Energizing. It's really gritty, which I would expect to have effects on tone quality, but he holds it together, like his voice was designed to croon and grind away. His expressiveness is great. He's almost always on pitch. Just really does a good job that I didn't see coming.

And the backup band seemed to really play well. Like they fed off of Taylor. Definitely not something I'd heard before. Made me sit up.

Now, just as a note, I had heard very brief clips of him during the competition and didn't much care for him at all. So it's not like I was totally uninformed. But I must say, and this is why I mostly didn't like him at first, Taylor doesn't look like and Idol. He looks like a goob! He looks like a 40-something up there singing his vocal chords out with incredibly solid style and maturity, but all the while hopping and convulsing like he has a disorder. He seemed to almost always wear the same stuff. Boring suits. Shirt and tie. Boring. No real image. No real stage presence, that affected me at least. He doesn't seem to konw how to work with the cameras. At all. So maybe you can see why initially I wondered why he made it as far as he did. I mean, the akward people are usually voted off.

Oh well. He didn't, and frankly, I'm glad he won. I don't know that I'd want to watch him hopscotch across a stage all by himself again, but I'd love to hear him. I'll be curious to hear his album. 'Cause guy can sing it! Not at all in the same way as Kelly. Kelly can holler, and I think she's a pop queen, and she's versatile as anything, but I don't know that she has proven herself truly unique yet. And I guess Taylor isn't unique, but it's a sound we don't normally hear, and he rocks it. He's just a whole lot of fun. Maybe that's why America chose him.

So, while he might be a goob, I say, "PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC, WHITE BOY! I guess I'm glad you won."