Wade on Birmingham

Just for Hicks: Seven up

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taylor hicksFor those who think “American Idol” lacks standards, we counted at least seven tonight. Birmingham’s Taylor Hicks and the other six finalists took their shot at the classics, with a helping hand from Rod Stewart.

And the competition just got a little tougher.

Recap after the jump …

Updated with video, elimination.

Taylor Hicks

‘Darling you send me, honest you do, honest you do …’

Song: “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke.

Judges say: Randy: “What a difference some different music makes. … That was hot.” Paula: “Sam would be proud of you. You are finally in that zone to go the distance. … The ending was superb.” Simon: “It started, and I thought, OK, lame cabaret. And then, magic.”

Rod says: “Don’t care what Simon says (about your dancing). … You’ve got to grab the audience by the balls, as they say, and (Taylor’s) very good at doing that.”

We say: It started out blah but ended strong. A real showstopping finish, thanks to the Taylor touch.

Taylor says: (on being parodied on “Saturday Night Live”) “It was awesome. Flattery is a great form of humor.”

Taylor Hicks

Cheeky monkey; family ties.

Idol thoughts: We need more of Rod’s tart quips. Taylor needs to step it up fashion-wise — a fedora would’ve completed the look tonight. Best of the night: Paris Bennett, Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee.

Voting closes at 10 tonight.

Update: See Hicks perform “You Send Me.”

Update: Eliminated on April 19: Ace Young.

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3 Yips for “Just for Hicks: Seven up”

  1. Susan D
    Thursday, April 20, 2006, 4:40 pm
    1

    This is my favorite performance so far of Taylor’s. God, I LOVE this guy! He deserves to win AI this year because, not only is he so talented, he seems to be a good, straight up person. Someone others can look up to. Part of being an American Idol should include character.

  2. Ginny
    Friday, April 21, 2006, 8:18 am
    2

    Current AI message board post count by idols:

    Ace 101,542 (about 20k of which are about his elimination)
    Bucky 100,809
    Chris 121,510
    Elliott 85,608
    Katherine 86,900
    Kellie 54,941
    Mandisa 22,765
    Paris 15,635
    Taylor 328,282

    There’s no joke here, I just like saying 328,282.

  3. Bloom
    Sunday, April 23, 2006, 12:07 pm
    3

    I AM SO ADDICTED TO TAYLOR!!!
    Here is the URL to my webpage scrapbook devoted to Taylor:
    http://community-2.webtv.net/bloomtaliercio/TAYLORHICKSMY/
    Please sign my guestbook and let me know what you think.

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