Mourning the Loss of Taylor Hicksville Innocence
Mourning the Loss of Taylor Hicksville Innocence by Roxanne McDonald
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Looved him, voted for him, watched him do Ford ads and Xmas specials. Now… |
He jittered and jiggled and spazzed on stage to the chagrin of critics and cohorts alike, but those of us who appreciated his honest tones and his unique renditions were rooting for Taylor Hicks to win “American Idol.” As is contractually requisite, Hicks went on—to first do the obligatory Ford commercials (which were actually very cool, emphasizing Hicks’ talents as much as highlighting the great American musclemobiles).
Then he was picked up by People Magazine as being among The Most Eligible (or Hottest) Bachelors of 2006. He was featured looking slicker, slyer, and sharper than we remember him, of course, which to me kind of diminishes the freshness and honesty of his image as an American Idol, but what do I know?
Then we got all excited for the anticipated first album, which was slated to debut on December 5th and which has already been reviewed—or slighted….
As he worked to complete In Your Time, New York Post Online Edition reported Hicks as saying that the “whole recording process with Matt has been flawless so far,” emphasizing how “It’s not easy to make a record expediently without sacrificing integrity and aesthetics in the production, songwriting and performance worlds.” We Hicks fans cheered him on.
But sterner, more discriminating (?) critics were non-plussed when the album, which was available on pre-order basis through Amazon.com and other retailers, came out: reviewer Solvej Schou, for instance, determined the album as lacking the “Soul Patrol pizzazz” Hicks is so well known for resuscitating.
Acknowledging that what won him the “American Idol” title was not just his “soulful voice or Clooney-esque silver hair but [also]…his unbridled, passionate delivery and goofy charm (plus those spastic dance moves, of course), and admitting that Taylor still has that “amazing voice — somewhere between gruffness and sweetness,” Schou laments the absence of “quirky appeal and fiery
performance style” in what he calls Hicks’ “overproduced, self-titled debut.”
Though Hicks honors the work of men upon whom his style and repertoire is based, says Schou, the results are mixed: the album, he says, is sleekly produced, pays homage to the soul greats of yore, and is “catchy” in places, yet lacks the grit of Hicks’ Idol performances, he implies.
Now whether others agree at this point, or whether the fact that public exposure at such a great extreme has already weakened and worsened the previously un-touched, un-jaded one might be more easily decided by Hicks’ newest comments to the press. According to TMZ.com and E! Online, our favorite idol has pooh-poohed being crowned by a show that he intimated is “fizzling out.”
Chalk it up to new-found celebrity? Or to being re-shaped and molded to fit the commercial image…losing the unrefined charm and unique charisma we so fell in love with from the start…?
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one might be more easily decided by Hicks’ newest comments to the press. According to TMZ.com and E! Online, our favorite idol has pooh-poohed being crowned by a show that he intimated is “fizzling out.”
That’s such BS. Anyone that has a clue would realize that Taylor meant that his time and spotlight gained from the show is fizzling out and that he now has to make it on his own. A new season of Idol will begin shortly and the spotlight will no longer be on him. He never meant anything negative toward the show. I have no clue why this was even considered controversial in the first place.
Comment by Jenx — December 16, 2006 @ 9:05 pm