Out of an Article by Jeff Grode, Reality TV forum...

Jeff lets the reader know in his opening paragraph that he is a Taylor Hicks fan and supporter. His article features comments on the SNL skit, "Well to start off with, let’s take an example of a few weeks back. During a Saturday Night Live skit, Taylor was caricatured as a rambunctious rambling idiot. For those of you not able to catch it, I’ve included a picture. Now, Taylor took it all in stride and was seemingly ‘amused’ on air. As was pointed out, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Perhaps Taylor was able to take it in stride, but how would a skit like this affect the general populace that votes on American Idol? It’s sad to say, but far too many people vote for who they perceive as ‘popular’.

People can be swayed so easily from outside influences rather than how their ‘gut feeling’ is and that is truly sad. It’s been said that people are either leaders or followers; but there are more followers in this world than leaders. So all it takes is this one skit on SNL to tell people, ‘this man is a buffoon and so are you if you vote for him’, and suddenly the people who have made him so popular start to question themselves."

Now I did not take it the SNL folks were trying to make him out to be a buffoon. What I walked away with, and understanding the twisted SNL humor, is it was flattery on a few different levels. One, the fact they selected Hicks maintains the man's popularity is reaching beyond A.I., and two, the actors on SNL that were involved in the skit pointed out in an interview that everyone watching knew who he was immediately, and gave them a lot of positive feedback - for the most part the commenters were happy Hicks' was being recognized. I mean, look at big celebrities in Hollywood, to be 'roasted' is considered an honor. But I do appreciate Joe's concern.

Joe continues with the same line of thinking many of Taylor Hicks' fans are discussing, including myself, "Now let’s look at what happened this past week on American Idol. There are many people that thought Taylor did not do a good job. But what some people don’t realize is that Taylor didn’t have nearly as much time to work on his song as some of the others. According to Nigel Lythgoe; executive producer for the American Idol, Taylor had chosen to sing, ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ by Michael Bolton. (Actually, this is not a Michael Bolton song, and Taylor Hicks had planned to work the Otis Redding version. This song was initially recorded in 1933 by Bing Crosby and many others since.) "Suddenly at the beginning of he week it was decided that the song was not in the genre. Further explaining this, Nigel goes on to say, ‘that’s okay if we are doing the Blues Brothers week’. It seems they only wanted songs they felt Andrea Bocelli would sing. Well, Monday certainly is a fine time to let Taylor know this. When exactly are the songs chosen by the performers? Are they seriously telling us no one considered song choice before the beginning of the week? I’m sorry, but this seems slightly unfair.

Next, Joe continues with, "Now to finish off this little rant I need to point out another bit of good news / bad news. In one popular site where the ultimate goal is to vote for the worst singer, they have now chosen Taylor as the next person they want their collective to vote for. Good news because it means more votes for Taylor, and yet bad news because they seem to consider him the worst of the remaining."

Call me a 'twisted sister', but I think this is a good thing. Most folks have this misconception that VFTW is only about this group picking the most deplorable contestant and pushing them for their 'evil' fun and entertainment, to poke a finger in the eye of A.I., 19E and the premise of the show. Of course they do have fun with that premise, but it's not the entire concept. VFTW is about pointing out the idea that this show is potentially compromised regarding who gets ' pushed' through and wins the title. It is a controversy gaining increasing creedence, especially with the turn of events for this past season. VFTW chose Hicks, if you can put your prejudices aside, go lurk in their forums, they are actually in mode to help him out - they see the way the A.I. / 19E group is leaning and of course want to disrupt 'the machine'. Granted this year they have backed their share of not-so-good contestants for the grins and giggles, and sheer mayhem, but in Hicks case, with the show this far down the road, it's an aide to push him through. They also recognize the fact that if they go with Paris or Elliott, they'll be soon picking another to root for - and really, at this point, there are no worst left in the group. Katharine would be wrong for them completely for all that she is endowed with and stands for, and Chris is TCO (The Chosen One) this year and so they won't back him. Plus, if you read between the lines, they like Taylor, everyone can understand rooting for the 'darkhorse' especially VFTW. I can appreciate the dark evil that is this site's humor driven motivation, but they are a big group with a lot of influence (so Taylor Hicks, don't be offended) and voting public don't be the sheep running behind Slimon and A.I. think for yourselves.

Got Soul? Vote Hicks!

Groove on Soulman.