idol

yup… he really is.

ELLIOTT YAMIN was great!

Yeah, he is. Honestly, after a stultifyingly lackluster start, the guys’ night turned powerhouse in the last half of the show, except for the amazingly bad lounge performance of Copa Cabana by a guy I trust I won’t have to see again after tonight. But Taylor Hicks is on his own level – we were talking after his performance and wondering if he might be the “music savant” sort of person, well up the autism scale (check out that social interaction) but focused on music to the point that nobody can keep up. (Did you catch him playing harmonic on his way in to see the judges to see if he made it to the final 12 guys?)

Another thing I like about him is that he’s clearly entirely wrong on so many levels for American Idol expectations. He’s socially bizarre. He dances, if possible, crazier than Joe Cocker. He doesn’t sound like generic R&Besque pop voice. He’s got grey hair, for crying out loud.

So every thing about him says “I’m still here because I’m THAT MUCH BETTER THAN YOU OTHER PEOPLE.” And he is.

-R

Another cool thing that Amanda told me: when he was frantically yelling “SOUL PATROL” like he had autism, it was actually because “soul patrol” is what they call his fanbase on the american idol message boards. Pretty funny.