Why Simon Hates Taylor
Monday, February 05, 2007
Let's take a little journey to a place called Speculationville.
During the never-ending audition round shows this season, Simon has taken a few very visible verbal digs at Taylor Hicks. It started in Seattle when he told a gum-chewing contestant, who needed a place to spit out her gum, to "stick it on Taylor's face". It then followed with Sundance Head's audition (which I thought was great - he's one of my top two this season) where Simon commented that Head "blew Taylor out of the water".
Why the hostility? I have a theory. Click for the extended and find out what it is.
There is a smallish discussion going on over at MJs Big Blog about Chris Sligh, a contestant this season. It turns out Sligh has a band and a MySpace page and that he has smartly put a music video up on YouTube (see MJs entire post for greater details and links). Sligh is certainly not Idol-esque in the way that I believe Simon thinks contestants should be Idol-esque (e.g., the "beautiful people") - yet he's getting a LOT of buzz.
So let me swing back to why Simon hates Taylor. I believe that Taylor has fundamentally changed the dynamic of American Idol, with an assist from Season 4's Bo Bice. Bice was the first "gigging" musician that I had seen on AI. By "gigging", I mean that he fronts a band. Many, many of the contestants have singing experience - they've done theater - they've done solo things - they are featured at their church, etc. and so forth. But singing in a band, night after night, weekend after weekend, sets some contestants apart. Bice set the tone for that in Season 4.
And Taylor, smartly, picked up on that theme (as did Chris Daughtry) in Season 5. Let me see if I can explain this correctly in a way that makes sense.
I work in a band - I sing. The band has 11 people on stage - 5 horns, percussion, drums, bass, guitar and two singers. We play in nightclubs and festivals. We've been together for almost 7 years and we work pretty consistently, though none of us makes our living through this particular band. The talent on stage in our band is humbling. These guys all work in music and have done so for years. Their level of accomplishment, indivdually, is remarkable. As a result, we can play a lot more challenging things. We are a funk band - think Sly & the Family Stone - Think pre-disco Earth, Wind & Fire - think Tower of Power. We don't really embrace the idea of playing traditional horn band kinds of songs (ex: Soul Man; Midnight Hour; etc.). It's not that the songs are bad - they aren't - they just aren't particularly challenging. So we do some pretty challenging stuff, and it's stuff that non-funk-junkies wouldn't really know to hear it. The "purists" in the audience LOVE it. They sit and watch and listen. But the people who just want to have fun, dance, hang out - we lose them. So we have to pepper the challenging content with a bunch of recognizable stuff that we can stomach. Play That Funky Music is one that we do that simply packs the dance floor within the first few notes. We do it because we KNOW that the majority of average nightclub-goers will love it and love us as a result. Consider it a compromise.
There's a reason I went into that whole diatribe. Taylor Hicks has the same kind of gig savvy. Many "purists" scoffed when he did Play That Funkiy Music. The groans were almost audible. Yet the vast majority of Idol-watching America simply LOVED watching him perform something they knew and loved. If you look back at Taylor's choices throughout the season, the only risky choice was his excellent rendition of Ray Lamontagne's Trouble (for the record, I also think it was among the best performances he gave). Taylor's choices were, to me, unabashedly strategic. He had a plan in mind and that plan was to win American Idol as a launching point for future accomplishments. The win itself was not the ultimate goal - it was a step in the process. That's why I don't worry about the performance and the reviews of his first solo album. We all knew that The Powers That Be would insist that it be "poppy" and commercial. So I expect Taylor is doing what Taylor does - biding his time for when he can make an album that singularly reflects his experience, abilities and talent.
So to the point of why Simon hates Taylor: Simon recognizes that Taylor simply used American Idol. Taylor calculated every step to the best possible advantage and trusted his own judgment and experience to deliver something that would resonate with enough of the public to secure a win. He isn't particularly enamored of AI, I think, though I do believe he appreciates those people who have adamantly supported him from the beginning - THAT is genuine. But he's particularly UN-starry eyed over being the American Idol.
And in that, he set a precedent for the Sundance Head's and Chris Sligh's of Season 6 - Taylor showed that working musicians understand audiences best and understand how to cater to that audience rather than the judges. And with that, gone are the days of the giggling young star-struck kid who goes from never thinking about singing for a living to becoming the American Idol.
So there you go - My $.02 and a theory for contemplation.
Labels: American Idol, Miscellaneous
posted by RenaRF @ 12:41 PM,
2 Comments:
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At 11:24 AM,
said...
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Rena, this is a repeat (in part) of what I posted at MJ's but I figured it belongs here too.
I wanted you to know that I agree with your assessment, for the most part. I ‘m not sure that Simon really "hates" Taylor but he does seem to resent him.
That being said, part of Simon’s job is to cause controversy and rile people up. Last year he said he liked Kellie better than Carrie, when Carrie is clearly the better vocalist. He say’s it’s “not just about the voice” and then says “it’s a singing contest”. It’s part of Simon’s role, contradictions be damned, and I think Taylor understands that.
The thing is though, if it were really about who is best singer, the contestants would sing behind a screen without anyone seeing what they look like or how they use their bodies when they perform, and leave us to judge on vocal technique alone.
I think Simon’s comments about Taylor on Oprah etc., reflect his lack of understanding about what Taylor represents. He sees a package that fits a template, and fails to see that there's more to a compelling artist than eye candy with a pretty voice and malleable personality.
It's kind of insulting to Taylor's fans that he we only care about personality and gray hair though. He's used to working with singers, not dealing with experienced musicians.
Taylor is a musician who has the self-assuredness about his music who like Bo and Daughtry and some of the new guys this season, brings a professionalism to the talent pool that will make it better, IMO.
But the other thing I think Simon -and the other PTB resent is that Taylor also knew how to “take advantage” of the opportunity provided by American Idol in a businesslike manner. He's got a thick skin. He knows he has to play the game and figured out how to win. The PTB shouldn’t complain too much about Taylor “using” AI, because he was a major part of the high ratings last season, and the show is what brings in most of the revenue from this franchise. They got to “use” him too.
It will be interesting to see if more “calculated” contestants add spice to the mix. I think it’s already working out that way with Sligh who has shewdly gotten his product out there. Buzz is good for both Sligh and for American Idol. -
At 12:12 PM,
RenaRF said...
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EXACTLY! Although it sounds negative to say it, Taylor (imo) definitely "played" American Idol. PTFM is/was emblematic and representative of his overall strategy.
I've been with AI for all six seasons now. And I have to say - before Bo and, to a lesser extent, Constantine, I don't remember a professional working musician (specifically a band-playing musician) really making it very far. Yet after bo, you saw more and more auditioning and then making the Hollywood round. I would wager the same is true this year. If you go to the MySpace pages linked through MJs spoiler post, you can see that many of the alleged Top 24 and Top 40 come from working musician backgrounds. Gone is the preponderance of giggling starstruck post-adolescents, grateful just to be there yet fairly clueless about what works and what doesn't.
THAT is what I think Simon and the PTB resent, because as the talent pool expands to include a higher proportion of "professional" musicians, the ability to control those contestants diminishes. They will have, as a you say, a thick skin and a "been there, done that" kind o attitude that will make them less pliable.
I think they hate that. And I love it! :-D