It has certainly taken me long enough, but I am now ready to do part 2 of my trip down memory lane.
Yes, I know it's been 65 days since I posted part 1 of the series. But I got a little hairtracked...... I mean, sidetracked...... along the way.
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As a reminder, I'll share with you what I thought about his performance for each night both then and now. Please remember that all opinions are my own, which means they are 100% correct. The fact that I have since done a complete 180 of my opinions doesn't change that they were then, and are still now, correct.
Last time I ended with Taylor making the Top 24, which coincided with my jaw dropping to the floor, turning off the TV, and swearing up and down that I was done with AI. I did not get this gray-haired dude in any shape, form, or fashion. As far as I was concerned, AI had sunk to a new low and I was done with it.
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And like the rest of my New Year's resolutions that year, my resolve not to watch AI anymore went down the toilet as well.
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First up: Taylor sings "Levon" during the Top 24 Guys night (2/22/06).
I didn't watch Taylor's performance this night. I did watch my favorites perform: (Will Makar singing I Want You Back, Kevin Covais singing One Last Cry, and Ace Young singing Father Figure. But when I saw that Taylor was next, I changed the channel. I had already had enough of the crazy gray-haired guy whose dance moves on stage made me look good (and considering how bad I am, that's saying something).
Looking back, had I watched this performance I would have come away feeling mixed. It was a great performance and Simon was right on with his comments. And when Ryan asked "Do you feel as comfortable as you look," Taylor's response would have made a lot of sense to me. I would have begun to understand that he puts all of himself into what he sings.
That being said, the whole exchange that took place when Ryan was giving out the number for Taylor would have sent me right back under the covers. Taylor was good, but I would not have been ready to accept the "weirdness" just yet.
Next up: Taylor sings "Easy" during the Top 20 Guys night (3/1/06).
I didn't watch American Idol at all this night. Of course, this didn't stop me from ragging on Steff when she would go on and on and on about Taylor. And as it turned out, I actually had reason to rag on Steff for her Taylor love this time.
This performance is not one of my favorites of Taylor. Looking back at it now, it wouldn't have brought me closer to jumping on the Taylor bandwagon. If I had watched it back then with the way I felt about Taylor at the time, it would have just further cemented my disdain for him. If I had watched all of his performances up to this point, I would have been disappointed but probably wouldn't have given it a second thought.
Next up: Taylor sings "Takin' It To The Stret" during the Top 16 Guys night (3/8/06).
I did catch this performance on AI. When Taylor was in the bunny suit talking, my first thought was "oh geez, he did this at his audition and they are playing it back now for us to watch." As luck (all bad I felt at the time) would have it, the batteries in my remote went out during Taylor's introduction. So the song starts while I'm out changing the batteries. I come back in to find Taylor twirling his arm around like he had a thousand volts of electricity moving through him.
Of course, now when I watch it I do realize he did have a thousand volts of electricity moving through him. And I really do appreciate this performance today. But back then, all it did was serve to bolster my total ragging of Steff about her love for Taylor. I still did not get Taylor in any shape, form, or fashion at the time.
That's it for Part 2. Sometime between now and 65 days from now, I'll return with Part 3, which will take us through to the Final 10.
So let me know what you thought of Taylor's Top 24, 20, and 16 performances, as well as what you think of my thoughts on him at the time.
Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Birmingham, Alabama
