A good article on Taylor. Especially interesting is the information about the success of his 2007 tours.

http://bhammag.com/bhammag/people_hotlist.aspx#top

Thanks for the article. I ordered a copy of the magazine.
I love the book ‘Heart Full of Soul’ written by Taylor Hicks.

He also said in his book that he tried to organize the contestants to demand more money was it? from AI. Something about they wouldn’t have a show without the contestants’ ¦.yeah, and that couldn’t have gone over too well either.

Taylor had a book? Was it a tell-all?

Brian Less, the keyboardist from LMBO, played with Taylor at his gig in Detroit last Monday. It was the ultimate Taylor concert for many reasons. If you’re a fan, check out YouTube for songs such as Maybe You Should and Indiscriminate Act of Kindness. He also did a killer version of Don’t Let Me Down.

(Dingo, if you read this, check it out. It was raw, acoustic Taylor at his best.)

As I understand it, the former members of LMBO all play in different bands, but sometimes play together under various names.

Thanks for the information Chewsday. I knew that Taylor and Brian were really close. I’m gonna look at the videos. Taylor is so good in that kind of setting. I saw him at the first shadow tour concert at Cyote Joe’s in Charlotte, NC that year. He was AWESOME!

(Dingo, if you read this, check it out. It was raw, acoustic Taylor at his best.)

As I understand it, the former members of LMBO all play in different bands, but sometimes play together under various names.

USAToday
The set boasts a 42-by-18-foot video-screen backdrop, as well as four smaller screens, each receiving separate signals.

It should be interesting to see how they configure that at GM Place (Vancouver), considering that according to TicketMaster, the seating goes all the way around back of the stage.

Boston Herald
The American Idols Live Tour opens July 5 in Portland before heading south to Los Angeles on July 16 and Ontario a day later.

Interesting again, that the writer does not mention that the third stop of the tour is Vancouver on July 8th (not to mention Tacoma & the 4 other California dates before L.A. on the 16th).

Boston Herald re: Adam
” ¦earlier this month on the cover of Rolling Stone, talking about everything from his music to his sexuality (he’s gay, but then he figured you’d already guessed that.)’ 

I only quoted this because in an otherwise decent article, it really bugs me that the writer just HAD to put that in there – why on earth did he not simply say “…earlier this month on the cover of Rolling Stone” and leave it at that?!? Arrgghh!

Michael Sarver (via Boston Herald)
“Before we go on, I plan to go to the farthest seat from the stage, to get a sense of what it’s like,” says Sarver, who worked as a roughneck in a Texas oil field before making it on the show. “Because I think we need to see what that’s like, and make sure they have a good show. I really do.”

Wow, I feel a little bad for being surprised, but this is a very astute comment from Sarver. I think all ten of them, while the stage is being set up, ought to spare a few minutes and hang out in the nose-bleed sections of each stadium, just so they know exactly how far they need to ‘project’. Even you-know-who has never performed for an audience as large as they’re going to have during these shows, so I think this exercise would be nothing but beneficial – for them and the audience.

BestAI
It’s not just the moves, it’s his pants (ahem). I thought one of the funniest threads on the AI board was when they proclaimed Adam as the winner and his pants #2 (different pants, than this one).

I love those red velour pants, lol. And yes, there were many who thought Adam should win with his pants coming in as runner up, although which pants ought to receive the title was much-debated (I can’t remember for certain, but I may actually have been the first to suggest that the pants deserved runner-up status, LOL [I was definitely *one* of the first]). I personally put my money on either the RoF pants or the WLL pants (it’s all about the *zipper*!). In terms of ‘dirrrrty’, IMO that “drop” is probably one of the least-raunchy moves in that clip, hehe.

Does Taylor still have anything to do with his original band or any of their members? What was the groups name? I actually saw them in Chicago when Taylor was on tour with AI and for the life of me can’t remember their name!

Little Memphis Blues Orchestra (LMBO). I’m not sure about whether he still plays with them from time to time. I do think he was loyal and really wanted to showcase them, and was very good about letting them showcase themselves during his shadow tour and soak up some of the love from his fans.

Well in Taylor’s defense, I don’t think he was lazy. He was stubborn. He decided that he wanted to do a shadow tour with his old band that followed the AI tour. So he would get off stage from the arena, then go to some local bar and perform again with his band. THAT’s why he couldn’t make time to finish his album. For some reason, he decided the shadow tour was more important.

I am sure his label was not amused. Heh.

Yeah, those who know anything about Taylor, would never call him lazy. Stubborn? Yeah, that’s probably putting it politely. I like Taylor, though.

Back in Taylor’s season, some of the other contestants said that he had a temper, but he held it together on TV. I don’t know if that relates to being stubborn, but it could be combination of some problems he had

Did they? I don’t really remember that. I do remember that someone said that he really laid into one of the AI minders for saying something rude to Elliott, and for following him into the bathroom. lol.

He also said in his book that he tried to organize the contestants to demand more money was it? from AI. Something about they wouldn’t have a show without the contestants….yeah, and that couldn’t have gone over too well either.

I think Taylor is very talented, and it’s a shame that he has in some ways been turned into an object of mockery. But I do think he’s a little hard headed and may in many ways have shot himself in the foot. I still love the guy, but he’s a little eccentric. lol.

Edit: Oh yeah, and he supposedly refused to sing the original coronation song that they gave him…walking out of the room and saying, I’m not singing this.

Rolling Stone brings you the definitive tribute to the King of Pop, with a dazzling 96 page special issue (plus 4 covers) chonicling the thrilling highs and chilling lows of Michael Jackson from Motown to Thriller to Neverland Ranch. The vast majority of the material here is new, thanks to essays from Will.i.am, Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Sheryl Crow, Slash, Adam Lambert, Usher, L.A. Reid, Akon, Brooke Shields, Gamble and Huff, Wyclef Jean, Ne-Yo, Weird Al, Martin Scorsese, Glen Ballard, John Landis, plus the Rolling Stone staff. Also included are reprints of two classic Rolling Stone cover stories, one from 1973 by Ben Fong Torres, and a 1983 piece by Gerri Hershey.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Michael-Jackson/Rolling-Stone-Magazine/e/9781615565009/?

Yes, Twitter is weird that way. Here are their page links, this usually works best:

http://twitter.com/KrisAllen4Real
http://twitter.com/Allison4Realzzz

On Jennifer Hudson, she was struggling and it was a LONG process for her to get cast in “Dreamgirls,” who knows if we would had heard about her if she didn’t get that gig and kill it. I think other than having and agent and some notoriety, her landing that job was almost separate from AI. She was told she was no longer being considered more than once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYAKIkzCZPg

Krisallen4real…. “no such person found”. errrrrrh.

You know, that’s true and it ain’t. Look at Jennifer Hudson, who hit the stratosphere long after her Idol boot. Constantine Maroulis is doing great, after some lull years. And I love Melinda Doolittle’s album, which came out nearly two years after she was on the show.

Good point about the time lag – that certainly doesn’t seem to matter much for people like J. Hud. I agree that the key is just to keep at, keep good connections, and something will hopefully come along when the timing is right.

You know, that’s true and it ain’t. Look at Jennifer Hudson, who hit the stratosphere long after her Idol boot. Constantine Maroulis is doing great, after some lull years. And I love Melinda Doolittle’s album, which came out nearly two years after she was on the show.

I think the whole deal, really, is TALENT and CONNECTIONS. The recording industry, as we’ve all lamented many a time, is in the dumpster and hopelessly clingling to formula stuff when they should be scouting and grooming more new talent. So it’s tough to start with.

But I truly believe that the people who make it usually are those who should eventually. I say “usually” because, Lord help me, I think all of Kelly Pickler’s talents are in her bazooms….

Regarding Taylor after Season 5 – Whatever happened, Taylor learned a lot, no doubt, that will stand him in good stead. I’m just glad to see him make a living doing what he loves.

Is it me, or do some of these kids talk like they just expect a deal to fall into their laps? It doesn’t happen that way (well, not if you don’t finish in the Top 2, anyway).

I seriously think Kris, Adam, and Allison are the three who have the most potential for successful singing careers in the future. I would equate some of the others (Matt esp.) as potentially picking up a smaller indie label and releasing something similar to Michael Johns.

With the others, I dont’ see as much success in music. Anoop = should segue into an acting/tv personality type role. Ditto with Megan (she reminds me of a Kellie Pickler sort – quirky personality, very pretty, etc).

Danny is talented, but really really needs to figure out his style and niche. I still insist he hasn’t found that happy medium of what he does well and what he really wants to sing.

As for Adam’s dancing – yes, in musical theater, he would definitely be learning a lot of choreography (broadway shows are INSANE with some of the level of dancing required, in fact, you really need to be a triple threat (dancing, singing, acting) for some kinds of roles. So I imagine he has had some great experience with that.

I am sure his label was not amused. Heh.

Brooke White — got my car washed… i love the carwash, they have these yummy strawberry popsicles and they play oldies… it’s the little things in life:)

David Archuleta — Workin’ at the carwash! carwash yeah!

Brooke White — hahaha, oh @DavidArchie you just reminded me how much i miss hangin’ around ya, you start singin’ a song for any random subject…love it:)

Even on Twitter, David breaks out into song! He’s done that several times before actually. He’s so cute. Even his twitter name is cute. Haha!

Adam and Kris arrive in Portland:

http://www.rickey.org/?p=19128

Kris’ tweet:
@adamlambert @Allison4Realzzz and I just conquered the skies…now time to take of America with the rest of the idols

http://bhammag.com/bhammag/people_hotlist.aspx#top

(Delete if this has already been posted, but I haven’t seen it.)

http://www.rickey.org/?p=19128

Stunned. I just heard on the news Michael Jackson’s downloads last week were 2.3 million. I am waiting for the story again. I don’t know where they got their info, but they say it is correct

It’s probably correct. You can see the numbers for the songs that made the top 200 in the numbers thread.

If you just look at his top 20 songs it is 1,822,907. I just added up the entire list of songs (and I probably made a few entry mistakes), but it came to 2,418,736.