American Idol Top 5 - Taylor Hicks

Now that we are coming to the home-stretch of the new season of American Idol, it is looking like they have what many have dubbed the strongest top five in the history of the show. The American public have got it right the past three weeks by voting out Bucky, Ace and Kellie (finally!) at just the right time. I think this is a very strong top five, and I think I would be happy if any of them won, with the exception of Taylor (why did Mandisa turn out to be such a preachy Bible-thumping diva!). An run-down of the final five ranked based on personal preference:



















5. Taylor Hicks

Musical Style
Joe Cocker meets Bob Seger (which is exactly as exciting as it sounds, zzzzzzzzz)

Image
Jay Leno without the enormous chin dressed like a drunken uncle at the family picnic.

The Good
The reason why Taylor has made it this far (and been the only contestant left not to have been in the bottom 3) is because of his 'uniqueness' value. It's Bo Bice syndrome all over again, he's not your typical Idol contestant so the public keep voting him in because of his originality. I grant him that he is unique and different.

The Bad
Unique isn't always a good thing and Taylor's style is very boring. He sounds dated, his song choices have been bland and he just seems to give the same performance week after week and he seems to be bored himself by the whole thing.

The Ugly
That awful dancing and all those body-hugging ticks. I know its supposed to make him endearing but its very affected and fake and makes me dislike his showboaty ass even more. Stop clapping for yourself, Taylor! Thankfully they managed to yank his harmonica away from him.

Favorite Performance
His semi-final performance of 'Taking It To The Streets' was full of energy and life and he still seemed fresh and unique at the time.