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Taylor Hicks tour dates have been announced.

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This is a VERY rough, brief video of Taylor Hicks’ performance with Gladys Knight at the Orange Bowl halftime show. This one was recorded by someone at at the game.

Here is a better, more lengthy You Tube video of Taylor Hicks performing The Runaround and playing harmonica and singing with Gladys Knight. This one seems to have been recorded off the television performance.

American Idol Taylor Hicks will be joining Gladys Knight on stage at the Orange Bowl halftime show. He will be performing The Runaround and a duet with Knight. American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson also appeared at the Orange Bowl in 2005.

Well, Taylor’s new cd is out, and the reviews are in. I was going to link to one, but there are just too many out there, and each one has something different to say. They’re a mixed bag. Some like it, some love it, some hate parts of it. Generally, I would call the reviews middle of the road. I think this is not unexpected, as it seems that none of the first albums from American Idol winners are any good (or at least vaguely disappointing). It seems that they only come into their own when they’re out from under American Idol contract obligations.

So, what about you? Has anyone bought the album? What do you think of it?

I’ve included below a live performance of “The Right Place”. I also included Taylor’s performance of “Runaround” from his Christmas at Rockefeller Plaza appearance.

The Walt Disney Christmas Day Parade, airing December 25 from 9-11 on ABC, will feature Mandisa, Ace Young and Paris Bennett. Elliott Yamin was originally scheduled to appear, as well, but had to back out due to other commitments.

Katharine McPhee will appear on CBS’ “Home for the Holidays,” scheduled for December 22 at 7 p.m. This special mixes strong music with moving, true-life stories about adoption.

Taylor Hicks is scheduled to join Phil and Robin McGraw for TNT’s “Christmas in Washington.” The holiday special will broadcast December 13 at 9 pm. on TNT.

And not to be left out, past winner Ruben Studdard will appear on “Dear Santa”, a special hosted by Kristen Bell. The show features wishes being granted to kids who wrote to Santa. It will air 6 a.m. Saturday, December 16, on ABC Family.

Taylor Hicks has taken some heat about his recent interview in Relix magazine. Personally, I didn’t think there was anything that bad about them. But, of course, Taylor doesn’t want to look like he was being ungrateful or snarky. So, he has done a couple of spin control interviews. You can read one on E! Online.

I’m not going to comment much on it, but for all you Taylor fans— you should check out this interview in Relix magazine.

Justin Timberlake (former mousketeer, member of boy band ‘N Synch and now pursuing a solo career) has been quoted as saying that he doesn’t think Taylor Hicks can “carry a tune in a bucket”. Now, Timberlake’s reps have said this has been taken completely out of context, and I’d like to hope that’s true, but let’s just say for a moment that it isn’t. Does Justin Timberlake really have any room to talk? It’s not like he’s Pavarotti. Personally, I’d rather listen to Taylor Hicks sing, although the new Timberlake song that they played on the finals of “So You Think You Can Dance” was catchy enough. Not one music professional who worked with Taylor during the show questioned his ability to sing— his performance style, perhaps, but not his ability to sing. Anyway, I hope and assume that Justin Timberlake was badly misquoted. I guess that just goes to show that even if you’re an old pro in the music business, you can still get in trouble with the press.

Taylor Hicks is suing a former producer for releasing some pre-American Idol demo songs. The producer insists that it’s all a big misunderstanding and that Taylor will get any royalties he is owed. Hopefully, it will work out for all concerned.

A portion of the sales of American Idol Taylor Hicks’ new single “Do I Make You Proud” will go to benefit the American Red Cross. This is a tradition for the winner of American Idol. Hopefully, there won’t be any huge hurricanes that will leave behind people who will need the Red Cross’ help this year.

It looks like most of our readers were pleased that Taylor was chosen as the new American Idol. I’m sure you all know how I feel

How do you feel about the results of American Idol?
Soul Patrol!: 62% (113)
I’m really glad.: 11% (20)
I could have gone either way.: 7% (12)
I’m totally bummed.: 20% (36)
Total Votes : 181

There are rumors all over the net as to what the American Idol winner receives. My favorite rumor is that they win a million dollars. Well, not quite. That would be Survivor.

So, here’s what Taylor Hicks will receive. A management contract with Idol creator Simon Fuller’s 19 Management and a recording contract with a division of the BMG Music Group that’s headed by industry legend Clive Davis. He also received a Ford Mustang convertible, but so did Katharine.

Most likely, Katharine will also receive a recording contract with BMG, so it’s hard to say what the real advantage of winning is— other than bragging rights and extra publicity.

They’re adding venues by the day, so check the list below to see if there’s a venue near you, then go buy American Idols Live concert tickets. They’ve finally added Texas dates, so they’re back in my good graces. Now, maybe I can go see the show since they’ll be right here in Houston.

Wed July 5, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Thu July 6, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Fri July 7, 2005 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sat July 8, 2006 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sun July 9, 2006 Hartford, CT Hartford Civic Center
Tues July 11, 2006 Albany, NY Pepsi Arena
Wed July 12, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thur July 13, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Fri July 14, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Sat July 15, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Sun July 16, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Tues July 18, 2006 Wilkes Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
Wed July 19, 2006 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Fri July 21, 2006 Rochester, NY BlueCross Arena
Sat July 22, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Sun July 23, 2006 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
Tues July 25, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Thurs July 27, 2006 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
Fri July 28, 2006 Washington DC Verizon Center
Sat July 29, 2006 Richmond, VA Richmond Coliseum
Sun July 30, 2006 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Tues August 1, 2006 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Wed August 2, 2006 Columbia, SC Colonial Center
Thurs August 3, 2006 Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center
Sat August 5, 2006 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
Sun August 6, 2006 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Tues August 8, 2006 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
Thurs August 10, 2006 Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment Center
Fri August 11, 2006 Columbus, OH Value City Arena
Sat August 12, 2006 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
Sun August 13, 2006 St. Louis, MO Savvis Center
Tues August 15, 2006 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Wed August 16, 2006 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
Thurs August 17, 2006 Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis State Fairgrounds
Fri August 18, 2006 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
Sat August 19, 2006 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
Sun August 20, 2006 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
Tues August 22, 2006 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Fri August 25, 2006 San Diego, CA iPay One Center at the Sports Arena
Sat August 26, 2006 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Sun August 27, 2006 Anaheim, CA Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Tues August 29, 2006 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
Wed August 30, 2006 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Fri September 1, 2006 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Sat September 2, 2006 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Tues September 5, 2006 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Thurs September 7, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Fri September 8, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Sat September 9, 2006 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
Sun September 10, 2006 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Tues September 12, 2006 Duluth, GA The Arena at Gwinnett Center
Thur September 14, 2006 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
Fri September 15, 2006 Norfolk, VA Constant Convocation Center
Sat September 16, 2006 Reading, PA Sovereign Center
Sun September 17, 2006 Syracuse, NY War Memorial at OnCenter
Tues September 19, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thurs September 21, 2006 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center
Fri September 22, 2006 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center
Sat September 23, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Sun September 24, 2006 Wilkes-Barre, PA Wachovia Center

The night started with Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee singing “I Made it Through the Rain”. They were then joined for the end of the song by the rest of the final 12.

Birmingham, Alabama was being covered by the O’Donohue twins. It was packed with screaming Taylor fans. Universal City was covered by Tamyra Gray. It was packed, but it was hard to tell if they were Kat fans, American Idol fans, or Taylor fans.

This year they allowed several contestants to sing with their American Idol. Paris Bennett started this off singing “We’re In This Love Together” with Al Jareau. Then Chris Daughtry sang with Live.

Unless I missed it when I was out of the room, I don’t think Kellie Pickler sang a duet last night. She did, however, do a series of silly skits with Chef Wolfgang Puck. Called Puck & Pickler, these segments featured Kellie sampling escargot and fending off a live lobster.

Katharine’s choice of duet partner was odd, in my opinion. She sang “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” with meatloaf. Now, I understand this song was made famous by Celine Dion and Meatloaf, but I just thought that Meatloaf didn’t sound that great and that his voice really clashed with Katharine’s voice. You could also tell that Katharine’s aspirations include acting, as she chose to “act” the whole song. Was I the only one who found this grating and irritating.

Then they did this odd segment (repeated throughout the rest of the show) called the Golden Idols. This consisted of reviewing some of the worst and most bizarre performers of the season—AGAIN. Most of these were just annoying, but a few bear mentioning.

Crazy Dave Hoover made a return, fell off the stage, jumped back on, and then I’m pretty sure had to be dragged off by security, but we didn’t get to see the last part since they went to commercial. Elliott’s Mom won the proudest family moment. They also had the really, really bad guy who sort of looked like Clay Aiken on. They even let him sing. This was really just a setup to get Clay Aiken on the stage singing. Of course, it took me a moment to realize that it WAS Clay— what’s up with the hair, dude? And, finally, in their tribute to male bonding, the cowboys from the L.A. auditions made an appearance singing “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”.

The guys from the final 12 sang a medley of songs, starting with “Taking Care of Business”. Midway through the performance, Taylor came out and played the harmonica with them.

Then, there was the obligatory Ford commercial. This one was a bit special, though, as it lead up to the reveal of Taylor and Katharine’s new Ford convertibles.

Elliott sang U2’s “One” with Mary J Blige. I thought this was a really good performance. Their voices seemed well-suited to one another, and Elliott sounded great.

Carrie Underwood sang her new single, which is a real tear jerker. She looked great and was coming off her wins at the Country Music Awards the night before. I had heard Bo Bice was going to be there for last night’s performance but, again, unless I missed it, I didn’t see him.

I don’t know what was going on with the finalists’ duets last night. As previously mentioned, I thought Meatloaf didn’t sound as good as he usually does. Then Taylor sang “In The Ghetto” with Toni Braxton, and she sounded horrible. She seemed more intent on prancing around the stage in a REALLY short skirt than on singing the song.

Taylor’s duet was followed by the girls singing their medley, which was full of “I am woman, hear me roar” songs, starting with “I Feel Like a Woman”. The girls all sounded really great.

Shortly after the girls’ medley, there was a tribute to Burt Baccarat. This was really good, too, except for Kevin Covais singing “Pussycat, Pussycat”. Eww. The medley was finished off with Dion Warwick singing two songs, including “That’s What Friends Are For”. I was reminded how good Melissa McGhee was and led, once again, to wonder how Kevin Covais managed to reach the final 12. A lot of times when you see people later, you think “Wow, they really ARE good”. Not so with Kevin Covais. He was just nowhere near the league of the other performers. They might as well have let Cowboy Garrett join the final 12.

That was pretty much it, except for the reveal of the winner. But there was one other surprise. In the most random move of the evening, Prince sang a couple of songs. Um, what? Okay, it clearly wasn’t for ratings because a) they don’t need the help and b) no one knew ahead of time. It wasn’t in relation to anyone else singing (which leads me to wonder the rumors about them trying to get him on the show were true— that he didn’t want to interact with the contestants). So, what the heck was Prince doing on the show? I can only assume it was an attempt to lure “cooler” acts for the future. Now, they can say to more modern performers, “You should do American Idol. Even PRINCE has been on American Idol.” I don’t know. It just seemed odd to me.

Then they revealed that Taylor was the winner, he sang his single, and there was confetti and hugging all around.

In all, I think it was a really good season. We’ll be covering Idol goings-on between now and next year when we start the process all over again. So, stay tuned.

In this round both sang an original song, ostensibly one that was written for them. Katharine’s song was boring, in my opinion. It was just not that interesting, and the judges agreed. Randy and Paula thought her performance of the song was good, but I thought it was just okay. Simon also thought it was just okay.

Taylor’s song was better. What I really liked about this is exactly what Randy really liked. Any song Taylor sings sounds like a “Taylor Hicks” song. Do I think it’s the best song ever written? No. I haven’t heard any American Idol finale song that I wanted to run out and buy the single. I thought it was a really good performance, though.

The show closed out with Daniel Powter playing “Bad Day” while a montage of scenes from the entire season played on the big screen. So, the question is who will be having a bad day tomorrow?

Off to vote. Happy dialing!