There are many people who claim to be turned off by Taylor Hick's twitching and epileptic spasms.
Well, to the others who mention they don’t like the twitching. you have to watch more of Joe Cocker and others…
The twitching is EXACTLY what his fans DO like and what makes him so likeable and endearing to those who like this kind of music…
Performers FEELING the music coming out of their soul and communicating that CAN’T HELP BUT DO IT.
Have you ever gone to charismatic worship meetings and watch the people sing their hearts out in joy and ecstacy, and even spontaneously waving their hands and dancing to the music ?
THAT’s WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU *FEEL* THE MUSIC. AND THAT's WHAT TAYLOR HICKS DOES WHEN HE PERFORMS.
Put the song on (or another song you really feel) and when no one is around…..heh heh, let yourself go and DANCE, not a known dance....but what your body feels with the music and see what happens to ya!
Guys like Mick Jagger, Dave Matthews and even Roger Daltrey do it all the time.
Better still — go to one of them Vineyard Charismatic Worship services…. that’s EXACTLY what you see.
PEOPLE PERFORM BEST WHEN THEY *FEEL* THE MUSIC. That’s what Taylor does.
Here are several things you should notice about Taylor during his performance :
1) It was a pity the performance was limited to 2 minutes. This could’ve been an even bigger crowd rouser had it played out to 4 minutes ( the length of the original song ).
2) This is a performer’ song, not designed to show off your vocals in the first instance but your ability to entertain. In this sense, Taylor lighted up and got the crowd involved. It’s great to fire up people without having to shout “Get Up everybody !”
3) Notice the un-ending cheers and claps after the performance. Randy had to pause before he could get a word in. This was CLEARLY A SPONTANEOUS RESPONSE to his performance.
4) And here’s the kicker — WATCH SIMON’s REACTION AS TAYLOR WAS PERFORMING —— *ALL SMILES*. It’s hard to get that kind reaction from the man famous for bringing people down but Taylor simply brought it out from him.
5) I don’t know why Simon would call it a good radio performance. It was clearly meant to be LIVE with audience participation.
6) Listen to Michael McDonald's version of the song and Taylor Hick's version via AUDIO .... It IS ALMOST SIMILAR IT IS UNCANNY.
Many people equate Taylor to Ray Charles. I disagree. HIS VOICE IS MOST SIMILAR TO Michael McDonald ( frontman for the famed Doobie Brothers ).
FINAL THOUGHTS : We need a slow, serious song from Taylor next. GIVE US “GEORGIA” man. This will highlight your versatility and ability to do it all.
He’s a LOCK for the top 12. It took me 50 dials to get through him.
The next question would be this, what’s he going to sing when the dreaded theme nights kick in and your song choices are now significantly narrowed ? Let’s anticipate them …..(based on past themes that appear with regularity ) :
1) MOVIE NIGHT
2) MUSICALS
3) THE 90’s BILLBOARD
4) THE 80’s BILLBOARD
5) THE 70’s BILLBOARD
6) THE 60’s BILLBOARD
7) SONGS FROM THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN ( for Taylor, that would be 1977 ).
8) BILLBOARD TOP 100
9) I HEAR THEY MIGHT EVEN CLEAR LENNON-McCARTNEY
10) BIG BAND
11) MOTOWN
AND NOW HERE's A SPOILER --- MARCH 14 IS STEVIE WONDER NIGHT. Stevie will be there to introduce his music, songs and give each performer advise...
What do you suggest each of them choose as a song ?
Here are some of the OVERSANG and OVER-PERFORMED songs of Stevie Wonder ( sang at least twice by previous Idol contestants) which should not be done anymore...
1) You are the Sunshine of my life
2) My Cherie Amour
3) Overjoyed
4) All Is Fair in Love.
Chris- Higher Ground
Speaking of twitching and "feeling the music" anyone here ever see Johnny Lang play guitar? That joker looks like he is constantly smelling something bad but his playing is simply amazing. Same with Hendrix, SRV, etc. Those guys just ooze music. WHile Taylor is nowhere in the same universe, he is one of those types of musicians.
If anyone sings this again, including Stevie Wonder, I'll stick my head in an aquarium until it ends.
Stevie Wonders songs? The key to doing it right, is to pick his upbeat songs, not the freakin ballads.
I just hope someone sings:
"I Wish"
"Master Blaster"
"Superstition"
"Part-Time Lover"
"That Girl"
"Ebony & Ivory"
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)"
I also hope, they don't butcher his songs like the contestants did when they did to Barry Manilow a few seasons back.
Taylor is definitely a trip. Looked to me last night like Randy was starting to say something negative about Taylor's motion, but Taylor short-circuited Randy and made it look like Randy was going in another direction with his comment, left him struggling for words. Also thought it was funny when Simon said something about Taylor killing music videos with that performance, and Taylor was like "Yeah!"
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That song is the kiss of death!