# American Idol 5/23, This Is It! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936 "2006-05-23T18:46:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/61 "2006-05-24T04:19:21Z")
Taylor has tended to coast through, to this point, on song choice: he sings the great old nostalgic songs that everyone loves to hear from their wedding band. So I thought ending on two originals was gonna be his downfall; people don’t want to hear him do new songs. Unfortunately, Kat’s song sucked way harder than his. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/62 "2006-05-24T04:32:16Z")
It bothers me too that they always kneecap the two finalists by making them sing those wretched, written-for-the-show originals. On the other hand, it does represent a true test to see if they can overcome or transcend bad material. Elvis Presley got handed some of the worst, most cookie-cutter songs imaginable in his many bad movies but he still managed to make them sound better than they were just because he was Elvis. Not that anyone on this show has ever been Elvis but some of them (Clay, Taylor, Fantasia) have been able to disguise the badness of those originals with personality and talent. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/63 "2006-05-24T04:35:04Z")
Who wrote that abysmal song for Kat? Who suggested she sing it and why on earth did she listen? [Taylor wins and I get cake.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7196905&postcount=12) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/64 "2006-05-24T05:06:13Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Taylor has tended to coast through, to this point, on song choice: he sings the great old nostalgic songs that everyone loves to hear from their wedding band. So I thought ending on two originals was gonna be his downfall; people don’t want to hear him do new songs. Unfortunately, Kat’s song sucked way harder than his. Well, if he has been coasting, he’s had the support from his fans. If [Dialiodol](http://dialidol.com/asp/predictions/Predictions.asp) is to be believed, he has consistently been the top vote-getter throughout the competition while Kat has been on the chopping block more than once. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/65 "2006-05-24T08:33:09Z")
Yo. Haven’t been posting much lately, mainly because there isn’t much for me to comment on once the last hopeless case takes a walk. Good points on how neither remaining contestant was too impressive (I agree). IMHO, that’s just another consequence of one-at-a-time eliminating. When Taylor had six others to deal with, any of whom could’ve outlasted him, there was some real tension and a real possiblity that his all-or-nothing circus act would send him down in flames. Now he has one songstress who’s been on the decline and who’s also received a bizarre backlash to deal with. When all he needs is two pars and a bogey, why go for the green? (On a related note, I didn’t think the new singles were all that sappy, especially not compared to what I’ve been hearing week after week prior. I’d be shocked if AI _ever_ had anything fresh or edgy.) Okay…Taylor or Katharine, Katharine or Taylor…who should it be… Voice: Taylor’s done all he could, but he just doesn’t have Katharine’s range or energy. While his theatrics are fun to watch, part of being an Idol is sitting still in front of a microphone and making a pure-audio CD. Here he falls short. EDGE - Katharine Marketability: Taylor has the down-home Alabama appeal and is generally a fun guy. Katharine is beautiful and sounds like she was born to be a singer. Neither, however, strikes me as superstar material. I just don’t see the creativity, the mass appeal, the vibe. EDGE - even Presentability: For all of Katharine’s natural beauty, she has _no_ fashion sense whatsoever. What is the deal with all the granny dresses and faded jeans?? (And if I hear “wardrobe malfuction” one more time…) Taylor has gray hair, and…how is looking old a good thing? Especially with all the geezer music he recently had to perform? Either could look good enough for a CD cover with a _lot_ of work; as it is, it’s a wash. EDGE - even Fanbase: Katharine just never clicked, and I’m flabbergasted at the lengths some people will go to rip into her. Taylor did some relatively wild antics for AI, he has a ton of sympathy due to the ludicrous crap he’s had to put up with (Seriously, an SNL skit, a webcomic, _and_ Comedy Central? Was this a slow month or what??), and he got dissed by Simon. Easy call. EDGE - Taylor Concerts/touring: Easily Taylor’s strong point. No trouble at all putting on a show or schmoozing with a promoter. Katharine struggled to find suitable positions for some songs and cannot answer off-the-cuff questions _at all_. EDGE - Taylor Who needs it: One of the things I never liked about the finale is that it really doesn’t matter which of the two finallists wins. They’ve made their mark, and they’re going to go as far as they can. I had ZERO interest in Bo Bice vs. Carrie Underwood. If someone who _really_ needed it, like Kellie Pickler or Bucky Covington, was in the final two, it’d be an easy pick. As it is…no. EDGE - N/A Who could handle it: Lessee…under contract for a year, gotta do what Simon Cowell’s company tells you to, gotta sing their songs, gotta tour their tours, and do it all with a smile…anyone really think wild man Taylor is up to this? EDGE - Katharine Seems pretty even to me. I won’t be thrilled or crushed by either one winning. vaderspal - Hey, thanks for the props. Actually a bit surprised it took this long to catch on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/66 "2006-05-24T13:17:01Z")
Well, I did indeed skip American Idol last night in favor of the Stephen King movie, after learning that Kat and Taylor would be singing two of their previously sung songs. The movie sucked (put me to sleep, in fact), but it sounds like I didn’t miss anything here either. I still have high hopes for Lost tonight. **Dung Beetle** , which did you choose to suffer through? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/67 "2006-05-24T13:26:25Z")
Nope, nothing but busy for Taylor last night. Even after I said I went to bed I was hitting redial. Because I can. Because it dawned on me that I could take my cordless to bed. All for naught because I never, ever got through. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/68 "2006-05-24T13:56:44Z")
Did Taylor ever sing a Ray Charles song this season? I thought he might be saving “Unchain My Heart” for the finals, but I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/69 "2006-05-24T13:57:59Z")
I thought it was funny that even the judges were canning the songs. Shouldn’t they at least pretend to like the shlock that the show writes? OTOH, I could see the evil song writers in a back room, OK, just how corny can we make this? I did find myself singing the hook in Taylor’s song for a few minutes after he was done :eek: I think it’s great that Simon didn’t pick Taylor to move on and now this: “Hey, that’s show business!” And Daniel Powter says (in his blurb on VH1) he wants to do music no one’s ever heard before but then he appears on the blandest music show singing the blandest pop song. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/70 "2006-05-24T14:26:45Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > **Dung Beetle** , which did you choose to suffer through? Watched AI; then switched to Desperation. I wasn’t terribly impressed with either of them, but thanks for telling me it was on. I liked Taylor’s first song, but the others were a drag. I didn’t pay much attention when Kat was on, except during Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I wanted to hear if she screwed it up on the same note as last time, and sure enough, she did. Instead of the Devil possessing her on that one word\*, it sounded like Kellie Pickler. Kudos to whatever cell phone company had the commercial with the creepy kids (tributes to The Shining and The Exorcist). “Are you afraid to get your kids a cell phone?” Loved it! \*The word is “heard” in the line, There’s a land that I heard of. If you taped it, go back and listen. Either my TV is acting up, or that was a stinker. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/71 "2006-05-24T14:47:30Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Taylor, on the other hand, is the biggest thing to happen to Alabama since toilet paper. Henry Louis (Hank) Aaron, baseball player, Mobile Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist, Linden Tallulah Brockman Bankhead, actress, Huntsville Hugo LaFayette Black, jurist, Harlan Nat “King” Cole, entertainer, Montgomery Marva Collins, educator, Monroeville Bobby Goldsboro, entertainer, Dothan William Crowford Gorgas, army officer, physician, Mobile Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, writer, Montgomery Lionel Hampton, jazz musician, Birmingham William Christopher Handy, composer, Florence Emmy Lou Harris, singer, Birmingham Kate Jackson, actress, Birmingham Percy Lavon Julian, inventor, Montgomery Helen Adams Keller, author, educator, Tuscumbia Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader, Marion Harper Lee, writer, Monroeville Carl Lewis, track athlete, Birmingham Joe Louis, boxer, Lexington Willie Mays, baseball player, Westfield Jim Nabors, actor, Sylacauga Jesse Owens, athlete, Danville Rosa Parks, civil rights activist, Tuskegee Jimmie Rodgers, singer, Geiger David Satcher, surgeon general, Anniston Waldo L. Semon, inventor, Demopolis George Wallace, governor, Clio William Weatherford (Red Eagle) Creek indian leader Heather Whitestone, Miss America, Dothan Hank Williams, recording artist, Georgiana ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/72 "2006-05-24T14:53:57Z")
Rock on, **Rez!** ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/73 "2006-05-24T14:58:52Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I thought it was funny that even the judges were canning the songs. Shouldn’t they at least pretend to like the shlock that the show writes? First thing I thought of. Unless I’m very much mistaken, 19 Entertainment decides what song will be released by the finalists. 19 Entertainment also signs Randy Jackson’s paycheck. You think they might want to drag him into a room and remind him of that fact? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/74 "2006-05-24T15:03:04Z")
George Wallace? Of the people to be proud are from your state, a governor should be a given. As for the [new songs:](http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-23-idol-songs_x.htm) Songwriters are Harry Sommerdahl, Hanne Sorvag and Tim Baxter for _My Destiny_, and Tracy Ackerman and Absolute for _Do I Make You Proud_. I was sure they were Diane Warren abortions. It smelled of her wretched, hacky touch. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/75 "2006-05-24T15:06:20Z")
Don’t forget that Ruben Studdard, past American Idol winner, is also from Alabama. This isn’t new to them. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/76 "2006-05-24T15:14:36Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > The song sucks. Why the hell can’t they do something up tempo and not this schmaltzy pseudo-inspiration crap. > > Anyways, Taylor did much better with his song than Katherine did. If Katherine wins this, there needs to be an investigation. > > Oh goody. I get to hear “Had a bad day” again. Haven’t had that song crammed into my brain enough. If you’ll excuse me, I have to take a hammer to my head. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: Every song that’s been written for the Idol stars has sucked moose pud. Tonight’s songs were no exception. Taylor beat the pants off Kat tonight. But here’s my opinion. They’re too different to compare. Neither of 'em would sing the other’s type of music. It’s apples and oranges. I’m underwhelmed with her brand of pop. I want Taylor to win just because he’s so damned entertaining. (But I don’t think he’ll do much with strictly recording…you gotta SEE him!) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/77 "2006-05-24T15:17:05Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Taylor, on the other hand, is the biggest thing to happen to Alabama since toilet paper. Well I may not go that far, but he’s the only successful _American Idol_ contestant ever to come out of metro-Birmingham. Well, there was that Bo Bice fella way back in aught-five. Then a while back there was that there Ruben Studdard fella way back in, oh, reckon it was back in aught three… aught four… hard to remember, but he didn’t make a stir cause Alabama TVs can’t pick up images of colored folks you know. (Some think that 205 number he wore on his shirts was an homage to his area code in Alabama, but I think it’s really meant to mean something about Jesus and Mary Magdalen havin’ sex.) ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/78 "2006-05-24T16:02:05Z")
Yeah - I should have caught the George Wallace bit. And while you say that the governor should be a given to be proud of, well, remember George Wallace? Famous ain’t proud. Also I forgot Bo and Reuben. I’m pickin’ at you **lissener** - we get a bit sensitive about remarks like that. Didn’t help much that our latest idol is named Hicks! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/79 "2006-05-24T16:35:47Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > (But I don’t think he’ll do much with strictly recording…you gotta SEE him!) Actually, I’ve heard some recordings and he’s pretty good. He did a Georgia on My Mind that I really enjoyed, and a couple of songs I didn’t recognize but were even better. He’s got a voice. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936/80 "2006-05-24T16:42:46Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Taylor beat the pants off Kat tonight. I’d pay to see that. Alone. In a darkened room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-23-this-is-it/357936.md?page=5)