“They [Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson] loved him. I couldn’t stand him [Taylor Hicks]. I didn’t get it. At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn’t mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris [Daughtry] is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor.”

-Simon Cowell at the Paley Festival

Credit: http://breathoffreshink.com/simon-co...lor-hicks-ouch

That sounds just like Cowell. Kick them when they're down! Oh and rewrite the story if they ever get back up(like Hudson). He's such a .......!

I was watching some YouTube clips of Taylor and Simon certainly likes him in them.

He liked Brookstein and McManus at the time too.

Simon always thinks about money and the direction of the franchises (series to record sales) so he will back people during the show he believes will make the most money for him but then dump on them when their "popularity" wanes or sale sdo not materialise.

To me he always seems as though he is judging a potential career tradjectory rather than the current performance and tailors his comments to reflect such.

..and let us not forget Gareth "do I really have a stutter or is it a convenient voting winning sympathy stunt?" Gates.

There's winning the competition and then there's having a career. Simon obviously prefers successful people and that's why he dismisses acts that just disappear after their brief moment of success

The ongoing success of losers like Gaiken, Jennifer Hudson and Daughtry show that you don't have to win to get the most sales and credible career

Right on Simon.

From what i remember last year Simon made it clear he didn't 'get' Taylor, he might have praised his voice and his ability to entertain a crowd but he didn't actually seem to like his act.

He didn't 'get' Will Young either. Considering he did 'get' Robson and Jerome, maybe it's a compliment for Simon not to 'get' you. Lol!

I thought the whole point of these shows is that they give a chance to people who otherwise might not be considered 'commercial'. Otherwise they might just as well pick a lot more potential Justins and Britneys ...

I didn't get Taylor either. I consider him winning last year to be the biggest example of letting the underdog win that I have ever seen in my life.

Compared to Chris Daughtry and Katharine McPhee, the guy had absolutely no right to be in the top four, let alone win the thing.

I never thought I'd see the day when the US audience went all British and started voting for the one they felt sorry for rather than the ones who actually could have lived up to being an American Idol. Taylor Hicks was no such thing.

Taylor was entertaining, which is why he won. Chris put me to sleep - it was nothing that I hadn't heard in all of the groups already out there. If I want to listen to Fuel, I can do that without hearing his rendition of their song.

Simon didn't care for Carrie, either. Or at least her music. The man hates country. But it is what sells.

Part of Taylor's problem was over exposure early on. People got real sick of the Ford commercials being played non-stop, and most people muted them when they came on. Is that what hurt him in his sales, or lack of promotion by the record company? Who knows? But Simon was never a big fan of his, so his comments aren't at all surprising.

He didn't come down on Taylor Hicks every week, he couldn't because Taylor wasn't singing badly or failing to show personality. However, he certainly never seemed to be excited by what he offered, and clearly preferred Chris Daughtry. Simon always picks the commercial act (more and more so since the failures of McManus, Brookstein) , and surely a key part of being the American Idol is that they go on to achieve success? Obiously, its good for Simon when a winner sells alot of albums and its good for the show's credibility. I very much doubt he has listened to Carrie Underwoods album, but he identified her as the winner at the semi final stage. Similarly, I doubt he liked Daughtry's music, but he liked him because he had potential to be a star, and he is living up to it.

Probably true, but whilst being entertaining might (wrongly) win you a singing talent show, only real star potential will sell your records. Chris has that and Taylor (other than perfecting televised dad dancing) does not.

In the end, I wonder if it's having a great (and unique) voice or being able to perform that is most important. I'd wager that most folks buy the music because of the sound. The problem with these shows is that you are voting on so much more than that, since you SEE the performers.

It's hard to say. You see so many singing competitions won these days (both in the US and the UK) by people who are great performers on stage regardless of their singing voice or simply people who cruise through based on a good sob story.

The real talent tends to lose out simply because the public think they will be safe and don't need their one extra vote, when in actual fact half the country is doing the same thing and voting for the funny guy or the guy with the sick mum in the audience.

Might make you feel good about yourself but it sure won't create a true American Idol.

You'll notice that Simon Cowell looks away from the performers a lot during their songs. He said he tries to listen without watching them to see if they would be a good recording artist. When you listen to some of the mp3s of the semi-finalists this season, they are aren't as great as they seemed on the TV show. That includes the favorites...

I knew that Taylor wouldn't be successful (enough) to be considered a true American Idol. Having "soul" doesn't guarantee sold records.

I always thought Taylor winning was a complete joke to be honest. He has a decent voice but nothing more. All of the rest of the top 5: Paris, Chris, Elliott and Kat are better singers than him.

I think part of the reason Taylor won was that the Idol audience was so sure who they loved and who they hated that the talented performers were played off against each other.

Taylor always had a solid lock on Southern voters, underdog voters and the ones who "just want to be entertained".

When Elliot was voted off, rightly or wrongly, there was a hard core who were so upset that they blamed Kat and, to a lesser extent Chris. Their votes went to staight to Taylor and from then on it was game over.

Fortunately, the entertaining ones this year, Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh both have actual talent, so if they somehow manage to beat Melinda Doolittle or Stephanie Edwards, it won't be the end of the world.
Last edited by cotton cloth : 11-03-2007 at 22:03

Simon loved Carrie and predicted she would win very early on in the competition.

Simon doesnt like anyone who does not play the game and suck up to him. welldone Taylor

I don't know how much he actually loved her music, but he loved the package, and by the semi final stage predicted she would win. In season 5, he picked Chris, whether or not he liked his music, I don't know, but he has also gone on to be a major commercial success.

Simon doesn't try to pick who he thinks America will like, he goes for the commercial options, more and more so since the failures of Michelle and Steve. This has also coincided with a quiet shift in the shows aims, to find undiscovered talent whereas before it had been to find someone different, as he has realised that the show cannot create a star, they must have it already.

Chris was voted off before Elliott.

It was Katharine who got the brunt of Chris' elimination because she was the last one left on the stage with Chris that week. The American audience seem to have an even harder time than the British audience registering that the last person left is not necessarily the one with the next least votes.



I wouldn't describe Blake as entertaining in the slightest. Chris Sligh can sing, I'll grant you that, where as Chris Richardson can sing two notes.