Huh! Well, we'll see.

Going out on a limb here... For the record, I predict the final two will be Blake and Melinda.

Despite the number of times SC says 'it's a singing competition' the fact is that they devote a lot of time to the personalities of the contestants - more it often seems than to the singing rather than just playing mp3s of their performances - so Simon must realise that this is a large factor for the audience in encouraging them to watch the show/vote for their favourite. I am very dubious about the claim that these shows are about finding a serious recording artist anyway - they are about entertainment and if the most entertaining person wins over more talented people that's hardly surprising ...

never understood why taylor won
sorry to bump such an old thread but katherine was miles better in terms of vocal talent

I found Taylor's win pretty inexpicable, but compared to Lee's it looked like a sane outcome - that one I'll never understand. Mind you, Taylor has made a pretty good living off the back of it, 2009 he was still in the top 10 of Idol earners.

The last I heard he was making a fairly decent living as a Father Ted-a-gram

He's a bit back and forth on this in some instances he says it's the public's choice in others he says they were out and out wrong. Hicks gave us hours of entertainment, I don't remember anyone from that series but him.

I never ever understood why anyone would have voted for Taylor Hicks back in the day. The rest of the top 5 that year were so amazingly talented, and then he ends up winning.

if i remember rightly kellie pickler (who finished 6th) was favourite to win, she's done well for herself anyway!

Think her and Taylor were the only two to have not been in the bottom 2 until she was eliminated obviously.

I think Taylor has one of the better voices to emerge from a talent show but the same things that appealed to some about Taylor were the things that some saw as a gimmicks.

I preferred Katherine and Elliot that year and grew to like Chris Daughtry after the show but I didn't find Taylor's win anywhere near as Twilight Zoneish as Kris Allen's and Lee Dewyze's (or Leon's in X Factor).

I've looked back at Taylor's performances on YT and in very few did Simon even criticise him strongly, never mind give any indication that he didn't like him as much as the others.

Taylor was a genuinely popular winner - people liked him, he gave them what they wanted, no-one else was doing that kind of soul vibe, and he was rewarded with the win.

You wouldn't want a winner like that every year, like you wouldn't want a soul diva or country warbler every year, but one in ten is liveable-with, and compared to the earnest-but-dull strummers we've had the past few years, Taylor (still) seems like a ball of energy!

Taylor Hicks, how did he win over Katherine? For me, he was always miles behind the other frontrunners like Kellie and Katherine and when he won I was so shocked.

Actually he was a win for extremely well organised multi-voting and, along with the winner of a UK talent show, the model that the family and friends of a more recent winner used to achieve his victory.

Having said that, though Katherine was my favourite that year and I also liked Elliott, I would never do Taylor the disservice of putting him in the same bracket as those who have beaten far superior competition in the final. Partly because Taylor has a very good voice and more than a modicum of personality and partly because Katherine was too inconsistent in her tuning.

The thing I remember most about Taylor was in that part of the show where the contestants had to endure the long walk to the judges table to find out whether they were going through to the next round.

Most contestants went in fear and trembling of the judges and their decision - Taylor walked in playing his harmonica!