National Ledger/Shirley Kennedy -5/30/06
The Idol machine has grinded to a screeching halt for the season, emphasis on “screeching.” I don’t know about anyone else, but the whole thing seemed rather anti-climactic. Before I get into the finale, however, let’s talk about the sing-off between Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee.

Taylor and Kat: American "Idull"
There were several things wrong with Idol’s final singing competition, beginning with all the ballads. Not only was the show a major snooze-fest, but the “performances” just confirmed my belief that the wrong duo competed for the title. Katharine sang a song she had just sang the week before, and Taylor did a poor job on a song that he impressed me with earlier in the season, “Levon.” Katharine’s final performance, which will become her single, was excruciating. But what was up with the judges? Were they hearing what I was hearing on Katharine’s last song, or did they just decide to lie to save face? Better yet–were they lying to fool us, or were they really trying to fool themselves? Katharine was off-key for most of that final song. Her mother’s face said it all–she had her mouth covered, attempting to conceal a look of pure horror. Sorry, Peisha; we saw and heard it. Katharine was sourer than a lemon-lime “Now or Later,” and Taylor was—well, Taylor. Taylor is no balladeer, but the entire night, we had to sit through him painfully working his way through ballads, save one song. By the time the show concluded, I found myself wanting “Consolation Idol,” featuring Elliott and Chris–the duo who really deserved to be on that stage.

It is so painfully obvious now that Chris and Elliott were “eliminated” to ensure Taylor’s victory, though I will never understand why Idol wanted him so badly, badly enough to risk the integrity of their show. Kat was no competition. The morning after the competition, WSB Radio in Atlanta revealed the responses to their on-line poll, “Who Should Win American Idol?” The broadcaster hesitated before revealing: “Katharine came in third to I Don’t Care.” Just like she came in third to Elliott and fourth to Chris. The station’s full breakdown was: Taylor, 49%; I Don’t Care, 35%; and Katharine, 16%. On my way home that evening, I heard the results of the updated poll: Taylor, 53%; I Don’t Care 33%; and Katharine, 14%. Sure her fans voted her into the finale. Keep thinking that. If you’re not interested in that prime piece of swampland I offered before, I now have a bridge on the auction block. Oh, but you have to pay to move it from San Francisco yourself. I can only assume that the voting public voted for the best vocalist of the night, Daniel Powter. And he wasn’t the least bit pitchy.

I have to admit that I’m glad my sister broke me down and made me watch Idol that one last time. Every one of Elliott’s and Chris’s fans should feel satisfied and vindicated. They didn’t fail to support their idols; the show failed to support them. In the end, they are both better off out of the AI Machine. I strongly believe that both will receive contract offers, and both are equipped to do well in the industry. Chris has a classic rocker’s voice and had the opportunity to perform with his favorite band, Live. He will do well.

After Elliott’s rendition of “A House Is Not A Home” and his duet with the Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul, Mary J. Blige, I dare say his future is clear. Now, I’m really over it all. The main objective of these contestants’ participation in this “competition” is exposure that enables them to pursue their dreams. Both of these young men received that opportunity, and both will do well in their chosen genres.

The Machine treated us to several pleasant surprises in the finale. Mary J. Blige was a big surprise. She is on top of her game right now and doesn’t need AI to promote her CD. I’m sure it was a real treat for Elliott; not only did he perform with a big star, but he held his own. I see big things in his future. The biggest surprise, however, was Prince. I almost choked on my Coke and fell off the sofa when he stepped through those doors. I am still wondering how Idol pulled that one off. I find it quite telling, however, that of all the celebrities who appeared on AI’s finale, the two most current, contemporary acts performed with Chris and Elliott. Was the Machine trying to make up to the Chrisaders and the E-Train/Yaminions, or did these celebs request to appear with these two? We may never know. Either way, I believe these appearances to be a big boost to both Chris and Elliott’s careers. We will be seeing them again—soon.

Another interesting issue we witnessed was Taylor’s and Katharine’s home crowds. It appears that Taylor’s fans had to be housed in a stadium, while Kat’s could have easily fit in my living room. Okay, I’m exaggerating—our family room. Becky and her sister appeared to be officiating from above, while Tamyra stood in the midst of the “crowd.” The camera was pulled up much closer on Katharine’s crowd, while at Taylor’s home base, the camera continuously panned the huge crowd. I still can’t get over how stupid The Powers That Be think we all must be.

Finally, Randy and Ryan confirmed for us on Larry King Live that the vote “wasn’t that close.” Well, duh. What happened to that three-way tie from last week? Bogus. Speaking of the voting, when the show first began, Ryan told us the show received a “huge vote” but failed to reveal how many. Later, he revealed that the finalists received 63 million votes, but he decided not to mention that they had four phone lines each and a longer period of time for voting. I’ll let you do the math. The finale of Idol is a classic example of when one should not even bother to vote, and I will certainly take that with me next year.

I do believe our votes count to a certain point, but as the show draws to a close, the manipulations begin in earnest. I may watch this show again—especially if they find another Elliott—but I would never again waste my time voting, and that’s exactly what voting is: A big fat waste of time. Voting aside, the jury’s still not quite in on whether I will watch again. I don’t think I can stomach another finale where the eliminated contestants out-sing the finalists.

The show is over for the year. Still, I read the ugly comments from the bashers, even from some members of the press. Bash Elliott all you want, but the fact remains that Elliott is still moving CDs as if he they were his own. Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough” has seen a sharp increase in sales since her duet with Elliott on Idol, and another artist who calls himself “Big Planz” has sold out an independently made CD on which Elliott sang on three tracks more than two years ago. This CD was originally listed in the 500,000s on the Amazon.com site; it now sits at number 2,279. A customer review at Amazon says it all:

When this joint was recorded, it was done so with the addition of an unknown kid from Virginia laying down sweet vocals on three of the tracks. That voice is the unmistakable sound of American Idol's Elliott Yamin. And now that the Yamin Nation has gotten ahold of Big Planz, those plans just got a little bigger.

Yes, Elliott does have an unmistakable sound. That sound ensures that Elliott will realize the success of which he has dreamed for so long, in spite of The Powers That Be and in spite of the superficial public. With all that said, I am ashamed to be a part of this society right now; ashamed that our country is so superficial, ashamed that we cannot recognize talent when we hear it, ashamed that looks take priority over all else, ashamed that we have still not yet learned to embrace and celebrate the important things in life. With everything that is wrong in this world, we are more concerned about someone’s facial and/or body appearance rather than what they add to our society. I am ashamed for us as a people. This type of thought will only serve to drive us further apart and further into oblivion. I am not the type to feel superior to others; however, I am proud to feel extremely superior to those who choose to put things that shouldn’t be important in life first. Looks fade, and jeans get tight. Humility, heart, sincerity, and class—all things Elliott—are important in life. The killer vocals don’t hurt either. We should all be so blessed.

Man I love Shirley Kennedy! That woman hits the nail on the head every time! I can't wait to see her words come into full fruition!

Great article Shirley! So happy to have you here with us as Juicesmom :groupwave:

Here is the link FYI;
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publi..._27266079.shtml

wow. this was great.

Wow. Another beautifully-written article by Shirley. :clap: It's an honour to have her here as a member of the E-train! :D

Thanks Juicesmom - now tell us how you really feel :D :D

Thank you Shirley for telling it like it is! Love it!

Yea Juicemom! Thanks for vocalizing what many of us feel along with you. Many thanks to your editor too :D

Hi, everybody! I was actually afraid to come over here after writing that one, LOL. The Taylor fans are PISSED at me, and I know some of you like him, too. I'm entitled to my opinion; the only difference is that I have a platform from which to spew mine.

As always, thanks for your support. You guys rock! Now, with Idol gone, what in the world am I going to write about????

Juicesmom, aka Shirley

Loved your latest article, as always !

You are dead on with your critique of Taylor so people can be pissed at me too if they like . Taylor = nice guy, gentleman, good ( not excellent or awesome) singer ( much better on some early cuts on his own CD over AI selections actually) , great performer and showman .

I really don't think AI wanted Taylor in the finale though - everything points to the contrary as far as I can see.

I do think the massive numbers of the SOul Patrol , a fanbase that existed pre-Idol plus the votes of the many casual voters who do not even know what Soul Patrol is , put him over the top.

All I can guess about Katharine is that her fans found new ways to tip the vote ( voting for more hours than is " legal" , extreme texting - rich Valley girls ) or the obvious - AI vote manipluation.

Althoug he does not hold the " official " title , we on the E-train all know who the most deserving AI is - the man who has killer vocals, a sweet and humble persona , a true gentleman who is not afraid to show his devotion to his mom, a role model we would like all our kids to look up to - none other than our Elliott ! :thud: :cheerleader:

More Elliott, please. You write like he sings, from the heart. You both put into words or song what most of us feel but can't quite articulate.

Great article... :D
Does it seem too anyone that Taylor seems to have
a bit of a dark side? I can't put my finger on it..but
something about him bothers me...

:goodpost: I see no reason to discontinue writing the Elliott articles :P

Awesome article and OH how TRUE it is!!! The truth hurts sometimes...maybe the Soul Patrol should think about that :D
Don't get me wrong, I like Taylor (I was entertained by him all season) but Elliott is head & shoulders above him!

You see - that's the point - Taylor is a good singer and a great entertainer and there's nothing at all wrong with being a great entertainer. Some folks prefer that to a great artist because they appreciate entertainment more than the music. But Tay cannot hold a candle to E as an ARTIST -and we know that! Taylor is fun to SEE, but Elliott is a blessing to HEAR. (as well as see :P )

[FONT=Impact] [B]
i thorougly enjoyed reading that article!
thanks for posting!!
:D

You guys are the best. :grouphug:

Cher, in some aspects, I agree with this: "I really don't think AI wanted Taylor in the finale though - everything points to the contrary as far as I can see." I know that Simon never wanted him in at all, and I'm sure Nigel is fit to be tied. But, in the end, I still think they fixed it so that he would have no competition, likely because of the soul patrol. I hate that name, by the way; he is nowhere near as soulful as Elliott, which reminds me again of his hooks on Big Planz--he is the bomb! Now that's soul. I have been humming and/or singing "whatchacomeherefoe" all day, and I'm not even a big rap fan! I let another E fan at work listen to it, and she almost jumped up out of her chair. She, like the rest of us, thinks he is going to blow up!

nanab: I also agree about the dark side comment. His "dig" at Elliott was the first hint for me, and his "na na na na boo boo" attitude toward Simon points at it even more. I hope for his sake that they don't stick him with an album full of sappy ballads. That will never sell Taylor. He needs to perform in order to be noticed; his voice alone is not going to do that for him.

Hmmm. Everybody wants more Elliott, huh? I'll have to see what type of angle I can take now that the show is gone. It may be a couple of weeks before I have another article. I guess I need to spend some time on my classes, LOL.

This just goes to show you that anything Elliott touches will turn to GOLD.


He's got the "MIDAS TOUCH!"

Well, I hate rap ( at age 53 why would I like it ? :) , but I agree that he sounds really soulful and cool on that Bigplanz track - I love that voice and if anyone could make a rap lover out of me , it is our boy . :)

Too bad Taylor already had the name SoulPatrol sewn up - I so agree that Elliott is THE Soul singer of the entire competition and I think only the Soul Patrol will buy the album if it is full of pablum AI drivel which it may well be .

Still,they are rabid fans - I give them that . ANd yes I would buy AI drivel if Elliott was singing it but I really hope he gets signed with Universal .

And please , please keep up the writing - we want to read every tidbit you write about Elliott - your writing is the best . :cheerleader:
Isn't school almost done or do you have summer classes too ?

Wow, that was a great article to read! Kudos to you, Juicesmom! I wish I could write like that...

And yes, I always hated how Taylor was pronounced the king of soul, when clearly that title (among others) should be given to Elliott!

I love Watchacomeherefoe too! :D

Awesome article! Thanks for sharing! Elliott has an amazing future ahead of him!

I love your articles Shirley! You write what I am thinking, but much more eloquently than I ever could. I hope that you do write another one about Elliott and Idol, I know lots of us feel that way. :cheerleader: :bunny:

Ha! I wish. School is year round for me. I'm in an accelerated program that never stops, but I only have six classes left (yay). I got hooked on Elliott during a 30-day break, and going back after my break was the absolutely hardest thing I've done in my life recently.

I also hated rap when it first came back. When it came out the first time (Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five was the group of the day), I was in high school and LOVED it. I even performed "Rapper's Delight" with a band I used to hang out with once! I've become more tolerant of it lately, especially when it's done with a positive slant. Since Big Planz does it with a gospel twist, I like it. I also like Will Smith's work (love "Switch"). The rap I don't like is the nasty, disrespectful stuff, and I hate that our kids look up to 50 Cent, a former drug dealer who's been shot nine times, yuck.

Taylor's fans can keep "soul patrol." I like being both an E-Train rider and a Yaminion. Elliott is our soul man, and we can call him that, irrespective of the "soul patrol."

I will keep writing. I'll just have to get refocused. Maybe I'll take a "personal interest" slant.

Shirley/Juicesmom-- you ROCK!

Excellent article- I think you hit all the points perfectly... maybe for your next article it can be a follow up of the incredible fan base and worldwide support Elliott is still getting- months post idol, and his growth as a performer on the tour?...

Maybe by then we'll also have had an Oprah's wildest dreams episode to open the season that features E and you can cover that as well! :)

I really didn't want to say it, because a lot of Elliott fans are Taylor fans, too, but he does seem to have a really dark side, like its some part of his personality that he has to work really hard to suppress. It's in his eyes.

I know I might piss someone off, but both me and my sister think that Chris isn't so much arrogant as he is hot-headed. When he was eliminated, he wasn't just upset, he looked like he wanted to punch the crap out of somebody. I guess you can say that he is a little full of himself, too.

Snap! What a great idea. Why don't you all hit me with some quotes I can use? This type of article could be a great boost for Elliott's career. When the labels realize how much support he has, he is certainly going to blow up. I owe you for the article idea. I actually have some comments from some of the articles from the Phillipines and Singapore. This would be a great angle to take. Please send your E-love to my inbox!

It's okay to call me Shirley, by the way. You all know me now anyway. :)

I agree, Bertha. I also felt that Chris was pissed! However, I feel that Chris is beyond confident in himself and his artistry, which makes him come off a bit cocky. Confidence is tough: too much, you're arrogant; too little, you're a milquetoast.

I just checked in on the YaminMachine site to see what was up there and there is a list of a multitude of countries that had professed Elliott supporters - I was quite impressed. I knew from this board that there was an international following, but I didn't realize how broad it really was. That could go in your article.

Yeah , too bad a lot of the rap is associated with the trash talkin' variety .
My teenage son listens to a lot of rap - he thought Elliott sounded grat on those Bigplanz clips . :) ( of course )! .

I stand corrected - you are absolultely right - we KNOW Elliott if THE Soulman, an I too am proud to be an E-train rider and Yaminion. :)

I give you a lot of credit with that intensive class schedule and still finding the time to write those awesome articles and posting here - of course, Elliott is an addiction as we well can relate .
Six classes to go - good for you - a light at the end of the tunnel ,so to speak :woohoo:

Some great ideas for topics from the poster named EGL :)

the quote from the fan in Austria was amazing... they're playing MMFL over there... wow! Next time we have an all hands meeting at my office, I'm going to put some Elliott on the rotation :)

Yes- Chris looked PO'd to the max that night... it was a little scary, but kind of comical as well- great performer, but that attitude on national TV is not exactly great PR... [if you look on susan diplacido's blog- you'll see what I mean.]

You know, I thought I was the only one who noticed the Tay thing too-- something about his eyes- but it may just be his offstage personality. During the final Idol Extra interview he didn't really seem that comfortable-- if you look at his body language and his overall posture on the stool. I didn't get to see Regis and Kelly today, so maybe he is more relaxed, now that he's had a chance to sleep...

Sounds great Shirley!

I'm going to talk to some of my co-workers & fellow E fanatics to get some quotes-I'm sure they'll have a lot to say, my Idol craziness has rubbed off on a lot of them during the course of the season... :blink:

Thanks! I'll check those out as well.

Cher--I try to stay away from these boards, but I'm about as addicted to them as I am to Elliott, LOL. That's why I walk around during the day like a creature from "Dawn of the Dead." I'm sometimes on the computer until late at night, trying to make up for visiting the boards and watching Elliott videos! I also have a "day job." One of these days, my body is going to go: "stop" and just shut down on me. Until that happens, I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

I have to write a lot for my program, but it's a lot drier than the Elliott stuff. Would you all like to read my final statistics paper? I think not! (Come to think of it, I don't want to read it either.) Writing about Elliott is a lot easier. He is a subject that makes me passionate, which is when I do my best writing. I think I can do the E-Train justice as well. :)

One thing I'd like to know is how many of you are also Yaminions? I'm trying to get a grasp for how many fans are posting on both of these boards. There are other fan sites as well, so I guess I need to do some research. I'd also like to use some of the information from the surveys here such as age, race, location, etc., which proves my point that Elliott breaks down barriers.

Hey Shirley,

I have an account on yaminions- but have never posted there- I do post on the AI boards sometimes as well...

The sites I know of are:

rickey.org
yaminmachine.com
everythingelliott.com
yaminions.org
forums.televisionwithoutpity.com
AI boards
Idol Forum boards

From what I've seen- the age/race/gender differences are huge- which can only be pluses in terms of career success/longevity for Elliott. For the record- I don't think I've ever seen such a diverse fan base for any other contestant in all seasons of AI...

I hear ya about the walking zombie thing... I've been coasting on 3-5 hours a night [weekends too] for the past month or so... I've finally started to get back to 7-8... it helps to see that the buzz and fan support has been holding steady, besides, being a zombie won't help me support E any better :)

Great article and so true. I am on both boards, but started on Yaminions.

You already KNOW how much I love you, Juicesmom!... :wub: And to think what I'VE been accused of here by a couple folks, daring to believe there was actually such an entity as "TPTB", and protesting how badly E was treated by this supposedly "non-existent" entity. :poke: (Although I don't think they "wanted" Taylor as much as they DID NOT want E, and GROVELLED for Kat). YOU ROCK! :clap: :clap: :clap:


D

I think it is possible that Taylor is trying to mask his own insecurities- who knows what it would feel like to work for years and years to make it and then - no matter how popular you are with the Soul Patrol - he KNOWS who the better singer is. He probably doesn't know how to act and what to say now.

BTW - I saw on one of the internet news sites that he said on Regis & Kelly that he sang Country Roads because he had some connection with the miners in WV - some relatives or something - and it was a shout out to them. Too bad that was probably the only REALLY bad performance he gave all season.

Ok Juicesmom here goes. I am a 53 year old African American woman married with a young adult son and teenage daughter. Both I and my daughter love Elliott's performances. My husband likes Elliott as well, but he thinks I've gone overboard with my Elliott addiction. In order to keep the peace in my house, he downloaded all of Elliott's performances for me. I feel like a proud mother when it comes to Elliott. I see him as a wonderful human being with a special gift, and it has been painful for me to see his talent purposefully overlooked by Simon Cowell and Company. Your articles have all been great and captures what I've observed and felt regarding how Elliott has been treated by AI.

I can't wait to buy Elliott's CD when it is released. I'm hoping this will be sooner rather than later. I ordered Big Planz's CD today from Amazon, which will not be delivered for several weeks because they sold out.

Juice-
I also have a Yaminions account, but mostly just post here or over on AI boards. There are a lot of threads that people express why they love Elliott and the impact he has had on our lives. That above all is a great angle for an article about Elliott. It shows just how loved he really is, aside from all of the competition stuff. His story touched a lot of people.

Can't wait to read your next article! :cheers:

Shirley, Have you seen ever seen the Elliott fan tracker? I'll post it under a new thread for maximum exposure. Last I checked there were fans in nine countries. The pages load 50-100 at a time therefore, you'll need to load additional pages under the map, bottom right.

http://www.frappr.com/elliottyaminfriends