Taylor Hicks and the Sorcerer's Stone

Welcome all to my Daughtry-less recap. It just won't be the same. By the way - saw him on the Ellen show. He sang 'Dead Or Alive' and played his guitar. He's too good for Idol. The boot was a blessing in disguise. I don't want to imagine him singing a song like 'Inside Your Heaven' or some other crap. I want to know who writes these songs really. I can write better songs than that. Anyways.. on with the opinioncap.

Elliott drew the one spot. In the Harry Potter realm, El would most definitely be Ron Weasley. His lack of confidence does him in more than anything. Elliott has basically been on top vocally this whole competition. If his stage presence were always as good as his vocals, he would be right up there with Taylor. It's like my new conclusion goes. It's not all about the personality/performance, but its not all about the voice either. You have to have a happy medium. Tonight Elliott didn't quite have it although its not all his fault. CRAPPY SONG CHOICES. So Clive Davis picks Open Arms for him. Are you freaking kidding me? I absolutely love the song but it is way overdone and I didn't think it really suited Elliott. He did a pretty darn good job with it except for the chorus, but it wasn't enough. Next, Paula Abdul chose What You Won't Do For Love'. On paper, it looked like a good fit and El sang the hell out of the song. Just for me, it wouldn't have been my choice. I can think of many more songs he could have done more with. And last, for Elliott's choice he went with some Ray Charles. His vocals were golden, but that song wasn't really a performance song and El didn't take it to the next level. On any other night I would have said E-Dawg did fantastic, but this is the final three and great vocals alone probably aren't going to do it.

Coming out of gate number two is Kat McPhee who of course would be Hermione Granger. I told myself that Katharine had to have 'a night' tonight and hope that Elliott had a bad one to make it to the finals. This was not El's BEST night. She's caught a small break already. Now its up to her. Clive Davis showed his lack of intelligence in song choices by choosing I Believe I Can Fly. I cringe listening to R Kelly himself sing that song let alone anyone else. Everytime I hear it I picture Bugs Bunny playing basketball with Michael Jordan. It's horrible. Heck - Anwar Robinson sang that song last year and it wasn't good. ANWAR. If you heard him sing 'Whats Goin On' you'd think he could sing anything. True to form, I didn't like Katharine singing this. She wasn't Kellie Pickler horrid, but she'd better be glad she has two songs. The second song being Simon Cowell's choice for her - Over The Rainbow. I had mixed emotions before I saw the performance. It's the kind of song you have to nail or it will suck completely. Well, Kat nailed it. It wasn't the perfect 'moment' thing that the judges were babbling about, but it was the best of the night up to that point. That may have been just enough to carry her to the finals. Maybe. Her last song choice was one that she can take all the credit for - I Ain't Got Nothin But The Blues. I loved it aside from the fact that I didn't believe she really had the blues. Blue people don't smile. They just don't. These are great songs for Kat to do because this performance reminded me a lot of Since I Fell For You. Fun, flirty and signature McPhee.

Ahhh and finally Taylor Hicks - the chosen one. He Who Shall Not Be Named tried to end Hicks' Idol life before it even started, but Professor Randy and Professor Paula helped him on his way. Now the Soul Patrol is a force to the reckoned with. I think Clive Davis has been drinking whatever Paula drinks. It's not that he chose a Springsteen song for Taylor. It's that he chose Dancing In The Dark. I mean there are so many others -- 'Im On Fire', 'Born In The USA'.... Anyways, Taylor does a pretty good job with what he was given. I liked the added touch of him dancing with Paula. Gotta love homages to Courtney Cox. For song number two, Randy chose to go with a Joe Cocker song (go figure) You Are So Beautiful. I wondered what Taylor would do with such a tender little song, but I thought it was great. It was enough to win my mom over and she was vehemently anti-Hicks before last night. The best would be yet to come however. I, along with many others, have been drooling to hear Taylor sing Try A Little Tenderness. It was for a reason. Best of the night. This is Taylor's to lose. I mean, you almost want to hate him because he's SO popular and its just not cool to be mainstream, but after a performance like that, all bad feelings melt away. My point with Taylor always has been that he is the only one of the three left and the only other person besides Chris throughout the whole thing that has that happy medium. Great vocals. Great performances. Consistently. Not to say Taylor has never had an off week, but as with Chris I think its had to do with song choice more than anything else.

Taylor is in the finals for sure. The question will be - who joins him? Kat had a better single performance in Over The Rainbow, but generally she still disconnects with songs and oversings. Elliott has been better with consistency and he has the best voice since Clay Aiken, but his confidence problems and lack of stage presence have killed him. It's sad, but because of Rainbow and Rainbow alone I think Kat will go to the finals, however it should be El and I wish that it would be. It's just not looking good.

But we all know Taylor is going to win anyways, right?