KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / Associated Press
Taylor Hicks, a 29-year-old with a lively personality and a raw singing style, celebrated after he was named the winner of “American Idol” last
night.
|
The television tribe has spoken, and the new “American Idol” winner is ... Taylor Hicks!
Whether you see this as fabulous news or the biggest bummer ever, the fact that you actually have an opinion says everything about this television phenomenon that anyone needs to know. Fox's “American Idol” is over for the year, but America isn't getting over “Idol” anytime soon.
If history repeated itself, the audience for last night's face-off between the statuesque Katharine McPhee and the showboating Hicks was in the neighborhood of 35 million. The Super Bowl audience is bigger, but the “Idol” audience might just be crazier. And the fans' love for the star-making show translates into a media-jolting love for almost anything related to the show.
ROB CARR / Associated Press
Zippy Dieterich (left) hugged Ellen Wilson in Taylor
Hicks' hometown of Birmingham, Ala., after Hicks'
“American Idol” victory last night. Dieterich is the
drummer in Hicks' band.
|
“Idol” winners sell millions of albums. Judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell have become icons, and host Ryan Seacrest could become the next Dick Clark. Shows that run after it (“House”) become hits. Shows that run against it (“Lost”) get hit.
But if you want to witness the ultimate “Idol” test, check out the “American Idols Live” tour when it stops at San Diego's acoustically challenged ipayOne Center at Sports Arena on Aug. 25. If the “Idol” crew can make their songs sound good there, they can make magic anywhere.
