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***Mac*** · (This post was last modified: 01-18-2011 09:43 AM by Mac.)

American Idol the Untold Story the new book by Richard Rushfield was released today.

http://mjsbigblog.com/american-idol-the-...-today.htm

***dg90001*** · 01-18-2011, 09:09 PM

(01-18-2011 09:42 AM)Mac Wrote: American Idol the Untold Story the new book by Richard Rushfield was released today.

http://mjsbigblog.com/american-idol-the-...-today.htm

I am surprised that Taylor's attempt to get everyone to not sign the contract ( to get better terms) was not in this book highlight. Maybe they didn't want to publish that their terms suck!

***Mac*** · 01-18-2011, 09:45 PM

Margaux from NESP has downloaded the book. She posted this on NESP.

I've downloaded the book.. Rushfield is a good writer who genuinely cares about American Idol, so this isn't a sloppy tabloid tell-all. The book starts with background on Simon's Fuller and Cowell, Nigel Lythgoe and the evolution of PopStars and Pop Idol in Britain.

I'm only into Season 1, but I just hit the first photo insert, and there's triumphant Taylor in a victory shot.

Quote:"I really was there looking for fans. Not friends." Taylor Hicks was Idol's most unlikely champion, but his downhome demeanor masked a razor-sharp sense of how to succeed in modern reality, and a ruthlessness that rubbed many the wrong way.

***dg90001*** · 01-18-2011, 11:57 PM

(01-18-2011 09:45 PM)Mac Wrote: Margaux from NESP has downloaded the book. She posted this on NESP.

I've downloaded the book.. Rushfield is a good writer who genuinely cares about American Idol, so this isn't a sloppy tabloid tell-all. The book starts with background on Simon's Fuller and Cowell, Nigel Lythgoe and the evolution of PopStars and Pop Idol in Britain.

I'm only into Season 1, but I just hit the first photo insert, and there's triumphant Taylor in a victory shot.

Quote:"I really was there looking for fans. Not friends." Taylor Hicks was Idol's most unlikely champion, but his downhome demeanor masked a razor-sharp sense of how to succeed in modern reality, and a ruthlessness that rubbed many the wrong way.

Well maybe the book does talk about Taylor's attempt to block the contract signing. I hope when Margaux gets to season 5, she llet us know the details on how Taylor was ruthless . Wink

***Mac*** · 01-19-2011, 08:47 AM

http://tvscreener.com/2011/01/win-this-a...tory-book/

***dg90001*** · 01-20-2011, 08:41 AM

Wow lots of comments there about Taylor. BTW : The Denise there is was not me.

***UHadMeAtWooHoo*** · 01-20-2011, 05:34 PM

I love it that he's getting credit for his strategy Thumbup

Ruthless Taylor *shivers* love it 666

***Mac*** · 01-20-2011, 06:27 PM

I have gotten my hands on the book. It is not really divided up by seasons. I'll let you know what I come across. Wink

***Mac*** · 01-20-2011, 08:02 PM

Thumbed through a bit. Came up with this so far.

Quote:Idol's oldest winner to date, Hicks was on of it most controversial, too. Perhaps no contestant has ever been as determined to win as Hicks was and whatever the show may have thought of him, perhaps no contestant was better able to reshape the show to suit his agenda.

Quote:Flopping around like a drunk at a wedding, Hicks was the farthest things from a pop star to hit the Idol stage. The judges were perplexed. In fact midway through the season, Cowell gave up on judging him entirely, declaring Hicks's routine "judgeproof." Still, the good ol' boy who talked about eating ribs for breakfast kept rising as the other talents of the season fell away.

One crew member recalls the crooner, who stood out for his salt-and-pepper hair, his tailored suits, and also for his arrogance. "A lot of people didn't like him. They felt he was rude. What I got that this is a kid who I don't think was raised with a lot of manners. Sometimes Taylor was in his own little thought world. So, like if somebody did something nice for him and he wouldn't thank them they'd do like, 'Who is he' kind of thing. But most of the time I felt like he was just in his head."

Quote:Debbie Williams recalls of Hicks, "He could come to me secretly sometimes and say, 'Okay, I want to do this particular thing But I don't want to do it in rehearsals. I don't want to give it away.' Okay. The word is, if you're going to do something always tell me. I've to to let the booth know. I won't tell anybody else.

One night, Taylor was going to lay on the floor in his number. but he didn't want anybody to know that. So I told Bruce, 'Okay, at this part of the song he's going to lay on the floor,' . . . So, he had his little secret things all the time that he wanted to pull out of his bag of tricks. I liked that. I liked him. I think he knew he wasn't a great singer. But the had to come up with gimmicks. He had to do that kind of stuff to get himself noticed. And it worked."

***dg90001*** · 01-21-2011, 01:01 AM

mac - thanks for sharing with us!

I laughed at Simon declaring Taylor was "judgeproof".

I also agree Taylor can be lost in his own thoughts...