I have not been a taylor fan all season.. but after last night watching both of them, i hope he wins.. i think he has grown on me.. and i really liked his first song last night

I think it sucks that Katherine got a crappy song (though the AI specific songs are always cheesy crap) then got dogged for it by the judges... it's not like she had a choice!

I'm not a Taylor fan. He's just ehhh for me. Though i'm not a huge Katherine fan but I think she could go more the Kelly Clarkson route and end up fairly successful. Taylor may have people liking him in the competition, but how many will buy his album? I don't think jazz/soul is really big among the target age group.

According to dialidol.com, Taylor will win.

Taylor Hicks 45.583
Katharine McPhee 37.097

I also felt bad for her as her song sucked big time! And you could tell she didn't like it. She looked pretty dejected singing it. And seriously, could we get rid of the friggin gospel singers? It loses the wow factor in the 5th sesaon...:rolleyes:

Songwriters are Harry Sommerdahl, Hanne Sorvag and Tim Baxter for My Destiny, and Tracy Ackerman and Absolute for Do I Make You Proud.

Well, I'm an American, and I'm not particularly young.

Shouldn't an "American Idol" cross all -- or at least as many as possible -- of the age groups.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow," which seems to be Katharine's signature song is certainly not aimed at the youth audience.

Last night was the first entire show I watched, too, although wife and oldest daughter love it.

Taylor is going to win but his album sales will be subpar. People are voting for him because he's quirky. These people won't buy his album.

I hope Katharine wins, but I like both of them, so either way its cool.

I didn't watch last night but I'm sure I'll get to hear both singles again tonight in the TWO HOUR finale. (I mean really... come ON!) :eek:

And some of the folks from Idol past are returning to sing/perform/watch... so maybe I'll watch for just that.

I don't care who wins really.

I only got through for Taylor twice last night. I'm hoping that's a good sign :) I liked his last song, as cheesy as it was.

I'm not going to bother to turn it on until like the last 15 minutes, but flipping through, I saw that Katherine was going to sing with MEATLOAF???? WTF???

Congratulations to Taylor! :)

My stupid DVR didn't tape it. Not that I wanted to watch all of it anyway, but still!!!

Now, that was some seriously good TV tonight. It's saved on the ole DVR for eternity. Good job, Taylor. You deserved the win.

Loved Paris and Al Jarreau, PRINCE!, finally got more of my faves Chris and Mandisa, PRINCE!, the comedy stylings of Wolfgang Puck and Kellie Pickler, adored Mama Yamin, Elliott and Mary J. were worth the price of admission, PRINCE!, here's a new Mustang for both of you, the priceless comedy of the whole award/Clay Aiken bit, Clay singing, Elliott giving us more "House", PRINCE!, and did I mention PRINCE?!?!?!?!!!! Forget American Idol, here's an American Icon.

It was a really good finale, better than I expected. :)

And I thought it was cool to see the three cowboys again. :D

Oh yes - and YAAAAAAY TAYLOR!

Is anyone in America still dumb enough to believe that the votes determine the winner?

I mean I didn't watch it tonight - and didn't vote for anyone all season anyways. But was talking to a friend (who apparently wanted Katharine to win) and she was talking about all the voters and busy signals and what-not. I am like - are you serious? :rolleyes:

I am just excited to hear what road Chris will choose! And I will buy anything from Elliott (on CD that is - no DVD specials!!) :eek:

The proof that there were some seriously talented people on the show is that they could sing the Bert Bacharach/Hal David music without destroying it.

Dr. Dionne Warwick may have lost a few notes, but is still an amazing lady and a great talent.

The "Awards" bits got old to me. This might have been a great 90 minute show -- as it was, I thought parts of it dragged a bit.

I am very happy Taylor won tonight! I was a Chris fan, then an Elliott fan, so I just decided I wanted Taylor to win. Haha. Katherine was a little too into herself fo rme to like her, but that's just my opinion. If she had sang all season like she had tonight, maybe I would've liked her a little more. But Chris will always be the Idol in my heart.

Taylor singing his single at the end made me cry. I don't know why. Goes to show what a good performer he is.

Is anyone here going to the American Idols Live show this summer? I got my tickets yesterday...I'm going in July. This is my first Idols concert; I can't wait!

I watched the first hour and then turned it off after the Clay bit. Then watched the last ten minutes.

Thoughts:
Katherine looked a wee bit frightened during her Meatloaf performance. And I'm not sure Meatloaf was happy to be there either.

I was wondering if maybe Toni Braxton borrowed some of Paula Abdul's "stash." She seemed a little too "WHOOO" to me.

I'm not sure who was more excited... Taylor when he won, or Michael when he saw Clay. That was hysterical. The boy was worse than a fangirlie on stage at one of his concerts. I wondered how much of that was planned and how much was not.

Still think Chris would have made it all the way... but that LIVE performance was sweet.

So... go Taylor!

I am not sure what Meatloaf was doing at the beginning of that song. I kept thinking it was (the late) Chris Farley doing a Meatloaf impersonation. He seemed completely stoned.

Also, what was the deal with Toni Braxton? Her mic wasn't working, and she kept dancing and smiling and "woo!"-ing during a sad song. Also stoned.

And Paris with Al Jareau - at the end she held a big note but when the camera closed in on her she was smiling and her mouth was not in position to be singing that note. That must have been on track.

Overall it was an entertaining show, but it was too long. It's funny that Katherine was really good last night. Had she sung that way all season (instead of picking songs that weren't her forte) she probably would have won.

That Clay Aiken fan was hilarious. Clay Aiken, however, looked ridiculous. I don't know much about him so I don't know his regular appearance, but was that a hairpiece?

I liked last nights show. I agree that they could have cut some of it out and mad it into 90 minutes, but some of the things were worth watching.

I'm glad that Taylor won.. I think he is just a great overall entertainer and people saw that in him. Listening to all of the singers back last night, Katherine did not deserve to be in the final two, but oh well.

now we will have to see how they do after the show, thats i think more of an indicator.

It was nice to hear Clay sing. He has such a great voice, but WTF was with the look?!? The hair was ridiculous - he looked like a transvestite!

I couldn't believe Prince was on! I missed most of it because I was making dinner. Then I heard the voice and ran to the TV for the last few lines.

I really liked when they guys sang! And I still love me some Mandisa!!!!!

I guess this is what happens when you live under a rock for 5 months. And ain't no better "come back" than in front of 50 bazillion people.

My bf's mom is a huge fan of his. I was too at one point. But even she thought he looked odd... and chunky. :confused:

Oh well... I want to watch that again just to see Mikey's reaction again. Too funny.

On a side note regarding that sort of longish, 60s Beatle-esqe hairstyle he was sporting... is that making a come back? Honestly all the teen boys that go to my church are sporting that look where it's not long but not short either. I'm not a huge fan of it but I'm wondering what is inspiring it all? And there are other tween/teen boy stars with the same 'do too.

My thought was was he in some kind of play or musical that he needed a different hairstyle. But according to his website, he doesn't have anything on his tour or tv schedule....

But true fans can get a Clay Aiken Credit Card!:p

Bad Hair Day
 

Oh myyyyyyyy...

http://www.claymaniacs.com/coppermin...umb_idol5g.jpg

It looked like a bad rug lol

I liked both Katherine and Taylor, but as much as I thought Katherine was good and wanted her to win, it really didnt matter much.

I can honestly say I would not buy either of their cds once they release them. I didnt care for either of their single songs and Im not much into soul music.

Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson were the only two I liked music wise so far, I hvae both their cds. I would buy Chris' cd though.

Overall strange season ending... Some wierd music and guest people.

Loved Wednesday night -- love the surprise they had set up for Clay...I got tears in my eyes :)

Happy for Taylor and wish him the best of luck...