[scottitude]

I forgot to mention that he needs to reign in the "whoa" and "whoooo" content of his performances. Sounds contrived when he does it between every verse & chorus and nothing like the melodic "la las, whoa-ohs, and yeahs" of a real rock star.

[Not Blonde Solid]

"we're a virus with shoes, okay? that's all we are"

oops, this isn't the bill hicks appreciation thread. cratch:

[AndGraceToo]

Does anyone else find any similarities between Taylor Hicks and Gord Downie?

The other night I realized that what pisses me off about this guy is, he's never heard of Gord Downie but that's exactly who he wants us to think he is: all weirdly shamanistic and possessed by the music. But he's not. He's just doing this schtick because he's desperate for attention and is trying to make himself out be much more interesting than he really is.

Plus, last nightI closed my eyes while he was singing to see if he sounded better when I couldn't see his nonsense--and he sounded desperately average.

(I used to call American Idol my guilty pleasure, and then I realized I don't feel at all guilty about it...)

Can you explain, exactly, and use small words please, how someone can want to be like someone they have never seen or know nothing about? That makes no sense..and **pssst** Gord didn't invent the the whole (((arm flinging thing))) Sorry to break it to you.

Secondly, I've seen The Taylor Hicks band, and it's amazing, and much has to do with the whole package. I am AMAZED he made it this far. If he had his guitar on stage, you would be fist pumping like Gord just opened with Highway Girl.

And when he's interviewed, how can you fake that huge, ear to ear grin talking about "it's all for the love of music". He's in LaLa land right now, and he's doing something Southerners are famous for..it's called "Country Dumb" and he's going to make a killing out of it! Good for him!




wait, i'm arguing about TV on the internet..


Anyone know what Pharmies Paula's on? Cause I want some..

[/b]

[The Horrible Esthete]

Grace, I actually agree & support your take on this one.

[saints be praised!]

[Coneycat]

Can you explain, exactly, and use small words please, how someone can want to be like someone they have never seen or know nothing about?

He wants to seem like a guy who is so moved by the music that he just can't help all his tics. I think he fakes.

Sorry, Grace, I'm gonna have to bust out a few polysyllabic words for this one. What I meant was, this guy doesn't know who Downie is but he seems to want desperately to be seen as someone who is totally possessed when he performs--like Downie, although he doesn't know who Gord is and so he simply apes Ray Charles and Joe Cocker and other performers he *does* know about. There's a general idea he appears to want us to get. I seem him as an attention-hungry fake, and I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't so annoying. Or if he was eight years old.

And you don't have to "break" anything to me, baby--or patronize me either, come to think of it. I'm glad you enjoy his performances. I'm glad there's very little chance I'll ever be subjected to one anywhere I don't have a Mute button handy.

[clarke]

i think he is like joe cocker...just less drunk

[The Horrible Esthete]

He wants to seem like a guy who is so moved by the music that he just can't help all his tics. I think he fakes.....he seems to want desperately to be seen as someone who is totally possessed when he performs.....so he simply apes Ray Charles and Joe Cocker and other performers he *does* know about.

I get where your coming from, Cc, but aside from that being pure speculation, sometimes an artist can't help but to physically emulate the physical performance traits of their most prominent musical influences.

For example, I myself am a *pedestrian* guitarist at best, but beginning in my early teens, before I even knew how string 3 chords together, I would mimic the moves of Jimmy Page. Once i did pick up the instrument and learned to play some things, slinging the guitar low and throwing that left leg forward and leaning my torso backwards had already become instinctual behavior when i played. Even today, in the unlikely occurrence of ever getting back up on a stage with an electric guitar in front of a crowd, I would still wind up mimicking Jimmy's movements. (Blasphemy, certainly, but I wouldn't be able to help it).

The process of learning and polishing instrumental or vocal performance skill is as much test of confidence as anything. You put yourself out there for everyone to see and critique, and often a developing performer will do whatever is necessary to feel comfortable and less awkward. Instead of doing what comes naturally and hoping it "flies" in terms of appearance, many simply resort to what they know can "work", so they just mimic a respected professional.

Your assessment could be right, but I tend to believe that Hicks merely acts out of habit or deeply-ingrained visual influence.

[skippy the wonder dog]

To what Esthete said, all performance is acting. That's why we call it "performance."

Well, not quite, but this idea that you are seeing a real person up there is pretty bogus. Sincerity is a sham. You are seeing a stage persona. You are seeing what the performer lets you see.

Joe Cocker, in other words, was almost certainly faking it as much as the next guy.

All that really separates that oh-so-sincere performer from the poseur is acting ability. A good friend of mine disputes this, saying that you can't hide, that as soon as you step up there your personality is on display and the audience can see right into the centre of your soul.

And to that, I always say: Bob Dylan, 1963. I been up, I been down, I been all over these here United States and I blew into New York on the wind wearin' my hard-travellin' shoes and playin' my guitar and a-singin' in my hard-travellin' Okie voice and I seen all these places and things in this funny old world ta sing about. He was the son of a shopkeeper from Minnesota, and had hardly been away from home. But everyone bought that persona. Not because it was real. Because it was convincing.

The only thing that makes my friend right is that many people don't bother acting; they just put their personality on display in place of a constructed persona. That audience still only shows what they choose to display.

So yer objection to Hicks isn't that he's acting, so much as it's that he's not convincing.

[AndGraceToo]

***pssst*** Oh, sorry...I patronize..it's what I do best.

I seem him as an attention-hungry fake,

Even Gord would admit to being an attention-hungry fake..
...Don't tell me what the poets are doing..




With another, infamous, attention-hungry fake..

:lol:

I've got The Horrible behind me, no stopping now..

[Andre Cardinal]

C'mon. Y'all must've been impressed last night.

Many have been saying what an act this guy puts on. That he's fake.

Personally, I think he's quite genuine. It's nice to see that this year they've chosen the best singers, rather than the best looking singers.

[clutchcdn]

And last night he didnt yelp out any "wooo"'s
Someone musta let told him that he had to cut that out cause it was driving everyone nuts.

[AndGraceToo]

WOOHOOOO!!
He's definetly in for the next round..**insert dancing banana here**

He knows what he's doing..he got the attention, now he's getting serious.
That was a GREAT rendition last night..

GOOOO TAAAYYYLLLORRR!!

[AndGraceToo]

:jump this thread ain't going NO WHERE!!! :jump

[opiated]

"we're a virus with shoes, okay? that's all we are"

oops, this isn't the bill hicks appreciation thread. cratch:

bill hicks was/is amazing

[AndGraceToo]

Dont' forget tonight!!!