We catch up with the season-five "American Idol" champ backstage at the musical's latest Broadway revival.
video from MTV News
"I started doing seances to channel Elvis"
'American Idol' Alum Taylor Hicks Channels Elvis, Liberace For 'Grease' Gig
Here is a video capture for those unable to view the MTV site video, like my Canadian friends!
Karin I did it, lol aren't you proud of me :-)
(whoops, I missed some of it, well not bad for my 1st try lol)
From MTV News
In 2006, when salt-and-pepper-pelted soul singer Taylor Hicks won the fifth season of "American Idol," he probably never imagined he'd be popping out of an ice-cream cone, singing "Beauty School Dropout."
Now Hicks is doing just that, playing the Teen Angel - a role made famous by Frankie Avalon in the 1978 film version of "Grease" - in the musical's latest Broadway revival. For his first foray into acting, it's not a bad gig, and Hicks is hoping it will open more doors for him down the line.
"It's a really cool part," he said. "The Teen Angel comes down and tells Frenchy she should put down her teasing comb and go back to high school. I've kind of channeled Elvis, a little Graham Parsons and Liberace, all at the same time, for this role. It was just a perfect fit and a way for me to experience the Broadway stage in a small dose, instead of a full role. I come out in the second act. I pop in from an ice-cream cone, in a blue rhinestone suit, and rock it out for a few minutes."
Hicks said his Teen Angel is like none that has graced the stage before him, because he "Taylor-ized it."
To prepare for the role, he claims he "started doing séances to channel Elvis, and he told me that I needed to wear a midnight-blue, rhinestone-studded suit, and that's what happened. Now we're packing the place out. It's sold-out every night, and I get to play a little harmonica, which is cool. I couldn't do that on 'Idol.' That wasn't the year where you could play instruments."
(article continued in my sidebar)
MTV News
By Chris Harris, with reporting by Jim Cantiello
Sweet two videos from MTV in one day, plus two great articles, and I finally got to see Taylor Hicks' Angel Wings!
"I Don't Want To Jinx It"
Who Is Taylor Hicks’ Mystery ‘Megastar’
Published by MTV News
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By Garth Bardsley
On Tuesday night, we swung around the corner from our Times Square offices to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where “American Idol” season-five champ Taylor Hicks is cutting his teeth on Broadway, playing the part of the Teen Angel in the most recent revival of “Grease.”
The silver-haired “Soul Patrol” leader gave us a tour around the theater, which is actually a bit of a reality-show mecca. Besides Hicks, the show’s two leads, Max Crumm (Danny) and Laura Osnes (Sandy) were found via the little-watched NBC show “You’re the One That I Want.” And then there’s Cody Green, who won Bravo’s even littler-watched “Step It Up and Dance” while a member of the Grease ensemble.
Hicks is also writing lots of songs, mainly for his own use on his sophomore album coming out in the fall. But he spilled the beans that a certain “megastar” has one of his songs on hold to possibly record. He wouldn’t say who, but he did let it drop that the singer is a female.
Any guesses?
Is Tina Turner gonna rock on a harmonica-filled blues tune penned by Hicks?
Whitney Houston?
Grace Jones???
Taylor Hicks "The Distance"
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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1 comment:
Bloom, this was a red letter day in my book! To see an interview of Taylor on MTV.com AND MTV.ca was a really 'big deal'!
The tidbit about Hairspray was very interesting - I hadn't heard that before. Taylor seems to be very relaxed and I thought he gave a very insightful interview. He kept it "real" and I was glad that he said that he was proud of the first CD. There were some incredible songs on that CD that should have seen the light of day. It is still hard for me to fathom that selling 702,000 CDs is a bad thing.
Once again we get some hints about new "news" coming down the pipe. "Close to signing a new record deal" - wonderful news. The "song on hold by a Megastar" - even bettter news! I haven't got a clue who the "Megastar" would be and the only way we could even venture to guess who it is would be to actually hear to song so we would know what genre "she" is in.
Taylor is enjoying the 'ride' and that's what counts! If he is happy, the fans are happy and in the end, we will hear some great new tunes hopefully this year!
I am very proud of you for diving into the "Pond" and unleashing your "capture" talents. Well done, my friend!
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