Taylor Hicks Explains Idol Remarks
Taylor Hicks didn't mean to sound ungrateful.
That's what the American Idol winner said on KIIS-FM Friday, after coming under the gun about his comments in a recent magazine interview that were construed by many as being disparaging to the show that gave him his big break.
Speaking to Relix magazine in October, Hicks said that he had never watched Idol before appearing on the show and that, for him, the Fox megahit "is fizzling out."
"I want to take that opportunity and exposure: You either come to see me, buy my album or you don't," the Alabama native said. "I'm not trying to meet expectations. If you can say you're a working musician, then you're doing something good."
Responding to cries that he was biting the hand that fed him so heartily, Hicks said Friday, "I'm giving up my crown soon. That's what I meant. I'm just now learning about how the media can turn things around.
"I'm very grateful to that show, and we're like one big family. It was taken completely out of context. I will be watching next season on my tour bus."
Hicks' self-titled debut album is slated for a Dec. 12 release. Missing from the disc, but expected to be offered as a bonus track if you download the album, is the singer's Idol-tailored hit single, "Do I Make You Proud," which he described to Relix as purely "the show's single."
"It's not mine," Hicks said. "The song that was given to me first, I got up from a chair and walked right out of the studio. I was handed this song, and I was just like, 'No way—you're not going to make me sing this song.' "
But he obviously made do with the producers' second choice, and "Do I Make You Proud" sold 190,000 copies and 38,000 digital downloads its first week out of the gate, debuting at number one on the Hot 100, according to Billboard. As of September, Hicks had asked 622,000 people if he made them proud.
In another round of damage control, Hicks told In Touch that, once again, he didn't mean anything by it when he spoke of being forced to record "Do I Make You Proud."
"Those words were taken completely out of context," the Soul Patrol captain said. "I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to be on American Idol. It's a show that teaches a lot of young people about music and ties families together. I'm very grateful."
And we're grateful that season six of the family show/ratings juggernaut premieres Jan. 16. Happy New Year!
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