Did Taylor tick off the wrong people?

If you’re a long-time reader of my blogs, you know that for quite some time I’ve been questioning the lack of support that Taylor Hicks has been getting from his label, J Records.

The month-long delay for the first single, choosing to release Daughtry’s CD first, and the lack of promotion (Why didn’t he appear on “Idol”?) all seemed to indicate that Taylor didn’t have the backing that previous Idols had.

Now, we may no why…

This week’s “Entertainment Weekly” reports Taylor may have made some enemies while recording his album. “EW” quotes an “insider” who says, “He would harp on this notion that he’d been doing music for 10 years, but if he were any good, he would’ve had a deal nine and a half years ago!” The insider says that Taylor “p---ed people off.”

“EW” adds that his “resistance to the label’s ideas may have hurt his support internally.” Taylor’s manager says “the charges are blown out of proportion” and that Taylor is just a guy who’s still learning to deal with all the attention.

Let me say again that I think Taylor’s CD is good and I appreciate that it’s different from any other Idol CD. However, I think he should have fought his battles on his second CD (a la Kelly Clarkson). Now, he’s in danger of becoming nothing more than the answer to a trivia question: Who is the only “American Idol” winner to not have their debut CD go platinum?...

Simon Mouths Off

“American Idol” kicked off the Museum of TV and Radio’s William S. Paley Festival last week. The Festival features airings of popular shows, followed by panel discussions with cast and crew.

The “Idol” panel consisted of Executive Producer Ken Warwick, FOX reality guru Mike Darnell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest, but as usual it was Simon Cowell getting all of the attention as he unloaded about Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Hicks and contestants crying…

Thanks to Derek for the heads-up on this one…

Simon took the opportunity to confirm what we already knew—that he doesn’t like Taylor. “They [Paula and Randy] loved him. I couldn’t stand him. I didn’t get it.” Simon also admitted that just because someone wins the show doesn’t mean they will sell a lot of records. “At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist.”

The panel took place just after Thursday’s results show when most of the contestants wound up in tears. Simon seemed to think they were crocodile tears. “My theory is why would you cry if one of your competitors is kicked off? Be delighted. They know the cameras are on. Trust me.”

Simon also took exception with Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson for saying that “Idol” was a “stepping stone” for her. Simon said, “It was her big opportunity to become noticed and she got noticed and she got ‘Dreamgirls.’” Without naming names, Simon said that other past contestants “deliberately turn against the show that made them successful. The reason [they] come on the show is because all the doors had been slammed in their face.”

It’s a rare occasion when I disagree with Simon, but I do when it comes to Jennifer. Here’s what she had to say backstage at the Academy Awards: “Thank God there is such a thing as ‘Idol.’ There’s many other talents that came before that didn’t have a platform to sing, but they allowed us that platform and for that we can say thank you.”

Sorry, Simon. That doesn’t sound like an “Idol” diss to me…

However, it’s that brutal honesty that we’ve come to love about the show, as Warwick admitted during the panel. “You never had a show where someone would say, ‘You suck.’ That makes all the difference.”

Taylor's "Heart Full of Soul"

Taylor Hicks is getting ready for his tour by working on some “obscure covers.” He’ll also perform songs from all three of his solo albums and some of the songs he did on “Idol.” The tour kicks of February 21st.

Taylor is also working on his book, “Heart Full of Soul,” which will hit shelves July 10th. The book will detail his struggles as a touring performer and give “juicy details” about the show.

As I posted earlier, Taylor’s first single is “Just to Feel That Way.” In a recent interview, Taylor says that by releasing the single after the album, the fans “could say what they thought the best song was.” A video is in the works. I hope this all works out because “Feel” is a fantastic song…