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Friday, July 28, 2006
If your idea of rock 'n' roll is "Bye Bye Birdie," then you can't ask for more than Taylor Hicks, the reigning king of "American Idol." He and eight other of the show's contestants came to Mellon Arena Thursday night and a sold-out crowd to reap the kind of fan adulation that produced more votes on the Fox reality show than were cast in the last presidential election.
Appearing roughly in the order of their banishment, the first set opened with Mandisa singing a solid "I'm Every Woman" and following that with an endorsement of both "American Idol" and God, respectively, which led into a duet with heartthrob Ace Young. Young sang in his usual soft style with flattened palm over his own throbbing heart. He then sang a couple of songs solo before giving the stage to the oddly animatronic Lisa Tucker, who offered some blandly pleasant versions of the blandly pleasant "Signed, Sealed Delivered" and "Your Song."
Then came a duet with Paris Bennett, whom Tucker shouldn't sing with. Bennett has enough personality -- as well as pipes -- to overshadow anyone let alone those who don't appear to be organic. After bringing "Midnight Train to Georgia" to life, she exited.
Bucky Covington clomped in to a safe yet rousing version of "Superstition." He ended with the beloved duet from "Grease," "You're the One that I Want," which was a smart choice. He was joined by Kellie Pickler, who wore a new wig, which was an even smarter choice. Pickler proved why she was an out-of-the gate favorite with "Walkin' After Midnight," giving her a chance to show off the vocal chops that accompany her Victoria Jackson routine.
After the break, Chris Daughtry opened with gruff, tough guy versions of "Whole Lotta' Love" and, uh, "Renegade." After a duet, the mike went to beloved underdog Elliott Yamin, personable as ever and in good voice on his "Moody's Mood for Love."
After the "Idol" males and females did their respective medleys, it was start time as Taylor Hicks approached the stage from the back of the arena floor, singing "Jailhouse Rock." "Hollywood Nights" was followed by "Livin' for the City," where he had his oddly endearing Conrad Birdie-inspired goofy dancing in full swing. On his encore, "Takin' It to the Streets," he brought the harmonica into play along with the goofy dancing.
The crowd loved him, and he was missed for the first encore song but joined the other eight for the finale, "Livin' in America." Yup, only eight as laryngitis-plagued Katherine McPhee was missing in action, leaving those inflicted with the McPheever to heal themselves.
Katharine McPhee fans around the world