Games People Play by Joe South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970. Joe South’s distinctive guitar at the opening is played on a Danelectro Guitar Sitar, which South also can be heard playing in the opening bars of the mega-hit Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin.
For some reason, this song has been on loop in my brain for the past 48 hours. Games People Play, indeed!
Propaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a (political) agenda. ***
Propaganda? What gives? Well, friends, I’m just laying a little groundwork before I warn you of the coming of American Idol Rewind: Season 5. American Idol finally gets several hours of TV time to give us their skewed/slanted/biased version of AI5.
What are we likely to see? My guess would be the Chris Daughtry Coronation. They’ve been trying to give him the AI5 title since early in the fifth season. They’ve put meganza-bucks out to get him before the public and promote his CD. The only thing they haven’t been able to do is make him exciting. His recent concert reviews have been filled with words like dull, monotonous and boring. The lack of excitement was a major turn off for me. No grungey angst for this girl!
What are we not likely to see? I doubt we see much more than a millisecond of Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks. He is the thorn in the sides of the powers that be at American Idol. He dared to go on their little show and kick ass. He had the nerve to be genuine and charismatic and make people like him. He had the gall to make people want to get up and dance and smile and have a good time. I guess he spoiled AI’s little Daughtry orgy. For that, they will dog him the rest of his life.
I’m not really sure what to expect as far as the other season 5 contestants are concerned. My guess is that they will get more respect than Taylor and less slobber than Daughtry. Come to think of it, unless you are a Daughtry fan, it’s probably best to just skip this fairy tale.
What a freakin’ lot of phony baloney creeps there are hanging out at the Boogie Board nowadays. Not all of them, mind you, but the BB has been hijacked by those who think it’s just too cool to find fault with Taylor while singing the praises of Adam Lambert. Is it ok to not like Taylor anymore? Sure. Knock yourselves out. Is it ok to drool over Adam Lambert? Whatever rings your chimes.
I think the problem most people have with you people is the lack of class you are showing by running Taylor down on his own site. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Boogie Board is a Taylor Hicks fan site. If you don’t like Taylor anymore, at least show him enough respect to not bash him on his own fan site. I also find it quite tacky and disrespectful to throw your sleazy Lambert Orgasmafests on a Taylor Hicks board. Make your own damn board and have at it. Just a suggestion.
Really, if it wasn’t so pathetic, it would be funny. I kind of wonder where it all comes from. It’s no secret that there was/is a chroll infestation at the BB. I suppose they could have something to do with it. Of course, the Gray Charlesgroupies have the same above it all attitude that GC has. He seems to love to pull pranks against Taylor. Then again, maybe it’s those people who have been reading the anti Taylor media out there and are too weak to ignore or stand up against the crap, so they pretend to have seen the light. Whatever, folks. Just try to muster up enough class not to show your ignorance on a Taylor fan site. It really is very ugly.
I’m not sure where this is coming from. Maybe it’s a reaction to all the bickering I’ve witnessed lately. Anyway, it’s a nice song. Enjoy the peaceful interlude.
I was in the middle of writing a pretty emotional post and I had to take a break. I needed a little laugh. I thought I’d share that laugh with you.
I just love Vince. You know, the SHAMWOW guy? He is just the perfect combination of TV celeb/snake oil salesman. As funny as I thought the SHAMWOW commercials were, the commercials for SLAPCHOP are priceless.
Yes, he really did say that. And you know what I mean. LOL
But wait! It gets better. Vince, beloved SHAMWOW/SLAPCHOP huckster, is now a rapper. I knew that headset wasn’t just for show!
That’s the word that keeps coming to the forefront when I watch the Seven Mile Breakdown video. That’s our Taylor! The man is real. Love the feel good vibe. Love the setting….out in the country. Takes me back to my roots. Hot man….hot car…..hot song! Works for me! Enjoy…
Taylor Hicks will return to the American Idol stage on Wednesday, April 29th. The Season 5 champion will appear on Season 8’s Top 5 results show to perform his new single, Seven Mile Breakdown. Seven Mile Breakdown follows What’s Right Is Rightas the second single released from Taylor’s album, The Distance.
I am thrilled that Taylor chose Seven Mile Breakdown for his return performance. What a great song! It’s Taylor all over. I’m sure that once again, he will knock AIon its ass. They won’t know what hit them. America will dance like no one is watching, just like in Season 5. Taylor will make us smile and reassure us that America did indeed get it right.
Simon Cowell has led the Taylor bashing since the end of Season 5. He will probably not crack a smile. He will have that same “I’m above it all” bored look that he always has. I hope he manages to choke back any snark and just lets Taylor be Taylor. It would be nice if all connected with AI show a little restraint and just let the man perform.
Just a drive-by post here. I’ve been listening to the song Nineteen from Taylor Hicks’ latest album, The Distance. I liked the song at first. It has turned out to be one of those songs that touches me more and more each time I listen.
I followed a link to youtube a few days ago. Someone by the name of antiwar2009 had made a video for the song. The song is very personal for the youtube poster. The more I listened/watched and the more I thought, the more powerful this simple little song became. I’d like to share this video with those of you who haven’t seen it yet. I hope you’ll give it a look and leave antiwar2009 a kind comment. Whatever your thoughts on politics and the war, I think you’ll find this video very poignant.
I hope Taylor will release Nineteen as a single soon.
I have to admit that I was being lazy this afternoon. I’ve been sitting in front of this computer reading some articles that I had saved. That was a mistake.
It appears that I’m not the only one who’s lazy. I must have had ten articles that were pretty run of the mill (read DULL). They all had at least one other thing in common. Each included a Taylor Hicks bash. I guess these people have learned about the number of hits that a mention of Taylor brings to blogs and articles. Stick Taylor’s name in there and you don’t have to make an effort to write an interesting story. I guess it never occurred to them that they could say something positive about him.
I finally came to an article in the Los Angeles Times by Tom O’Neil. There was nothing particularly fascinating about what he wrote. Of course, I finally found the draw. I guess Mr. O’Neil has discovered the secret of getting mega-hits as well. He just came right out and called Taylor and Season 2 Champion Ruben Studdard losers.
Not that it will make any difference in the life of this man, but enough is enough. I couldn’t contain my disappointment. I had to give him my 2 cents. And I got so caught up in what I was writing that I completely forgot to mention Ruben. He has been the object of ridicule since his AI win, though he hasn’t been belittled nearly as much as Taylor. Ruben doesn’t deserve this type of disrespect either.
Anyway, since I sincerely believe that this will not make it to print in the LA Times, I thought I’d share my rant with anyone who is interested here.
Mr. O’Neil,
Perhaps you can answer a question for me. How would you feel if the people who helped you get to where you are in your career went on Oprah tomorrow and told the world that hiring you was a mistake? Later, they gave an interview to TIME MAGAZINE saying that those that hired you were clueless, and you were not at all suited for the job. Pretty soon, they either bashed or ignored you at every public event, while heaping praise on one of the other guys you beat out for the job. They barely tolerate you, removing all signs of your existence from all the papers and magazines where your work appears. They may feel obligated to invite you to speak at company functions, but they won’t even bother to introduce you. And maybe before everyone leaves, they’ll ask everyone to place any trash in Tom O’Neil’s lap. They may let up and leave you alone for a few months, only to start their ridiculous bashing about a week before your next book comes out.
This is not a very pleasant scenario, is it, Mr. O’Neil? This is only a small sample of the horrible treatment Taylor Hicks has endured at the hands of American Idol, the very people who brought him to the public’s attention. In the following years, he’s been the “easy target” for the media who are too lazy to come up with real stories. “Let’s just pile on Taylor Hicks. The public will buy that because Simon said so.” Et tu, Mr. O’Neil? I’m very disappointed in you.
I must give Mr. Hicks credit. He has handled the constant attacks with character and dignity. He has not struck back. His eyes are on his goals. He is moving forward. For this alone, I consider him to be the best American Idol that has come from this show. American society needs positive role models. Bashing journalists and bloggers do not qualify. Taylor Hicks does.
If you need a good story, why don’t you look into why American Idol decided to try to destroy this young man’s career. I don’t think it has much to do with his singing. Even snarky Simon admitted that he can sing. I’ll bet there’s a best seller and some awards for the writer who digs up the true story.
