Taylor Hicks
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The following is a review of Taylor Hicks and a recent Texas concert by Jessica Belasco of The San Antonio Express News ...

Even curmudgeonly American Idol judge Simon Cowell would have been tapping his foot Saturday night at the Majestic Theatre when Taylor Hicks took the stage, charming the audience with a voice as smoky as his hair and an obvious passion for blue-eyed soul.

The winner of the fifth season of American Idol stopped in San Antonio on St. Patrick's Day on his first national headlining tour in support of his self-titled major-label debut album.

Although the show was little more than half full (the Majestic had sold only about 1,200 tickets three hours before the show), the rabid Soul Patrol, as Hicks' fans call themselves, more than made up for the disappointing attendance with screams and much snapping of camera phones.

The audience was predominantly female, and some of Hicks’ most vocal fans were old enough to be his mother.

Dressed in jeans, a button-down shirt, a dark, textured sports jacket and black New Balance sneakers, Hicks, 30, started off his 70-minute set with an energetic romp through the Doobie Brothers' “Takin' It to the Streets.”

He moved easily from his original tune “Soul Thing” to Marvin Gay's “Wherever I Lay My Hat” to Gene McDaniels' “Compared to What,” which was one of the highlights of the show. He also rocked Supertramp's “Take the Long Way Home” and part of Van Morrison's “Saint Dominic's Preview.”

The set list nicely balanced songs from Hicks' latest album, including “The Runaround,” “Dream Myself Awake” and the single “Just to Feel That Way,” with original tunes from “Under the Radar,” one of his two independent albums he released before hitting it big on “American Idol.”

He strapped on his guitar for “Heart and Soul” and “Hold on to Your Love,” among others.

His only reference to American Idol was a polite “Thank you for voting for me” before launching into “The Deal,” another original tune.

The seven-piece band was excellent, especially guitarist Josh Smith, but it would have been nice to have an expanded horn section, which was one of the strong points of Hicks’ most recent album.

Hicks ended the show by donning a bright green sombrero a fan had placed on the stage and bowing deeply to the crowd.

The opening band, Greyhounds, an Austin funk and soul trio, were an unexpected treat. The band is definitely worth checking out when it returns to San Antonio for a show at Luna on April 13.

Ruben Studdard isn't the only American Idol champ to have undergone a healthy bit of weight loss.

Taylor Hicks is feeling lighter on his feet for good reason, People magazine reveals in its new issue.

The 6'1" Soul Patrol singer has shed nearly 22 lbs., going from 215 to 193, since his American Idol win last May. How'd he do it?

By ditching fast food and such southern comforts as fried chicken. In their place: Salads, brown rice, fish and chicken noodle soup. "It's good for your throat," he says. "It's also comforting, but it's light."

Not that the 30-year-old Alabaman – who's currently on a 53-city tour to promote his self-titled album – is completely denying himself. He calls his day off from the tour "kind of like my one sin day. I look for chocolate cake. If you're gonna do it, you might as well do it that way!"

Now the same weight as when he played high-school basketball, Hicks follows a serious exercise regimen, running for 45 minutes every other day, no matter where he is.

"I just take off running, with a hat on," he says. And when covering up his distinctive gray mop, "I've walked through a thousand fans and nobody notices."

Aside from the running, "I use a lot of the stage as exercise," says the singer, who calls his dance style "signature me ... it's original and it's authentic." Plus, it's more cardio: "I wear jackets, and with those lights, I'm sweating off, like, two lbs. a night!"

In a bit more disturbing weight news, some are concerned about Carrie Underwood, yet another American Idol winner.

Taylor Hicks has seen better days. Like when he was crowned the winner of American Idol last season.

Since then, however, the Soul Patrol has been stuck on neutral. With some music industry insiders claiming that Taylor's vocal stylings are too old, his debut album is on track to be the first by an Idol winner to fall short of one million units sold.

The self-titled CD, "Taylor Hicks," stands at 640,000 copies right now. It was released in December. Conversely, fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry has already sold over a million copies of his debut disc.

Moreover, fellow American Idol champs Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, and Carrie Underwood all fared much better in their first couple months.

An exec from J Records, in an interview with the AP, blames the record's "longer burn" on the fact that the music is "much more adult." We'll keep you updated on Hicks' progress as his tour rocks on.

Fans, meanwhile, can purchase their Taylor Hicks tickets by clicking here.

Kentucky Speedway will become Soul Patrol central July 14 when Arista recording artist Taylor Hicks entertains race fans with an exclusive concert before the green-flag start of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series “Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers."

The soulful artist also will perform the National Anthem live on SPEED Channel.

“I’ve grown up on NASCAR, so performing at the beautiful Kentucky Speedway will be an honor for me. I’m happy to go out and perform for new fans and support the great NASCAR legacy, ” Hicks said. “I’m also looking forward to being there in person to watch those trucks battle it out on the speedway."

Fellow Idol champ, Kelly Clarkson, has also signed a recentl deal with NASCAR.

“Our region is one of the strongest American Idol markets in the country so we know our fans will embrace the opportunity to welcome Taylor to our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event for his only area appearance of the summer, ” Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark. F. Cassis said.

We hope you're enjoying the latest round of American Idol singers - we're rooting for Sarah Krueger so far - but here's an update on what former contestants are up to:

• Chris Daughtry, whose debut album has sold 1.23 million copies, has announced the four California dates of his first headlining tour: Jan. 28 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Jan. 29 in Solana Beach, Feb. 1 at the El Rey in Los Angeles and Feb. 4 at Slim's in San Francisco.

• Taylor Hicks has booked 23 dates in the South, Midwest and Northeast starting Feb. 21 in Jacksonville, Fla.

• Mandisa will release her debut album via EMI/Sparrow Records in May 2007.

• Kellie Pickler received the RIAA Gold certification of her debut album, Small Town Girl.

American Idol winner Taylor Hicks shares the stage with soul singer Gladys Knight at the Orange Bowl halftime show in Miami on Tuesday.

The pair swapped vocals on the classic "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," after Hicks kicked off the show with his latest single, "The Runaround."

A pair of the most beloved contestants from last season's American Idol will soon be making their marks in parades and carnivals.

First, we reported on the upcoming performance of Katharine McPhee in the Rose Parade.

Now, the actual winner last year, Taylor Hicks will reign as the Krewe of Endymion's grand marshal for the 2007 Carnival season. The gray-haired, 30-year-old soul singer from Birmingham, Ala., will be leading a contingent that includes singer Al Green and the musical groups Journey and Styx in the parade.

Hicks was in New Orleans for a wedding just before Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005. With his flight out of town canceled, he took a cab to West Monroe and turned his free plane ticket into an American Idol audition trip to Las Vegas.

Endymion is among the city's largest Carnival groups. For Carnival 2006, Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd served as co-grand marshals. The parade has hundreds of participants and roughly 30 floats.

Endymion will roll down historic St. Charles Avenue on Feb. 17, the Saturday before Mardi Gras, which is Feb. 20.

The self-titled album of Taylor Hicks came in at No. 2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than 298,000 copies in its debut week. There's good news and not-so-good news embedded in that figure.

Good news: In today's depressed record-sales market, 298,000 is something to be proud of. If his sales pattern holds, he should rack up a healthy total in weeks and months to come.

Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have both enjoyed steady sales that are the envy of most artists - and Taylor's debut number is right in their neighborhood (just slightly higher than Kelly's for her first album, a bit less than Carrie's).

Not so good news: He didn't debut at No. 1, being thumped by Young Jeezy's 352,000. Kelly and Ruben, among American Idol winners, did hit No. 1 on their first week (as did Clay).

On the other hand, Carrie also came in at No. 2 and Fantasia debuted at No. 8. So one can never know.

Taylor Hicks is coming to the Orange Peel in North Carolina on March 4.

Signed to Arista Records after winning American Idol last season, Hicks's first single "Do I Make You Proud" debuted on the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The Orange Peel date is part of his first solo tour of North America.

The show, for all ages, is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.50.

This is a side of Taylor Hicks fans don't often see.

The laid back crooner got down with his bad self on MTV's Total Request Live yesterday. He was just chillin like a villian, maxin and relaxin with host Vanessa Minnillo on the show, as he promoted his latest album.

The CD, of course, hits stores the same week as that of Fantasia Barrino. But we hope there's room in Christmas stockings across the country for both these talents.