NEW YORK (AP) -- "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks needs his Soul Patrol to step up. They were certainly there for him around this time last year, when he was building up a feverish fan base, named the "Soul Patrol." The things about him that irked Simon Cowell -- that mop of gray hair and the herky-jerky dance moves that conjured up images of dorky dads loose at a wedding reception -- were instead embraced by millions, who later handed him the "Idol" title over the likes of talented hotties Katharine McPhee and Chris Daughtry. It was like a made-for-primetime fairy tale, starring the soulful-voiced Hicks. But as the all that hoopla died down, Hicks faced a tougher task: making the transition from reality TV star to established soul singer.
So far, not so good -- well, not Carrie Underwood "good."
His self-titled, post-"Idol" album, released in December, debuted at No. 2 on the charts. While it has sold a respectable 640,000 copies, it has slid significantly to a dismal rank: 136 this week. Discs by previous winners Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia and Ruben Studdard performed a lot better in
the weeks after they were issued. And finalist Chris Daughtry is near the top of the charts with the self-titled debut of his band Daughtry -- they have sold over 1 million records.
Geoff Mayfield, a senior analyst at Billboard, said he's got "a strong suspicion that (Hicks) might be the first winner who falls shy of a million units."
Good. I totally agreed with Simon when he dissed Hicks as being corny, which he is the embodiment of. Glad the rest of America finally caught on to this totally lame, poor man's George Clooney.
