Heavy onset of McPheever results in mag spread, movie gig and irate Taylor Hicks fans
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- July
- 12
I’m still reeling from the 100-plus comments posted in response to my half-serious, half-joking “American Idol” post proclaiming Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee’s superiority over that year’s champ, Taylor Hicks.
Things started to heat up last week when Stuff magazine revealed the cover of their August edition. On it, McPhee is seen wearing straps and stockings—and not much else.
Hicks fans, likely triggered by computer-generated news updates that bear his name, didn’t just defend the champ or argue against the tongue-in-cheek perspective in my post; they slammed McPhee, professionally and personally, decrying the cover and claiming Hicks’ record sale superiority. In turn, McPhee fans started to counterattack, with some labeling Soul Patrol fans as old women, out of touch with popular music.
Things got really nasty toward the end of the comments; most of the final posts had degenerated into name-calling. The response foiled my plans for a follow-up post the next day, because I felt completely overwhelmed. Just how unusual was this collection of comments? One of the blog commenters said I was cute. (Thanks, Jas, whoever you are.)
After some deliberation, I reached a conclusion: The nastiest fans on both sides are hypersensitive because neither Hicks nor McPhee is performing up to expectations right now. Especially since Season 5 fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry is breaking chart records, and Season 5 third-place finisher Elliot Yamin’s “Wait for You” probably has more Top 40 airplay right now than McPhee and Hicks’ tunes combined.
But if one must wager on who, of McPhee and Hicks, has more potential from here on out, it would be a bit foolish not to pick McPhee. Whether you like her magazine spread or not, she’s been more newsworthy and sought-after of late. Proof: Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly reported that she been tabbed to appear in a movie produced by Adam Sandler.
Brace yourself for another 100 comments or so on this post. I welcome the comments, but please keep them clean, clever and constructive, people!
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on Thursday, July 12th, 2007 at 3:45 pm by Chris Serico.
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Chris, bravo! Very well said. These absurd fan wars are ridiculous and it is time for them to end, now! And I DO believe that you have hit the nail on the head as to the reason for all of it continuing. Over-sensitive fans who want to defend their fav’s at every opportunity and display what they feel are their successes even when some may find them disappointing. I have been guilty of that at times myself. I AM an avid Kat supporter and always will be. I am proud of her accomplisments and am proud of her successes. I am fully confident in her future success. However I am ashamed of what this has become on all sides. I wish them all well. I have no interest in Taylor, I like Elliott and Chris’s music is not my cup of tea, but I don’t follow them like so many seem to follow Kat and try to run her down at every opportunity. Some are like stalkers and completely obsessed with following her and trying to harm her career. She is my fav and she is who I follow and I just wish the others well in whatever they do.
Thank you for your kind comments about her and I agree with you completely. She is on the verge of becoming a huge STAR and I just wish others would let her do that and realize it does not reflect on their favorite at all. Kat’s success is independent of everyone elses and I wish them all well.
Combining Kat and Taylor’s airplay would only subtract from Kat’s, so that isn’t really fair.
I must say, you are pretty cute.
Cutey,
This entry was on-point until this line “The nastiest fans on both sides are hypersensitive because neither Hicks nor McPhee is performing up to expectations right now.” This stupid fight has little to do with the Idols’ respective successes (or lack thereof), but it’s just leftover steam from Idol.
The McPhans tend to be more docile until provoked. Search for a blog about Taylor and you will not find 50 of us bringing him down just to build Katharine up. It just doesn’t happen.
Plus, the Katharine fanbase, as a whole is quite satisfied with her career at this point, though there’s more than a few worrywarts. Things kicked up a notch when her new video premiered last night (rated 4/5 stars from Blender who described Kat in the video as ”...acting like the massive pop star she soon should become”), followed by the multiple publications of her second movie role and a 7th major magazine cover. I feel like I’m over-explaining, and that’s what happens when you’re such a rabid fan like I am, but you get the idea.
Sales aren’t great and radioplay for Love Story isn’t great (yet), but we’re certainly not griping about it because there’s other things to be excited about. Katharine always has something going on.
http://idolforums.com/index.php?showforum=460
On the flipside, I don’t think the Soul Patrol is crying either (at least not about Tay’s career. I don’t know what some of these ladies do in their spare time except throw eggs at Kat’s career). Taylor has grossed over a million dollars in tour sales, even more than Daughtry. Granted, he toured bigger venues, but he did it.
I’m not gonna lie when I say a couple McPhans are a little puzzled by Elliot’s airplay at the moment. It was going nowhere before his Idol appearance (which Kat did not have), and then BAM! I’m happy for him, but it’s just weird to see a song with more than twice the airplay of Over It still not annihilating the song in single sales (though with the way it’s going, it probably will eventually).
I don’t think you’ll be getting the 100+ comments this time. I just have a feeling. Mandisa told me.
I agree wholeheartedly. Chris really is a cutie.
chris you have to understand that katharine and even us mcphans get constantly attacked over everything.
like jas said you won t find a blog post about taylor with x many mcphans attacking him and what not…
Taylor Hicks just released a major Random House BOOK on Tuesday. Does that take a back seat to posing for a men’s magazine as McPee so eloquently did?
Welcome to the Idol fan wars, Chris! If you’ve never been to the boards there, I highly recommend it. (And if you really want to see some insane posting, continue saying that Chris is doing better than Taylor…Or if you’re really brave, write about Constantine or Clay…rabid fanbases indeed!
In short, yes. In this case, it’s about buzz, not sales or content. And McPhee’s cover art will generate more publicity than Hicks’ book will.
Hi there! I just read your article and I was in fact googling Taylor. I have been busy with the holiday and this was the first chance I had to get an update on Taylor or anytihng else web based. First let me say that the people that commented on both Taylor and Catherine with negativity do not represent all of the fans for either singer. There are about 1% of idol following fans that defend the one they voted for to the end. I love Taylor but also appreciate the music from everyone that year. My 4 year old daughter and I even got autographs from Chris Bucky, and Elliot at the Chicago show last summer. Most people are just fans of music. Yes Taylor was my favorite but, I liked music form the other singers that year too. So even though people get very touchy about their favorite and is some times justifiable they do not represent the much more friendly fan base for all of them. Taylor and Katherine defend each other in public as far as I have seen and people should reflect that in thier writings. The world is big enough for opinoins other then our own and for more then one success from idol. They are all doing a lot better then they would have with out idol. Congrats to all of the them and their successes be it big or really big!
“Season 5 third-place finisher Elliot Yamin’s “Wait for Youâ€? probably has more Top 40 airplay right now than McPhee and Hicks’ tunes combined.”
Thanks to payola…
Well, as a Taylor fan, and someone who doesn’t like Kat, the main two things that bug me are this:
1) Kat fans who think that there is no valid reason to dislike Katharine because she’s beautiful.
2) Critics who believe that because Katharine gets more publicity, she’s more talented.
And, of course, 3) idiots who whine that you’re being too mean to their favorit Idol, but don’t have a problem calling YOU every name in the book.
Don’t get me wrong. I actually don’t have a problem with the fan wars. They provide a fun little diversion for everyone (and unlike some others, I don’t believe that we’re all in need of mental health treatment.) I can sling some mud with the best of them, but at the end of the day I don’t have any kind of moral superiority because I’m defending someone I like against someone I don’t. That’s what irritates me.
Meh. On with the namecalling. (By the way, I DID enjoy a twinkie the other night!)
Oh, and ETA that no matter how much I might dislike another Idol, I don’t want them to fail at their career. At all. Transferring my perceptions of someone’s public persona into real feelings of hatred and ill wishes would just be really, really dumb.
Hi Chris..by the way, you ARE cute!!
Also, I am one of the founding members of the Soul Patrol and I can guarantee you that the handful of people that posted negatively on your blog do not represent the REAL Soul Patrol..it only takes a few bad apples to spoil everything, as we all know! The vast majority of Taylor’s fans are very nice people that would never dream of causing problems..these negative, argumentive people have nothing else to do but sit on their computers and wreak havoc in the name of the Soul Patrol..it is very sad!
Taylor made a choice right after he won idol..he always wanted to be a touring musician and that is exactly what he is doing..his concerts are usually sold out and anyone who has actually seen him live, will agree that he is VERY GOOD at what he does. He is all about the music and that is the bottom line…no glitz, no glitter, no hype…just the real deal and a show you will not soon forget..NOTHING like what you saw on idol!! You would just have to see him LIVE to appreciate what he is doing
To all of those troublemakers who call themselves the Soul Patrol…please stop giving the rest of us a bad name and ruining what we all worked so hard for..find something constructive to do with your time and energy!
Peace and Hugs,
connie b
As a member of the Soul Patrol, and as a fan who has experienced Taylor Hicks in concert, I think the name-calling should just stop already. Overall, I am proud of all the Season 5 contestants who have released CD’s. (Still waiting on Ace’s!) This was the strongest overall group of Idol contestants. I’m disturbed that Taylor and Kat may be suffering a bit of the Sony BMG (i.e. Clive Davis) backlash and minimal promotion that has helped Daughtry get the overwhelming airplay. Just look at what’s happened to Kelly Clarkson….Neither Kat nor Taylor is a failure….Taylor is deliriously happy on the road, performing for sold-out venues, playing in Pro-Am Golf events, singing the National Anthem at the NBA Finals, doing charity events and promoting his book. Don’t forget the power of the downloaded song to affect CD sales….Kat is a lovely girl and will have a great career. There’s plenty of room for them all!
Well, I see Chris has been indoctrinated in the craziness that is American Idol.
It’s been a nice discussion, minus the comments by idolicious——-ignore them, I’ve run into her before, the only way she can get people to go on her blog is by posting crap about a girl she doesn’t know.
I agree with just about everything else that’s been said——-some people, a minority of the fan bases . are fighting a war that ended a year ago. All of the idols are friends, they never have anything bad to say about each other. I personally wish them all well.
Lurking around a few forums, I must agree that the McPhans
are used to expecting forums and blogs to explode with hate every time something good happens in Kat’s career. And they’re never disappointed. But the haters don’t matter. They’re irrelevant, there’s nothing they can do to effect the course of her career. But they’re always in a retaliatory mode———they’re very good at it.
Sorry, idolicious——-nobody’s biting this time.
In a showdown between the equally histrionic and stupidly-named McPhans and the Soul Patrol, let me suggest a third option: for both sides to spontaneously combust and to darken our Internets no more.
Actually I think you like fighting between the fans because you keep throwing out words like “superior than” and constantly comparing. Kat and Taylor are not even in the same genre so what’s to compare ? Just be happy for both and cut the crap to put one down over another..Now have a nice day !
Fan wars won’t stop until these journalists stop pitting them against each other.
I didn’t read the recent interview in People, but according to someone on another blog, Taylor said there is that what he wants now is to have a family, be able to support it, and be able to continue his music. I have seen direct quotes where he says that slow and steady is the way for him. I love Taylor and hope to see him around for a very long time.
There are some things, mannerisms and style-wise, that I don’t like about Kat. But she is a beautiful, earnest girl, and I think she’ll do well in the movies.
Elliot is my biggest disappointment, at this point. I loved his voice and his song selections on the show and in appearances immediately afterwards. But . . . “Wait for You”? I’ll be waiting for something better from him.
Finally, I’m happy for Chris. I was rooting for him from the start just for being such a great guy. His music isn’t what I like, but he is good at it.
It is a shame that some fans are so immature that it gets to the point of name calling. I recently went to a Taylor Hicks concert not knowing what to expect. I have to say that I was blown away by his and his band’s musicianship. He really knows how to put on a show and that is reflected in a summer tour being added after his spring tour ended. There is a demand for his style of music and I am sure there will be a demand for Katherine at some point…whether in acting or otherwise. She clearly is not ready to go on tour or she would already be on tour which goes to show you that vocal ability or looks alone does not make an entertainer.
If you really want to see true bizarre behavior of the absolutely insane, go over to the Splash site. Seriously, here’s the link.
http://www.splashnewsonline.com/2007/05/25/sorry-ladies-taylor-hicks-is-off-the-market/#more-12250
You haven’t seen crazy until you’ve read all that idiocy on there.
In so far as the fan wars. Anyone who participates in them is clearly very bored with their own lives. I’m a Taylor Hicks fan (but please don’t call me a Soul Patrol member, thanks). I’ve seen him in concert a number of times and truly enjoy his music. I like Chris (met him, he’s really pretty cool), don’t like Katherine’s music (can’t say I don’t like someone I’ve never met… but her music bores me to tears), and I absolutely adore Elliot.
What’s my point? I guess it’s just that some of us “Idol” fans are actually normal. Unfortunately our cries of “stop the madness” are drowned out by the mass hysteria of the crazier fans.
Sorry you were subjected to all of that.
It’s exactly this childish business that have many of the more sane among us backing away from fan sites. Although we are definitely fans, we find ourselves turned off to a certain extent. I do believe we are the “nearly silent” majority. The pettiness grates after a while folks.
I understand that part of what Idol brings out is the competitive edge in all of us and capitalizes on our feeling that we have a horse in the race. We feel connected, we feel a part of their success or lack thereof. Why that turns some people rabid is beyond me. Like I said, it’s a turn off, and probably no more so than to Taylor, Kat, Chris, Elliott, etc.
And Chris, I agree with the consensus that you are in fact, a cutie!
The fan wars are ridiculous. I can’t believe grown adults behave this way. It makes me sick.
Many of the season 5 contestants have been VERY successful and to suggest that Taylor or Katherine is better than the other…. give me a break. They are both way further in their careers than they could have ever hoped for.
Chris
It is so unfortunate however it is just like politics.
Instead of simply promoting your own choice, things turn into a mudslinging campaign against the others.
I guess these 4 AI contestants are going to be shackled to each other forever ( poor dears ! ) instead of just letting them all proceed in their careers.
THey are all different. They all have their place. They are all very talented. I will not tell you who is my favorite. I wish them all well.
I do want to comment that a few rabid fans in each of the camps can cause the whole fanbase to appear hostile – over the top – insane ? When in fact, most all the fans for all 4 are normal and enthusiastic. You know the one bad apple adage, seems to apply here.
People: please buy their records, buy there books, go seem them in concert…promote your own personal favorite but for heaven’s sake, shut the hell up.
and Chris you are rather cute and what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.
So hang in there.
Dear Chris and whoever wants to read this..lol.,
I didn’t read your first article, however I think it is childish for fans to argue.
To shed some light on how sales are created, it goes by airplay and videos.
Taylor has had hardly any airplay and no video. (I can’t speak for Kat, don’t follow her but I wish her well w the movie).
While Mr Daughtry (and some others) have been on MTV, VH1, and every radio station under the sun and have therefore picked up “NON” Idol fans.
That, for Mr Daughtry (as well as Kelly C, Carrie, and “some” others), equals success. Get it?
Taylor has done quite well without all of the above, therefore that is nothing to sneeze at. His cd debuted at #2, is certified platinum, his current single was/is on billboard Adult charts. His current tour grossed/is grossing millions, his new book is selling. He’s still out there.
It’s ashame radio (and the Idol powers that be) just tend to pick Their favorites and promote who they like. Because people are missing alot of good music because of that.
They did the same thing to Bo Bice, but that’s a whole nother story.
So you kiddies can argue all you want but its about AIRPLAY and RADIO play = success!
Personally I have most Idols music past and present but I like Taylor’s cd (and Kelly C’s new one) more than other Idols, but it’s all a matter of opinion.
I wish ALL the Idols from Kelly Clarkson to now the BEST.
And they ARE doing well, because WHERE were they before this?
So stop being jealous/arguing and just BE HAPPY and move on gang.
PS) Chris I also think you are nice looking, so there you go. LOL.
Peace,
D.D.
Chris, you made some good points. My rule of thumb is”if you dont like what is being said in a thread….back out of it…that simple.
I am a PROUD member of the Soul Patrol. Alot of people think we are fanatics…lunatics, whatever..but in reality, I had 2 immediate family members death in 2 months this year. The Soul Patrol carried me through and they continue to carry me through. We are human and this is the most compassionate fan base I have had the privalge to encounter. They have even went so far as to help pay my husbands funeral bill. Several thousand $$$. That says a lout about the “Soul” in Soul Patrol. It is because of Taylor that we have become family. If you don’t beleive we are family…face a tragedy and you will have more phone calls, prayers…whatever is needed than the average person could ever imagine. Soul Patrol Do it Baby
These fans wars are pathological! Let’s face it guys,we’re arguing about multi-millionaires when we speak of Kat,Taylor and Chris!! They have all done well and totally respect one another! Their careers are totally different…apples and oranges!So WHY do the fans have the need to keep the competition going more than a year later?? I am a Kat fan,yet happy for everyone’s success.Take a look at the imdb Kat boards if you wish to see hate personified.Amazing that people can muster up so much negative passion and write such bombastic, counter-Kat posts based on extensive research!! One can only wonder why these idiots spend their time bashing instead of supporting someone they actually respected!! Boggles the mind!!
Paula, I too, am a member of the soul Patrol. I think the Soul Patrol is some of the kindest people I have ever known. I really don’t know anybody who cuts down any of the Idols who were on the show the year Taylor won.
I myself think that was the best year for Idol fans. I like everyone who appeared that year. I root for all their successes. I was sooo happy to see Katherine was going to appear in a movie. Good for her!
I love Elliots album. I like Chris’s current single and my nephews are crazy about him.
I like Taylor because he is different. I like the same kind of music he does. While I am 47 years old you should see all the beautiful young girls leaving him messages on his myspace page. Even if his fans were all “middle aged” are we not allowed to like a singer???
So I say thank heavens we have all these wonderful peoples albums to lisen to. Music of all kinds is good for the soul!
If you think it was the SP that was doing the name calling, think again! There is another fanbase, and I’m not talking about the Kat fans, out there that posts all types of horrible things and they sink so low as to portray themselves as Soul Patrol members even going as far as to use SP screen names from other sites. Some will never get over their bitterness that their Idol contestant didn’t win the title of American Idol and they do everything in their power to make Taylor and his fans look bad. The SP is full of kind, generous people who do not post trash about others.
Chalk me up as another one who thinks the fan wars are rediculous.
I’m a Taylor Hicks fan, but don’t consider myself a member of the Soul Patrol.. I was at a meet & greet for one of the Spring concerts and enjoyed my m&g, (and LOVED the concert – one of the best I’ve ever experienced) but certainly did not feel like a part of the others there. I’m quite different from those I saw.. who, by the way, were still quite nice.
While I prefer Taylor’s voice and music – and he puts on an incredible show, I also like Elliot, Kelly Pickler; Chris has a very good voice, but I”m just not into his style of music that much, (I’d never slam him tho). Kat is quite beautiful and sings well, but her style isn’t a ‘stand out’ for me.. but I certainly don’t wish her anything but well.
I also think that AI5 was probably the best overall group of finalists and I’m happy to see them all doing pretty well over all.
But this bickering. Come on peeps – get a life! And then go live it!! (you can still enjoy your favourite singers and entertainers, too ya know).
Chris.. you ARE very cute. Hope the barrage didn’t wobble your footing too much.
Kat stank on AI5 and she still stinks today!! I can not stand that girl and she does not have a career now nor will she ever have one. Chris D rules!!!!!!!!