I think people are using Taylor Hicks WAY too much as a way to dismiss "older" or "adult contempo" singers.

Hicks cd has been far more respectfully reviewed than Doughtry's. I just read a review of Daughtry's performance in NY that dismissed him as totally amateur, someone who should never be in a legit venue again. Karoake to the max.

Taylor's cd was taken seriously. The songs on it that got less than stellar reviews, as well as some of the performances, were all treated as offerings of a musician who deserves respect, who should most likely turn out a much stronger cd as his second cd. The difference between how industry "critics" treat Hicks and how they treat Doughtry is notable.

Katherine McPhee isn't selling anything, and yet nobody mentions her when they push Jordin or Hayley as "more marketable" than Melinda. McPhee is more "marketable" than either using the criteria some posters cite, but she's selling way less than Hicks!

Clarkson sold because she has a fabulous voice and she knows how to sing - including phrasing a song, modulating a song. She's in charge of her voice. Yet she didn't hit the jackpot til her second cd. She is still a star - and have you seen her lately? She's not looking polished and plastic like a barbie - she's looking rough and real and not skinny. Still a big big star.

Let's see how Hicks second cd sells, shall we? If Clarkson were judged on her first, she'd be considered a disappointment today. Her second cd made her a star.

If you have the right material, and you sing the hell out of it, you'll sell. True for Clarkson, will be true for Melinda, and despite Simon (who is being petty cause he was wrong), it may very well turn out to be true for Hicks.