American Idol's Taylor Hicks ROCKS Chicago House of Blues

From the moment the gray haired singer stepped foot on American Idol, I was taken with him. His passion for music mirrored mine and he was not the stereotypical "hunk" the judges were looking for to win the competition. From the moment he opened his mouth to him blowing his harp, I was totally taken in. I only watched Idol to see the auditions, then I always stopped watching. But there was something about Taylor Hicks...so I kept watching and vowed to keep watching until he was voted off. Well, you know the results. He won! From then on, I've been an "obsessive" Soul Patroller!

So, I could not ask for a better 30th birthday gift than Taylor Hicks playing three hours away from me in Chicago, Illinois. I bought my tickets immediately and began the long wait until the concert. The day had arrived, March 29th...we took the Amtrak into Chicago and cabbed it over to the House of Blues hotel where we had a reservation for the night. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw his bus and literally squealed with delight that I was just feet away from the man I practically idolize.

After checking into one of the coolest hotels I've ever been in, we decided to go "hunting". The only thing the hunt turned up was his backup singer who we shared an elevator with. She acted like she didn't want to be noticed, so I just left her alone...however that was SO hard for me! I wanted to ask her what it was like performing with someone as amazing as Taylor Hicks???