abstract
| - The lyrics communicate a feeling of pride for one's accomplishments after struggling with and then finally achieving a long-term goal, all while retaining one's humility. This reflects Hicks' sudden career transformation from an independent musical artist to a celebrity. Hicks first performed the song on the finale of American Idol's fifth season, to which he received outstanding comments from all three judges. Simon Cowell correctly predicted that Hicks would win that year's American Idol with the performance. Along with "Do I Make You Proud", it includes, as a B-side track, his cover of The Doobie Brothers's "Takin' It to the Streets". The American Idol judges loved his rendition of "Takin' It to the Streets" – Randy Jackson said it was not his favorite song from Hicks, but he was trying to comprehend his dance moves onstage. Paula Abdul said that the song was great and loved the energy and dancing. Simon Cowell "loved the song" and said that "that's what it's all about — having fun and being memorable." Cowell also said it was the best performance of the night. Hicks' rendition of "Takin' It to the Streets" would become his first song to chart, peaking at number sixty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100, due to moderate sales of digital downloads only. The song was not released as Hicks's single, since "Do I Make You Proud" was to become his first single after he won the American Idol competition. "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2006 album Straight Outta Lynwood included a parody of "Do I Make You Proud", called "Do I Creep You Out". It is Yankovic's first parody of a singer from the Idol television series. The song was chosen to be the theme for the first ever Asian Idol. December 16, 2007, Hicks performed it live together with 6 Asian Idol finalists in Jakarta, Indonesia. The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents:American Idol.
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