"Do I Make You Proud" is a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

- pop

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

written for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' season five winner

Taylor Hicks Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer who won the fifth season of ''American Idol'' in May 2006. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States fo ...

Tracy Ackerman Tracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor. Ackerman has written for artists including Geri Halliwell, Cher, Boyzone, ...

, Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of the Absolute production team, and co-produced by

Dave Way Dave Way is an American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Phoebe Bridgers, John Doe, Sa ...

. The song was released as a single on June 13, 2006 from the Arista record label.

Background

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 Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

correctly predicted that Hicks would win that year's ''

'' with the performance. Along with "Do I Make You Proud", it includes, as a B-side track, his cover of

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

'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 69 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.

Content

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.

Track listing

# "Do I Make You Proud" – 4:10 # "Takin' It to the Streets" – 3:37

Chart performance

'' Billboard'' confirmed that "Do I Make You Proud" sold 190,000 physical singles and 38,000 digital downloads during its first week, prompting a number-one debut on the Hot 100 for the issue dated July 1, 2006. It was only the 14th song out of over 1000 number ones to debut at number one on the Hot 100 chart. Hicks also became the fourth American Idol contestant to have a single debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 behind

Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...

Fantasia Barrino Fantasia Monique Barrino-Taylor (born June 30, 1984), known professionally by her mononym Fantasia, is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series ''American Idol'' in ...

, and Carrie Underwood. As of September 2009, "Do I Make You Proud" has sold 672,000 singles. "Do I Make You Proud" remained number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week, gradually declining until it left the chart after eight weeks, making it the first number one single in the history of the US charts to fall off the charts in less than ten weeks. The song was Taylor Hicks' only number-one hit, as well as his only top-40 hit to date, making him a one-hit wonder on the chart. In Canada, the single reached number one on the SoundScan singles chart and remained there for 15 consecutive weeks from June 10 to September 16, 2006. In 2009 Billboard issued its Decade End Charts compiling the top artists and releases for the years 2000–2009. "Do I Make You Proud" charted at number 39 on the Decade End Singles Sales chart.

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2006 debut singles Taylor Hicks songs American Idol songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Canadian Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Tracy Ackerman Song recordings produced by Absolute (production team) Songs written by Andy Watkins Songs written by Paul Wilson (songwriter) 2006 songs Arista Records singles Soul ballads 2000s ballads