Congratulation Taylor Hicks, New American Idol | Women Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Beauty and Personality

Congratulation Taylor Hicks, New American Idol
Category : Women Lifestyle

American Idol Finale Soul singer Taylor Hicks finally won the 2006 “American Idol” contest on Wednesday, beating ballad singer Katharine McPhee in votes cast by millions of viewers in the fifth edition of America’s top-rated TV show. Hicks, 29, whose prematurely graying hair and manic dancing has made him been a consistent favorite among the show’s 30 million regular viewers, won a coveted recording contract and will release a single called “Do I Make You Proud.”
“Thank You America! I’m living the American Dream,” screamed Hicks as he sang out the show.

“Soul Patrol!” he shouted, acknowledging his avid fans by their nickname. “I’m living the American dream,” he added as he closed out the show with a performance of “Do I Make You Proud.”
It was Katharine vs. Taylor, McPheever vs. the Soul Patrol, with a recording contract and the fifth “Idol” title up for grabs. More than 63 million votes were cast, “more than any president in the history of our country has received,” Seacrest said.

Even so, as “Idol” winners go, Hicks is still a slight departure: At 29, he’s prematurely gray, which often made him seem like the senior citizen of the “Idol” group. But his stage performances quickly zinged that impression: The Soul Patrolman pounded out classics like Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” and Elton John’s “Levon” with a glass-shattering intensity while feverishly dancing around the stage or (on one occasion) with judge Paula Abdul. He was the de facto crowd pleaser, if not always a Simon pleaser. But Hicks proved yet again that “Idol” is not always about what pleases Simon.

Last season’s victor, Carrie Underwood of Checotah, Okla., opened the finale, joining Hicks and McPhee on “I Made it Through the Rain” and later soloing on “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.”
On Tuesday, Underwood won two trophies at the Academy of Country Music Awards, underscoring how much an “Idol” victory can mean. She was named top new female artist and won best single for “Jesus Take the Wheel.”
Other pairings of contestants and stars included Paris Bennett and Al Jarreau; McPhee and Meat Loaf; Chris Daughtry and Live; Elliott Yamin and Blige; Hicks and Toni Braxton, and the dozen finalists with Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick.

McPhee, a sultry Los Angeles musical theater performer, was deemed by the three-person judging panel to have one of the best vocal talents in “American Idol” history. But viewers got the final say and chose the charismatic Hicks, whose fans call themselves the “Soul Patrol.” Program officials said more than 63 million votes were sent in by phone or text but they did not give a breakdown.

With two hours to fill the show also tossed in some comedy. Contestant Kellie Pickler was seen trying gourmet dining and dumping her escargot - snail - under her chair, while “Golden Idols” were awarded to also-rans who flopped in their auditions.
Second-season runner-up Clay Aiken, with a slick new look, performed a “duet” on “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” with his alter ego, a wannabe “American Idol” contestant who evoked the originally geeky Aiken.

The show, airing twice weekly, has given the Fox network the biggest hit in prime time and propelled the broadcaster to first place this season in the ratings race for viewers aged 18 to 49, the audience most prized by advertisers.
Instead, show-stopping performances by Mary J. Blige and Prince signaled that Wednesday’s decisive winner was the music industry, which has gone from treating “Idol” as a schmaltzy novelty into a meal ticket. The franchise has led to 33 million records sold by contestants since 2002. It draws an average of more than 25 million viewers a show, nearly double the size of the audience for the Grammy Awards, and commands $1.3 million per 30-second advertisement, a rate exceeded only by the Super Bowl and Academy Awards telecasts.

But in Alabama, the home state of Taylor Hicks, the chubby, Birmingham-born finalist, Idol has become a bit of a nuisance for some of the professionals whose business it is to focus on the old-fashioned kind of election — and the state of Alabama has a big one on June 6.
The “Hicks Factor” has created an unprecedented opportunity for Alabama candidates and consultants for the upcoming primary: practically the entire state is tuning in to ‘American Idol’ and paying rapt attention — and to top it all off, they’re voters! (If you count voting for your favorite ‘Idol’ contestant, that is!) Problem is, the cost of associating one’s candidacy with Alabama’s new favorite son is enough to bankrupt lesser campaigns.

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