On Wednesday May 25th, 2006, the fifth American Idol was crowned king! After following the contestants throughout their journey, the ending was more exciting than ever. Twenty-nine year-old Taylor Hicks was given the special title this year. Some believe it's because of his free-spirited personality, others think he won because of his amazing vocal gift and fancy dance moves. That's for you to decide.

After thousands of performances and millions of votes, The gray-haired soul singer who is known for throwing his head back and yelling "Soul Patrol" beat out thousands of "Idol-wannabees." He sang with the best, and came out above them all.

21-year-old runner up, Katharine McPhee, seemed more than happy for his win. Along with Elliott Yamin who took third, Chris Daughtry who took 4th, and the seven other incredible vocalists that made their way to the top twelve.

Wednesday the eleventh the host, Ryan Seacrest, revealed the bad news to all the Chris Daughtry fans. After making it to the top four, the "Rocker," Chris was eliminated from the competition. Leaving Elliot Yamin, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, and all the people watching at home, in shock.

After visiting their hometowns, on the 18th of May the two final contestants said good-bye to Elliott Yamin, the "Nice guy" of this year's American Idol competition. The votes tallied from the night before were so close, there was not even a whole percent separating the contestants.

The last night of this season, both Katherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks sang one last song on the American Idol stage before Ryan Seacrest once again, eliminated someone from the competition. Leaving Taylor Hicks with the win.

The contestants in this season had great talent, potential, and personality, something earlier seasons seemed to lack. Congratulations to Taylor Hicks, and all the other contenders for making it as far as they did. Make sure you check out the sixth season of American Idol on FOX next year.

Like Ryan says:
WMisLove Out.