VIEWERS have voted, and three contestants remain in the toughest, final leg of the competition. Who among Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin will become the next American Idol? Here’s more about this season’s Final 3.

Tune in to “American Idol” season 5 on StarWorld, direct via satellite every Wednesday and Thursday, 5 p.m., with replays at 8 and 11:30 p.m. Don’t miss the excitement of the grand finals on May 24 and 25, only on Star World!



Taylor Hicks


Age: 29
Hometown: Birmingham, AL
Audition city: Las Vegas
Favorite female artist: Cyndi Lauper
Favorite male artist: Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Bob Seger


When did you first start to sing? When I started to crawl.

Do you have any formal singing training? No.

What other talents do you have? This is it.

If you don’t make it on “American Idol,” what will you do? Broke performer

What album would your friends be surprised you own? “The Wiggles”

Who is your American Idol? Ray Charles

What is your definition of an American Idol? Someone very talented and humble.

Who is your favorite judge and why? Randy—he plays an instrument.



Katharine McPhee


Age: 22
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Audition city: San Francisco
Favorite female artist: Whitney
Favorite male artist: Brian McKnight

When did you first start to sing? 2 years old

Do you have any formal singing training? Just in college and on and off with my mother.

What other talents do you have? Acting and dancing

If you don’t make it on “American Idol,” what will you do? Go back to acting and dancing, musicals.

What album would your friends be surprised you own? Cirque du Soleil

Who is your American Idol? Gene Kelly

What is your definition of an American Idol? A positive influence on the world who can move people through his or her artistry

Who is your favorite judge and why? Simon—he is honest.


Elliott Yamin


Age: 27
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Audition city: Boston
Favorite female artist: Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani
Favorite male artist: Usher

When did you first start to sing? 5 years old.

Do you have any formal singing training? No.

What other talents do you have? I can do funny voices and impressions.

If you don’t make it on “American Idol,” what will you do? Do whatever I’ve always done... Survive! Of course, I’d still pursue a career in music.

What are your personal goals in life? To help educate young people about music and diabetes. I want to be an inspiration to others. I want to be a great dad someday. I want to meet Magic Johnson and have a floor seat at a Lakers game.

What is your definition of an American Idol? Someone who can inspire others to accomplish anything they set their mind to do

Who is your favorite judge and why? Simon—he doesn’t sugarcoat anything.

I hope Taylor wins. He's got the moves, man! :banana:

I vote for "Taylor Hicks" not only for his talent. He looks like Jay Leno and George Clooney! :C

Jay Leno and George Clooney? I never thought of that. But you're right! Haha oo nga. Man, Taylor is in the final two! :clap: That's a first for AI. Most of the finalists in the previous seasons are pretty boys and girls. :)

Katharine Mc Phie has the looks and talent to be the next American Idol. Super ganda talaga...:L

Yeah pero if it's pure talent, Taylor talaga. :)

Yeah pero if it's pure talent, Taylor talaga. :)

Yeah, I agree, I wonder how he sounds on CD.

Oh yeah you're right... Part of Taylor's charm are his moves. :) Pano kaya if you can only hear his voice and can't see him? Will you feel the same about his talent? Never thought about that. :?

My vote goes for Taylor Hicks as well. I've been watching AI since the audition days and when I saw him audition, I already knew he'll make it big. There's just something different about him.

A lot of people says that the moment Chris Daughtry was eliminated, Taylor already won because among the Top 4 hopefuls, Chris is his biggest competitor. I also love Chris and it would've been more exciting to watch if he and Taylor are going to bring it on in the finale.

Until now, the my favorite performance of Taylor was when he sung Levon by Elton John.

Here's a video of it... Taylor Hicks performance of Levon (http://www.gofish.com/video.gfp?gfid=30-1020117)

Since Chris has been voted off I'm not sure I'll watch any more. Has even thought about not returning to the states at all to be around such stupid people. Ha Ha Now I'll just wait and buy his CD.

Hey! I didn't know you're watching it. :O My wife and I thought that Chris already has it in the bag and we were one of those who were really surprised that he was eliminated from the top 4 contestants. Oh well, he's been offered some recording contracts already so no worries and we're happy for him. The rock band Fuel even asked him on national television to be their lead vocal. Whew! What a guy! :)

One thing's for sure... he can't beat our version of Hey Jude. Haha! :O

LAST THURSDAY, the “final two” of the 2006 “American Idol” singing search were announced: Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee.

It was a sad adieu for Elliott Yamin, the third surviving finalist, but the viewer-voters’ verdict could not be disputed. After a brief period of sniffling over what might have been, the show’s attention shifted back to next week’s “ultimate showdown” between Katharine and Taylor.


Talent and heart


What made them win the viewing and voting public over to their side? Last Wednesday, the tilt’s top three each sang three songs with all the talent and heart they could manage.

To our mind, Katharine did best of all, thanks to juror Simon Cowell (of all people), who suggested that she should sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as one of her three showcase numbers.

Cowell has been rather critical of Katharine throughout the competition, so his helpful suggestion was ironically inspired, and helped her come up with a simple yet felt interpretation that boosted her stock with listeners.

For his part, Elliott was hampered by less than inspired song choices.

As for Taylor, he gained points because he showed another, less idiosyncratic side to his talent.

In fact, in a couple of his songs, he came across sort of like a younger version of George Clooney. -- Not bad for a gonzo, goony guy from the South.


Cliffhanger


This week’s penultimate competition was a real cliffhanger, because only fractions of a point separated the survivors from the ejectee -- the votes were 33.06, 33.26 and 33.68!

Next week’s “final-final” showdown between Taylor and Katharine can be expected to be similarly close, because this week’s voting pattern suggests that the finalists’ fans have already decided to go all the way in supporting their respective favorites, hence the “by a nose” victories for Katharine and Taylor last Thursday.

Of course, some of Elliott’s fans will opt to shift their votes to either of the two remaining finalists, so this could tip the balance in favor of next week’s ultimate winner and official 2006 American Idol.

And who would that be? Throughout the months-long competition, Taylor appears to have done consistently well in terms of votes pulled, while Katharine has had her share of ups and downs. So, perhaps Taylor has an edge?


Frontrunner


But, Katharine surprised everyone last week when she scored better than frontrunner and perennial favorite Chris Daughtry, so it could very well be that her fan base has of late consolidated into a strong and loyal force that could enable her to score another major upset next week!

What do you think?

TAYLOR HICKS IS THE NEW AMERICAN IDOL!!! :clap: Congratulations to him and to the Soul Patrol!

His first single is also a good one. Check his performance here:

http://www.gofish.com/userVideoPlayer.gfp?gfid=30-1035446

LAST Thursday, the hugely popular “American Idol” singing tilt finally announced this year’s winner -- Taylor Hicks. The prematurely grey-haired unknown got a clear majority of the record-setting 63.4 million votes cast in the grand finals, enabling him to trounce the also gifted and charismatic Katharine McPhee.


Instructive tale


Katharine is a great combination of talent and beauty, so why did more viewer-voters dote on Taylor, the Hick? Therein lies a pop-instructive tale:

When Taylor first auditioned for “American Idol,” judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul found him refreshingly original and feisty, but the chronically ornery Simon Cowell predicted that he wouldn’t survive the next round.

But, wonder of wonders, Taylor did survive. More than that, he was soon attracting a lot of fans who liked his “soulful” approach to performance, and promptly billed themselves as his Soul Patrol.

In time, even the haughty Simon would apologize for his scathing disdain for Taylor, and even cited him as one of his top three bets to win the tilt.

For her part, Katharine was also bowling them over, but in a quieter and more gradual way. To be sure, she occasionally came across as nervous and insecure, but there was something “stellar” about her that started to excite viewers, especially after astute packaging enhanced her beauty and appeal, complementing her exceptional singing voice.

In time, Taylor and Katharine emerged as a study in instructive contrasts: He was a down-home original, she was a star in the making; he was all heart and energy, she was the epitome of cool and sophistication.


Idiosyncratic


By rights, the new American Idol should be a star, so that would tip the tilt in favor of Katharine. But, idiosyncratic Taylor excited viewers more, possibly because they could relate to him, and felt that he sang for them.

Taylor’s experience also worked in his favor. At 29, he was the most senior singer in the finals, and the youth-oriented recording industry may have considered him too old to make it as a recording and competent star. But, the show’s viewers obviously disagreed, and with their millions of votes, made him their star, their way.

It was their way of reminding record and concert producers that “manufactured” and “prepackaged” stars are OK, but the talents who really excite the viewing and listening public are those who effect a personal connection with their audience, a “key connect” that makes factors like looks and age irrelevant.


Votes


The huge number of votes cast in this year’s grand finals indicates that Taylor and Katharine’s respective armies of fans went all-out to support them. The fact that Taylor won proves that more people voted from the heart, from America’s Heartland. And that’s uniquely right, because Taylor Hicks is -- all heart!

It really wasn't a surprise that he won. As I've mentioned, the moment Chris Daughtry was voted off was the day Taylor Hicks won the Idol.

As Taylor would say: Wooo! It's been a record breaking season! After thousands of performances, millions of votes and even a few tears shed, the viewers selected their new American Idol. :cheers: