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ARTICLE

A Dose of Reality: American Idol 5: Season in Review
by The Trades Staff
Published: May 25, 2006

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Taylor: American Idol 5 Winner

Taylor: American Idol 5 Winner

Last night at the Kodak Theatre, Taylor Hicks was declared the winner of American Idol for 2006, defeating runner-up Katharine McPhee in front of a star-studded audience. The "soul patrol" was out in force for their white-headed leader.

The two-hour finale on FOX featured various performances, mock awards for prior idol contestants, and a final duet by the two finalists. As the fifth season concludes, four of our staff members share some final thoughts on this season.

If you wish to contact any of our contributors, please click on the following links where you will be able to send an email to that contributor: Chad Maddux | Sean Conover | Raul Burriel | Jonathan Baylis

Chad writes: Taylor's win last night was a bit anticlimactic since it was completely expected. Taylor's reaction was not as memorable of a moment as past reactions, such as Carrie Underwood's reaction last season. I'm still glad Taylor won but he wouldn't have been my top pick for this season.

I would have liked to see Mandisa win this season because I really enjoyed her performances. I'm glad Chris did not win because he will do just fine without being the American Idol. I'm also glad this season's "He's still there?" contestant, Kevin Covais, didn't win. I had the biggest turn-around with Kellie Pickler, my early favorite. I would be just fine never hearing her again. Her cute innocence quickly became irritating stupidity.

One thing I'd like to see changed (even though it won't happen) is a judging change. I hate Paula Abdul so much. She is so annoying and such a waste of airtime. She has said the same thing to every contestant for every performance for every season. We know "you're a beautiful person" and "you're on a journey" and "you made it your own." We've heard it, Paula. Now, shut up and go away. I love the 30-second skip button on my DVR. When Randy stops talking, I hit that button and skip to Simon. For all I'm concerned, there are only two judges.

I'm glad FOX decided not to beat the show to death, airing it only once per television season. I'm sure we'll be seeing it for many more seasons. I'm ready for the next.

Sean writes: By the time we got to last night's winner, I was rather uninspired by this season's contestants. If anything, it was a very diverse group, and the inclusion of contestants like Kevin Covais and Taylor Hicks broke up the monotany of the looks-good-and-can-sing finalists. Taylor winning solidified the likability of those unique characters.

I was surprised at how early Paris and Mandisa were voted off, as I would have bet on Paris ending up in the final four when I first saw her on the auditions. However, as the show progressed, there was a definite separation of her "singing voice" and her "speaking voice," and I could see how America could get tired of her "speaking voice." I would like to hear from her again, though. Others, like Ace, Bucky, and Kellie Pickler, I'd be just fine never hearing their names or seeing their faces ever again.

In the end, I'm still not so sure I will ever be purchasing anything ever released by Taylor Hicks. I don't like his style of music that much, but I hope I'm wrong. I do hope to see Katharine again. Maybe Kat, Kellie Pickler and Kelly Clarkson can do a tour together and call it the Sexy-K's tour. I'd probably buy a ticket...so that my daughter can go.

Raul writes: And so another season of American Idol comes to an end with the inevitable victory of Taylor Hicks. As with past seasons, we had highs and lows, although I'll say this season was better than average. The grueling schedule separated the wheat from the chaf. I expected a lot more from Ace Young, for example, but he just ended up being a pretty face very much in the same mold as last season's Constantine Maroulis. I also wanted Paris Bennett to do better but her constant poor choice of song and change in style did her in. Some of the biggest surprises of the season was the early departure of Mandisa (gone before Kellie and Kat? Surely people aren't choosing looks over talent!) If there was any justice in the world, the finale should have been Taylor versus Mandisa (proving that the decision by producers a couple of seasons ago to increase the age of eligibility was the best decision they could have made.) I also came to enjoy Elliott Yamin's singing near the end - just in time to regret seeing him get voted off. I mocked his broken tooth appearance for a long time but it turns out he was a pretty darn good singer.

One of my biggest disappointments was the fact that Ayla Brown and Stevie Scott didn't make it into the finals. Stevie was the opera singer and Ayla was the basketball player. But this season still gave us more stars than average. Expect albums from Chris Daughtry, Elliott and Mandisa in the near future. I suppose Katharine McPhee will get an album as well, but her career will probably be along the lines of Justin Guarini's (but with more butt wiggling).

Tuesday night's episode was average. As with past seasons, "the last good episode" is always the the final three. The showdown with the final two always gives us a rehash of past songs topped up with a crappy new song. But the finale itself was very impressive. I don't know what was more shocking about the finale: the appearance by Prince, Clay Aiken's hair, or the reunion of Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick (I thought they were feuding... next season, let's aim for a Beatles reunion!) The group numbers are consistently awful although the Burt Bacharach medley was pretty nice. I expected the group to finish with a "My Best Friend's Wedding"-style cover of "I Say A Little Prayer." Instead they went for the schmaltzy "That's What Friends Are For." Prince's appearance on the show is testament to how much record sales are being impacted these days by American Idol. And Clay Aiken's hair... someone needs to explain that to me.

I think that by now we were all ready for American Idol to be done but we'll be jonesing for a new season before too long. Fortunately, Canadians - and those with a good satellite dish - will be watching Canadian Idol starting next week. Given the quality of Canadian music in recent years, expect Canadian Idol to deliver talent on par to that of American Idol (if not the same production value.)

Jonathan writes: This was my first and perhaps last season of American Idol. My girlfriend and I were on vacation in Hawaii when we caught two early episodes of AI while staying at our friends' place out there. They were big fans. Me? I assumed it was a competition of mediocrity. I hadn't liked Kelly Clarkson's songs nor the songs of any of the other winners that followed. It was a tough sell. But I realized, yet again, that when forced, I can watch pretty much anything and get into it. I am such a sucker.

As someone who sings with a male chorus every week (geek!) I tried looking at it from the angle of it truly being a singing contest, rather than a popularity contest. Well, that went out the window for me when Mandisa was voted off. I began to think, "Oh yeah, right... Idols." Mandisa must've looked too much like those that surround the typical American Idol voter, and not someone they wanted to idolize. Some kind of statement on self-hate or something.

So then I just started to really hate those with less-than-Mandisa-like vocal powers, like that awful Bucky. I voted for Kevin, just because he reminded me of me growing up. I was hoping the geeks of the world would unite to keep him going, but I'm told they already did that with Clay Aiken. Like most people, I thought Kellie was cute at first, but she quickly turned into some insipid Jessica Simpson clone with the idiotic words that came out of her mouth. I called it from the beginning that Ace was just a pretty face and not much else. Paris was a fun candidate and I enjoyed her weekly style changes and thought that she'd last a bit longer. In the beginning, I thought Chris was a shoe-in for the finals, but then he proved to be a one-trick pony. He'll be perfect for whatever generic rock band that wants him, he sounds just like all of those lead singers that I can't differentiate from each other.

I had caught a bit of McPheever and took a ride or two with the Soul Patrol, but the big surprise for me this season was Elliott. I could've sworn they'd vote that guy off earlier. But they didn't, and he got better and better each week. I felt proud that he reached the Top 3, because I felt that he was such an underdog and really tried harder and harder each week to improve himself. Kat and Taylor ended up pretty much where they started. So my big kudos go to Elliott for this season.

But how do I feel now that it's over? It's addictive for sure, but I can't say that I'd run out and buy an album from any of these people. And I also can't say that I feel I have to watch another season of this when it returns. I'm sure it'll just depend on how full my DVR is.