Taylor Hicks, kinabog si Katharine McPhee sa American Idol!

Author: Ruel Mendoza

The mop-topped manic from Birmingham, Alabama Taylor Hicks was named the new American Idol last Wednesday sa Kodak Theater. Tinalo nga ni Hicks ang matinding crowd favorite na si Katharine McPhee of Los Angeles, California.

The 29-year-old singer is the latest Southern and Midwestern contestant to win the Fox talent contest that earned a total of 63 million votes from televiewers all over the USA.

Nabigyan nga ng nickname si Hicks ng audience as "Soul Patrol" dahil sa very raw interpretations niya ng mga awitin sa American Idol.

"I�m living the American dream," sey ni Hicks while he closed out the show with a performance of his debut single titled Do I Make You Proud.

It was the biggest season for American Idol dahil nga sa boto na nakuha nila Hicks at McPhee.

"It�s more than any president in the history of our country has received," sey ng AI host na si Ryan Seacrest.

Fans picked the raw sound and footloose moves of Hicks, who made his mark on Stevie Wonder�s Living for the City, while the sultry 22-year-old McPhee�s well-trained voice was shown to perfection on the standard Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Special guest nga ng grand finals ng American Idol ay ang last year�s winner na si Carrie Underwood who capped the show with her song Don�t Forget To Remember Me. Underwood won two trophies at the Academy of Country Music Awards. She was named top new female artist and won best single for Jesus Take the Wheel.

Other pairings of contestants and stars that night 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.

Isang sorpresa naman ang paglabas ni Prince bilang final performer, taking the stage for two songs, including Satisfied.

McPhee was the first Los Angeles native to make it big on American Idol. With a singer-vocal coach mom behind her and a Hollywood star beauty, McPhee looked and sounded groomed for success.

Hicks, whose thatch of prematurely gray hair helped him stand out from the pack, had barely survived the first audition dahil inayawan siya noon ni Simon Cowell at sinabing he didn�t have a chance of advancing in the contest.

McPhee attended the prestigious Boston Conservatory for a semester; Hicks has been a fixture on honky-tonk stages. McPhee skillfully played to the cameras, all calculated seduction; Hicks stomped across the set, with Cowell once comparing him to a drunken dad at a wedding.

Despite the lack of offstage drama, or because of it, this edition of American Idol was the most-watched yet. Di tulad last year, the show was up 14 percent in total viewers with an average weekly audience of 30.3 million � impressive growth for an established�program.�

Source: Abante