After last week`s shock at Chris leaving the show, it came down to just three contestants this week. Elliot was voted off, so that just leaves two - Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee.

So, WHO`S the American Idol going to be this season?

And the winner is....

Here's what happened: She had a bad day. He didn't.

Taylor Hicks, the gray-haired live wire, was named the winner of "American Idol" on Wednesday night, beating Katharine McPhee, the looker with the lovely voice.

More than 63 million votes were cast for the singing showdown, host Ryan Seacrest announced.

The two-hour finale of the mega-hit Fox show was padded with duets between "Idol" finalists and stars such as Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton and Meatloaf.

Clay Aiken dropped in sporting a new Beatle haircut to freak out an early-round auditioner who resembled him.

And get this -- Prince showed up and showed everyone how it's done.

Shortly after winning, a visibly moved Hicks shouted "Soul Patrol!" to his legion of fans.

Hicks, 29, from Alabama, gained a devoted following with his enthusiastic style, old-school sound and herky-jerky dance moves.

His quirks are so distinctive, he already has been parodied on "Saturday Night Live."

Hicks seemed to have the edge after Tuesday's competition show, which featured him reprising his earlier versions of "Living for the City" and "Levon."

"Idol" judge Simon Cowell practically anointed Hicks the victor after his third song, "Do I Make You Proud," an original tune set to be released as a single.

The spotlight is firmly on Hicks today as he assumes his role as "Idol" royalty. But "Idol" has produced several winners this season, at least in a financial sense.

The most popular show on television, "Idol" has averaged roughly 30 million viewers each episode and raked in millions in ad revenue for the Fox network. Wednesday night's ratings were expected to be even bigger.

In addition to its TV success, "Idol" is also rocking the music industry.

Sales figures for albums and singles connected to "Idol" are in the multimillions, and past contestants are proving to be much more than flashes in the pan. The first winner, Kelly Clarkson, has gone on to nab Grammys, and last year's winner, Carrie Underwood, just received her first Academy of Country Music awards.

Performers who've appeared on "Idol" recently as coaches or singers have seen their album sales soar from the exposure. Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and Shakira all have gotten boosts.

Even the "Idol" kiss-off song, "Bad Day," which was played each time a contestant departed, has shot up the Billboard charts.

And then there's the annual "American Idols Live" tour, which is so popular it just added 15 cities to its cross-country schedule. It comes to Detroit on Aug. 16.

"This show just keeps growing," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.

"There's a sense you're really watching someone being crowned who's going to be a star."

Now it's Hicks' turn to shine, and voters in the Free Press "Idol" Web poll knew all along who should win.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, 8,093 votes had been tallied, and Hicks was ahead of McPhee by about 68% to nearly 32%.

A Free Press message board about "Idol" contained several impassioned notes posted by fans of Hicks.

"I think Taylor should win hands down," wrote one poster who called himself a Soul Patrol member. "His stage presence is amazing and he immediately gets the crowd going."

Source:- Detroit Free Press

Well, this thread introduced last year`s show, and now we`re partway through the next series.

This was one of the best weeks on American Idol. The songs were all from the 1960s and all British.

Idol Defends Simon

by The TV Addict

While watching AMERICAN IDOL last night, you may have noticed the cameras catching Simon Cowell roll his eyes after contestant Chris Richardson sent his condolences to the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. On a conference call theTVaddict just took part in, AMERICAN IDOL Executive Producer Ken Warwick wanted to the set record straight.

Turns out, Simon was rolling his eyes in response to Chris Richardson claiming that singing through his nose was an acceptable way of singing. In general, thanks to the incredibly loud audience directly on top of them, the judges rarely hear what the contestants say and that Simon was mortified to discover that his eye-roll had been misinterpreted and deeply regrets the tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech.

Other morsels that came out of today's conference call:

We won't be seeing songs from THE BEATLES catalogue until IDOL producers can find the right artist to mentor the contestants.

Ryan is simply doing his job - which the producers love - when he defends the contestants against Simon's criticism.

meevee.com