The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006. Auditions were in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, with Greensboro, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada included after the cancellation of the Memphis auditions due to Hurricane Katrina. The season used the same rules as Season 4. Contestants had to be between the ages of 16 and 28 on August 15, 2005, being born on or between August 16, 1976 and August 15, 1989.
Although this season had little controversy in comparison to the four prior seasons, various troubles have emerged. Derrell and Terrell Brittenum were twins who auditioned together in Chicago. Derrell had threatened to, and did quit when he had mistakenly heard his brother was cut. After realizing his error, Derrell pleaded to the judges to let him reclaim his spot in the competition, much to their consternation. They gave Derrell and his brother another chance, but the twins were later disqualified in January of 2006 due to a prior arrest in relations to identity theft.
Finalist Bucky Covington also had prior troubles with the law. Coincidentally, Covington's crimes involved himself and his twin brother, Rocky. The two had allegedly switched spots in 1998 to avoid the other getting into troubles with the law, thus confusing the police. However, this prior crime had no effect on Covington's time spent on American Idol, and he was voted off on April 12.
The winner of the season was Taylor Hicks with runner up Katharine McPhee. Taylor Hicks joined Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood as the only winners of American Idol to never be in the bottom three or two. Taylor was named American Idol on May 24, 2006 at 9:56 PM (EDT). Taylor Hicks is the second American Idol winner from the city of Birmingham, AL, and the fourth finalist with close ties to the city.
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