Posted 05/24/2006 in American Idol 5
The record-setting fifth season of
AMERICAN IDOL came to a spectacular conclusion tonight as
Taylor Hicks was crowned the winner during the live two-hour season finale on FOX. Hicks, 29, from Birmingham, AL, emerged as America's choice in a competition that began with tens of thousands of hopefuls who auditioned in San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Greensboro, Las Vegas and Denver. Over the course of the season, viewers cast approximately 580 million votes in support of their favorite contestants.
Superstar singer/songwriter Prince made a surprise appearance on tonight's grand finale, performing two songs from his new album "3121" -…