American Idol (season 5) American Idol (season 5) The fifth season of reality television singing competition "American Idol" began on January 17, 2006, and concluded on May 24, 2006. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell returned to judge, and Ryan Seacrest returned to host. It is the most successful season to date ratings-wise, and resulted in 18 contestants (including all of the top 10 and a few semifinalists) getting record deals – nine of them with major labels. It was the first season with a male winner (Taylor Hicks) and a female runner-up (Katharine McPhee). It was also the first season of the
Latin American Idol (season 2) Latin American Idol (season 2) The second season of "Latin American Idol" premiered on June 13, 2007 and continued until September 27, 2007, when it was won by Guatemalan born Carlos Peña. Auditions were held in Caracas, Bogotá, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires in the spring of 2007. The concerts began on July in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the host country. For this season the judge Elizabeth Meza quit, and the Mexican singer Mimi was hired as the new "Latin American Idol" judge. At age 19, Peña is the first male and youngest person to win the competition, and second winner