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
American Idol (season 12) the first season in "American Idol" history in which all of the contestants of one gender were voted off before anyone of the opposite gender. The contestants performed a song that a previous "American Idol" winner performed while on the show, including their coronation songs, or a song they recorded in their post-Idol career. Two more acts were presented on the Top 10 results show, for one last spot in the Idol tour 2013. They were Aubrey Cleland and Charlie Askew, who were the sixth-place finishers for each respective gender group. The results were announced the next episode. Before the