Taylor Reuben Hicks (74094) is from Birmingham, Alabama. He is gray-haired and performed "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke at his original audition in Las Vegas. At the first audition, the judges were surprised by his appearance. He is one of three winners in American Idol history to not ever be in the bottom three. He won the competition on May 24.
Katharine Hope McPhee's (32342) mother is a vocal coach. At the time she auditioned in San Francisco, Randy Jackson said her audition was the best he'd heard yet this season. At the end of the first semi-final round, Simon Cowell said that he had heard four very good singers that evening and that McPhee was the best among them. She is from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. McPhee was the runner-up on American Idol as announced on the May 24 finale.
Efraym Elliott Yamin (19991) (pronounced Yah-MEEN) was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He started singing at the age of five and did not have any formal training. He auditioned for American Idol in Boston. After his first semi-final performance, Simon Cowell said that he was potentially the best male vocalist in American Idol history. Yamin lost on May 17 in one of the closest outcomes in Idol history.
Kellie Dawn Pickler (61615) is from Albemarle, North Carolina, but was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was profiled as a roller-skating waitress. Her mother left when she was two and her father has had numerous legal problems; he is now free. Pickler lived with her grandfather and originally auditioned in Greensboro. She was never in the bottom three until she was eliminated.
Brett Asa "Ace" Young (36456), who goes by his actual middle name, is from Denver and he auditioned there as well. At that time, Randy Jackson called him one of the best he'd seen so far this season. After he sang "Father Figure", Simon Cowell said that Young had the 'X-Factor' (a reference to another RTL talent show, in the UK). Young had been singing since age nine and had voice lessons.
Mandisa Lynn Hundley (6369) is from Antioch, Tennessee. She had a successful original audition in Chicago, after which Simon Cowell made jokes about her size. He later apologized after being confronted by Miss Hundley. Like Pickler, she was never in the bottom 3 until her elimination.
Lisa Gabrielle Tucker (36047) is from Anaheim, California, and she auditioned in Denver. Simon Cowell called her the "best 16-year-old" ever to audition on the show at the time of her original Denver audition. She was also a runner-up onStar Search but lost to Tiffany Evans. A week after her elimination she appeared in an episode of The O.C.
The semi-finals began on February 21, with the names announced on February 15. There were three shows each week for the three weeks of the semi-finals.
There were no format changes from season 4; it featured 12 male singers and 12 female singers (24 total), with two of each being eliminated each week.
The 24 semi-finalists, announced February 15, 2006, along with their songs performed on the show, were:
Ayla Marie Brown (14336) (born July 28, 1988) is from Wrentham, Massachusetts and is six feet tall. She attended high school at Noble and Greenough School and was a star basketball player. In 11th grade, she was the 4th woman to have ever scored 1000 points at Noble and Greenough School. During her junior year, she became only the 20th female to have ever scored 2000 points in a career at the high school stage. Her father, Scott Brown, is a Massachusetts state senator, and her mother, Gail Huff, is a local television personality at WCVB-TV. She also has a sister, Arianna Brown. She had a college basketball scholarship at Boston College. She originally auditioned in Boston, singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." After being voted off American Idol on March 9, 2006, she has continued to tour throughout the New England area, and released with singles "Know You Better" and "I Quit" in September followed the album "Forward" in October. She performed the National Anthem at the 2006 Boston Pops July 4th concert.
Shontai Kinnik Sky Marshall (63995) (born May 13, 1977) is from Duluth, Georgia. She auditioned in Greensboro. She was grouped with Nicole Turk, Celeste Scalone and Tyra Schwartz during the group rounds.
Brenna Mema Gethers (14289) (born October 7, 1980 is from Mount Vernon, New York. She auditioned in Boston. Was known for her "catty" attitude. She's now the lead singer for Bomb Squad, a funk-rock band that won an American Music Award for Best New Music in 2003.[2]
Rebecca "Becky" Clarise O'Donohue (11588) is from Dobbs Ferry, New York. Her original audition was in Boston with her twin sister (who didn't sing due to recent throat surgery). Simon Cowell praised her looks, but said no to her voice. She was let through to Hollywood by Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.
Gedeon Luke McKinney (4460) (born October 1,1988) was the 14th place semi-finalist in the fifth season of American Idol. He comes from Memphis, Tennessee, but the Memphis auditions had to be canceled due to relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina that were taking place in Memphis. He was so poor that his school let him administer a concert, and the students paid USD$2.00 to get in, so he could enter the contest in another city. He auditioned in Chicago, and made it through the first rounds and eventually was one of the top 24 contestants. He was not given enough votes to enter the top 12, and was voted off.
William John "Will" Hudson Makar (58581) (born March 2, 1989 in The Woodlands, Texas) is an American singer and was fifteenth-place on the fifth season of American Idol. He is of Ukrainian descent and studies Japanese. Will is currently a sophomore at The Woodlands College Park High School in The Woodlands, TX. He was held back a year in elementary school by request of his parents. In school, Will has starred in several musical productions. In 1999 Will sang with the Houston Children’s Chorus for President Clinton, and again in 2002 for President Bush. After five years as a member of the Houston Children’s Chorus, Will decided he had grown too old, and "retired." In 2003, Will, along with his three friends Louis, Bobby, and Aaron, formed a band called Last Born, of which Will held the position of the lead vocals until 2005, when he decided to pursue a solo career. Will auditioned for American Idol (Season 5)] in Austin, TX. His fans called themselves the Makaritas and/or the Makaroons.
He was eliminated on March 9, 2006, which was the same week that the Top 12 was announced. He finished in 15th place. During the show, Will developed a friendship with David Radford and Kevin Covais. They had performed together during the group performance in Hollywood week.[citation needed] He later appeared in the audience during Queen week.
José "Sway" Penala (32613) (born January 23, 1978) is from South San Francisco, and he auditioned in San Francisco. He is the only Asian-American who made it to the semi-finals this season. His music career started in 1996 when he partnered with his good friend, Darrell, to form the group “DnH” - short for Drop n Harmony. Friends, Jerome and Lionel, joined the group within the next three years. The four self-starters worked hard on their craft, practicing constantly to blend their voices into the perfect mix of breathtaking harmonies. This San Francisco based group, was a favorite in the Bay Area and were likened to a Filipino Boyz II Men. At the end of 2001, Jose began a compilation with members of other Asian-American singing groups. During this initial collaboration, the four singers: Jose, Errol, Drey, and Cyrus, realized that they shared the same passion for music and similar visions of success. This led to the creation of a new group, “6th Day”. He wears a Fedora hat & coat and a military dog tag at his performances during the season.
He developed friendship with Elliott Yamin, Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry during this season. Elliott was also his group mate in the Hollywood week and his roommate.
David William Radford (2436) (born March 22, 1988 in Crystal Lake, Illinois) is a high school senior at Crystal Lake Central High School. David has also been popular in singing with many students in his high school.He has been singing "his way" since he can remember. As a child, whenever there was a spotlight, David somehow found a way to its center. In addition to singing, David plays the trumpet as well as a mean game of Ping-Pong. He originally auditioned in Chicago. He was eliminated from American Idol on March 2, 2006 along with José (Sway) Penala, Brenna Gethers and Heather Cox.
Patrick Aaron Hall (79857) (born September 24, 1977 is from Gravette, Arkansas and was seen for the first time in Hollywood. During the Hollywood rounds, Simon Cowell called him 'very likeable', and compared him to Clay Aiken. He received many positive comments during these rounds. To separate himself from the Clay Aiken comparison, however, he chose to perform Come to My Window on the first week of the Top 24. He was eliminated that week.
