Bobby Bennett (American Idol)

Auditions were held in seven cities in the summer and fall of 2005.

An audition was originally planned for Memphis, Tennessee, but that was canceled due to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort that was taking place there, and replaced by Las Vegas, Nevada, and Greensboro, North Carolina.

One notable audition this season was Paula Goodspeed, a fervent fan of Paula Abdul, who auditioned in Austin.

The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006, and concluded on May 24, 2006.

Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson returned as judges, while Ryan Seacrest returned as host.

Taylor Hicks was named the winner, while Katharine McPhee was the runner-up.

18 contestants (including all of the top 10 and a few semifinalists) got record deals – nine of them with major labels.

The semifinals began on February 21, 2006, with the names announced on February 15, 2006.

Starting with twelve women and twelve men, the women and the men performed weekly on separate shows, and on the results show, the bottom two women and bottom two men were eliminated each week.

The semifinals took place over three weeks, resulting in six women and six men making up the top 12.

Color key:

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Color key:

Stevie Wonder served as a guest mentor this week.

Contestants performed one song from his discography and are listed in the order they performed.

Barry Manilow served as a guest mentor this week.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Kenny Rogers served as a guest mentor this week.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestants performed one song from the Queen discography and are listed in the order they performed.

Rod Stewart served as a guest mentor this week.

Contestants performed one song from the Great American Songbook and are listed in the order they performed.

Andrea Bocelli and David Foster served as guest mentors this week.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestants each performed two songs: one from the year they were born, and one from the current Billboard top 10 list.

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Tommy Mottola served as a guest mentor this week.

Contestants each performed two songs from the Elvis Presley discography and are listed in the order they performed.

In 2008, Goodspeed made headlines when she committed suicide outside Abdul's home.

Abdul later claimed that she had objected beforehand to Goodspeed being at the audition because she knew Goodspeed and had been frightened by her past behavior, but the producers overrode her objection.

Producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe denied being aware of her fears or that they would put her in danger.

The Hollywood semifinal rounds were held at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles and consisted of 175 contestants.

The first round of semifinals consisted of a solo a cappella performance with each contestant choosing one song from a list of twelve that were given to each contestant two weeks in advance.

Those who did not impress the judges were sent home the following day.

After this round, the contestants were separated into four groups, with three groups going through (with 44 contestants chosen).

In the Pasadena Civic Center, each were individually taken to the judges' station where they learned whether they would proceed or not.

Twenty were cut and the final twenty-four (twelve men and twelve women) were selected.