American Idol (season 5) - Top 12 Finalists

Taylor Reuben Hicks 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 performed Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine in the Hollywood round. He is one of the six winners in American Idol history to never be in the bottom three. He won the competition on May 24.

Katharine Hope McPhee's mother is a vocal coach. She auditioned in San Francisco with Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child", and Randy Jackson said her audition was the best he'd heard yet that season. In the Hollywood round she performed Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again", and "I Can't Help Myself" for the group round, "My Funny Valentine" for the last solo. 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 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. In the Hollywood week, he performed Rascal Flatts' Bless the Broken Road for the first solo, The Shoop Shoop Song for the group round. After his first semi-final performance, Simon Cowell said that he was potentially the best male vocalist in American Idol history, reprising his praise on Top 6 week after Yamin's "A Song for You", calling it a vocal masterclass; also, in the second round of the semi-finals, Randy Jackson gave Yamin a standing ovation after his rendition of "Moody's Mood for Love". Yamin finished in third place in one of the closest outcomes in Idol history where less than 1% separated the votes of all top three contestants.

Christopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is a former car service worker from McLeansville, North Carolina. During the audition round, he was profiled as a "Rocker Dad." He originally auditioned in Denver with Joe Cocker's The Letter (originally by The Box Tops). In the Hollywood week he performed Samantha Sang's Emotion in the group round. He was eliminated at Top 4 in a surprise result, but had considerable success as a recording artist after the show.

William Joel "Bucky" Covington is from Rockingham, North Carolina. He auditioned in Greensboro. He has an identical twin brother named Rocky.

Lisa Gabrielle Tucker was 16 years old at the time of the show, and is the youngest finalist of this season. She is from Anaheim, California, and she auditioned in Denver with Whitney Houston's One Moment in Time. 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 on Star Search but lost to Tiffany Evans. A week after her elimination she appeared in an episode of The O.C.

Kevin Patrick Covais was 16 years old at the time of the show, and is from Levittown, New York. For his audition in Boston, he sang "You Raise Me Up". In the Hollywood round he performed Shai's If I Ever Fall in Love in the solo. Viewers gave him the nickname "Chicken Little."

Melissa Christine McGhee is from Tampa, Florida. She auditioned in Denver. She sang "Can't Fight the Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes for her audition. She had not sung on camera until her first week in the top 24.