American Idol finale

LOS ANGELES:

American Idol reaches its climax this week after its fifth and most successful season. The next Idol will either be Taylor Hicks, the 29-year-old Alabama soul singer who has made grey hair cool, or Katharine McPhee, 22, the Los Angeles amateur musical theatre star with lustrous locks and one of the best voices in the series.

Hicks, once dismissed by Simon Cowell as having the wrong image, is the favourite among online betting sites to win the coveted recording contract and virtual guarantee of a Top 10 single and album.

(American Idol will be aired on Star World on May 24)