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.

Auditions were held in seven cities in the summer and fall of 2005.^[1] An audition was originally planned for Memphis, Tennessee, but that was canceled due to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort that was taking place there,^[2] and replaced by Las Vegas, Nevada, and Greensboro, North Carolina.^[3]

One notable audition this season was Paula Goodspeed, a fervent fan of Paula Abdul, who auditioned in Austin.^[9] In 2008, Goodspeed made headlines when she committed suicide outside Abdul's home.^[10] 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.^[11] Producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe denied being aware of her fears or that they would put her in danger.^[12][13]

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.

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.

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• Taylor Hicks was from Birmingham, Alabama. He performed "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke at his original audition in Las Vegas. He performed Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" in Hollywood.
• Katharine McPhee was from Los Angeles, California. 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 Hollywood, she performed Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," and "My Funny Valentine."
• Elliott Yamin was born in Los Angeles, California, but grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He auditioned in Boston. In Hollywood, he performed Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road" and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)."
• Chris Daughtry was from McLeansville, North Carolina. He auditioned in Denver with Joe Cocker's "The Letter." In Hollywood, he performed Samantha Sang's "Emotion."
• Paris Bennett was from Fayetteville, Georgia, and was the granddaughter of Grammy Award winner Ann Nesby. She sang "Cowboy Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks at her original audition in Greensboro. In Hollywood, she performed LeAnn Rimes's "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and Samantha Sang's "Emotion."
• Kellie Pickler was from Albemarle, North Carolina. She originally auditioned in Greensboro.
• Ace Young was from Denver, Colorado, where he auditioned. In Hollywood, he performed Shai's "If I Ever Fall in Love" and Samantha Sang's "Emotion."
• Bucky Covington was from Rockingham, North Carolina. He auditioned in Greensboro.
• Mandisa was from Antioch, Tennessee. She had a successful original audition in Chicago, where she performed Alicia Keys's "Fallin'." In Hollywood, she performed Freda Payne's "Band of Gold."
• Lisa Tucker was from Anaheim, California, and auditioned in Denver with Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time."
• Kevin Covais was from Levittown, New York. For his audition in Boston, he sang "You Raise Me Up". In Hollywood, he performed Shai's "If I Ever Fall in Love."
• Melissa McGhee was from Tampa, Florida, but she auditioned in Denver with "Can't Fight the Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes.

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In January 2006, twins Derrell and Terrell Brittenum were charged with forgery and theft after allegedly using a false identity to purchase a car. This occurred after the Hollywood portion of the show was filmed, and the twins were subsequently disqualified.^[14]

On the April 25 show, the theme of which was Greatest Love Songs and featured guest mentors Andrea Bocelli and David Foster, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe forced contestant Taylor Hicks to change his song a day before airtime. Hicks' chosen song was "Try a Little Tenderness," but Lythgoe, in a radio interview, claimed the song was more appropriate for a Blues Brothers week and was not a song that Andrea Bocelli would sing. Hicks changed his song at the last minute to "Just Once" and appeared very uncomfortable on stage. Hicks' fans were distressed, feeling that Hicks' original choice of song was very appropriate to the theme and the producers changed the song at the last minute even though they must have known Hicks' choice the previous week. They also felt that Lythgoe's statement that it was not a song Andrea Bocelli would sing was dubious, as other song choices that were approved were songs sung by Bryan Adams ("Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman") and Donny Hathaway ("A Song for You").^[15]

American Idol was the top-rated show for the 2005–06 TV season and occupied the top two positions. The number of viewers for its Tuesday episodes averaged 31.17 million and for the Wednesday episodes 30.16 million.^[16] It is still the most-watched of all seasons with an overall average number of viewers of 30.6 million per episode. Its 17.6 household share for the season average still ranks as the highest household share rating for any season-topping series on 21st-century U.S. television.

This was the first season where a majority of finalists had major label recording contracts after American Idol. Of them, Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, and Kellie Pickler were distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment; Bucky Covington by Universal Music Group; and Ace Young and Mandisa by EMI.

Taylor Hicks' first post-Idol single, "Do I Make You Proud," debuted at number one and was certified gold.^[36] Hicks' album, Taylor Hicks, sold 703,000 copies. He later parted with Arista Records. His follow-up album, "The Distance," was released March 10, 2009, on his own label, Modern Whomp Records.

The contestant with the most commercial success was Chris Daughtry, now lead singer of the band Daughtry. Their eponymous debut album sold over 5 million copies, surpassing the two-album totals of former winners Ruben Studdard and Fantasia, and produced two top-ten singles. The album, which spent two weeks at number one in the U.S., was also the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history.^[37]

Katharine McPhee's debut album sold 374,000 copies and she had two Top 40 Billboard hits. Kellie Pickler's Small Town Girl reached number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and was certified gold, selling over 815,000 copies. Elliott Yamin's eponymous debut album was certified gold and produced a platinum-selling single. Bucky Covington's self-titled debut album sold over 400,000 copies and generated a top 20 and two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Mandisa became the most recent finalist from American Idol as of 2024 to win a Grammy Award, after earning a nomination for True Beauty for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2007 and winning for Overcomer for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2014.

The compilation album for this season was performed by the top twelve finalists.

In 2006, American Idol received several nominations in the 2006 Emmy Awards for season five:^[38]

• Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
• Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music Program or Special – Episode #519
• Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program – Bruce Gowers
• Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Large team entries – Primarily Multi-Camera Productions) – "Audition City: Greensboro"
• Outstanding Lighting Direction – "American Classics Songbook with Rod Stewart"
• Outstanding Lighting Direction – "Finale"
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special or Animation – "American Classics Songbook with Rod Stewart"
• Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series – Episode #530

• American Idols Live! Tour 2006