Twenty years after winning “American Idol,” southern rocker Taylor Hicks returns to the show on May 4, 2026, and he can’t quite believe how much has changed. Hicks and several of his fellow season five finalists — Elliott Yamin, Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington, and Paris Bennett — are back for a 20th anniversary reunion, each performing a duet with one of the current Top 5 singers.
Several weeks before heading to Los Angeles for the show, Hicks marveled to EntertainmentNow about how much has changed on “American Idol” in the last 20 years — and how much has remained the same, including people working behind the scenes whom he couldn’t wait to see again.
Taylor Hicks Wasn’t Allowed to Play His Instruments on ‘American Idol’
Hicks still watches “American Idol,” and though he wouldn’t reveal his personal favorites, he noted that season 24 has multiple singers who are “just undeniable talents.” The biggest difference for them and his class of finalists, he said, is that he believes season five was the “last true singing competition.”
“It was a microphone and a voice,” he told EntertainmentNow. “Season six, I believe they started allowing (contestants to play) instruments — guitar, piano — which is great, because as an instrumentalist, I’d spent all of these years learning (how to play). When I got to my big, big break (on ‘Idol’), it was kind of stripped from me, so I had to really kind of key in on the vocal presentation as opposed to the performance aspect of using instruments.”
But not being able to play his instruments — other than his harmonica, which became a crowd-pleasing staple of his performances after he waltzed into his audition playing one — may have been a blessing in disguise for Hicks. Since “American Idol” began allowing hopefuls to play their own instruments, Hicks noted that it’s backfired on some contestants.
“You can hide behind an instrument very easily and not move, or sit at a piano and have all this production around you, and not just focus on your vocals,” he said. “So I look back, and I think about just how pure of a singing competition that ‘Idol’ was up until season five.”
Even though each performance of season 24 is often a much bigger production than it was in Hicks’ day, he said he loves that “American Idol” is still “way more about the singing as opposed to the smoke and mirrors and judges (on other shows). I think ‘Idol’ has done a really great job of having the singers front and foremost.”
Taylor Hicks Reflects on How ‘American Idol’ Judging Has Changed
Hicks will perform with contestant Keyla Richardson on the May 4 show, singing Stevie Wonder’s “Living For the City” for the live studio audience and the judges — Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. Also at the table will be guest judge Paula Abdul, who was part of the original trio of judges on “American Idol,” alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.
The judging is another aspect of the show that’s changed a lot since Hicks was competing. He noted that the feedback has become “pretty one-sided,” as the judges try to focus on the positives of each performance.
“I mean, we kind of got thrown in the fire back then,” Hicks told EntertainmentNow of the show’s early years. “All the judges, not just Simon, would say what they really thought. Paula was like, ‘It wasn’t working for me tonight,’ and she said that a couple of times. Randy was like, ‘I don’t know.’ And then Simon would say, you know, ‘Your haircut is terrible!'”
“I would like to see them get back into, you know, the realness of what the music business truly is,” Hicks said, “but at the same time, everybody’s looking for a click, right? And they need as much positive momentum as they can get when the artists come off the show. So it’s a tough one, you’ve got to thread the needle.”
Hicks is still singing, touring, and releasing music 20 years after “American Idol,” even dropping a brand new single called “The Mirror,” described as a “little bit of a revenge love song,” on the same day as his exciting return to the show.
“I’m very happy that they called because, obviously, that helps us and is a nice shot in the arm for me,” he told EntertainmentNow. “I’m looking forward to seeing some of the same folks, some of the same production (members). Some of the same producers are there. Just some of the folks that are still there that gave us all of our breaks. I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody.”
Catch Hicks and his fellow 2006 finalists on the next episode of “American Idol,” airing on May 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern time on ABC and Disney+.
