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Best friends Antonella Barba and Amanda Coluccio attended the American Idol 6 New York auditions together.  Amanda Coluccio is nineteen years old and from Holmdel, New Jersey.  Antonella Barba is nineteen years old and from Point Pleasant, New Jersey.  Amanda and Antonella hang out together, go to the beach together, and go shopping together. 

When Amanda Coluccio told the judges that she made it with her best friend, they asked her to bring her best friend in.  Randy Jackson asked Amanda and Antonella to tell them which one was better, and Antonella said honestly that Amanda was trained, and Amanda said they both had different strengths.  Amanda and Antonella sang a duet, but Simon Cowell called it “a bit of a mess,” and recommended they sing separately.   

Amanda Coluccio sang “Crazy” by Patsy Cline.  Randy Jackson said “You sound pretty good.  Your voice is good.”  Simon Cowell said “You didn’t come in, stamp your foot, and go this is who I am.  You sang a very generic song.”  Paula Abdul said “This girl can sing.  I mean I don’t think you came in and gave your best audition, but I definitely think you should go on to the next round.”  All four judges unanimously decided to put Amanda through to Hollywood.

Antonella Barba sang “Free."  Simon Cowell said “I think you were better than your friend.”  Carol Bayer Sager said “Yeah, I didn’t want to say that, but I think you’re good and you have a great look, and so I think you should go to Hollywood.”  Paula Abdul said “I don’t think you ever should have to say ‘well, she’s trained and I’m not,’ and you’re fantastic, yes.”  All four judges unanimously decided to but Antonella through to Hollywood. 

***Unfortunately, Antonella Barba was eliminated in the third round. Ryan Seacrest called Antonella Barba and Stephanie Edwards to center stage.  Seacrest told Antonella that the journey ended for her tonight and told Stephanie Edwards that she had made the top twelve.  Seacrest said “Anontella, ladies and gentleman.  Antonella Barba who has probably grown up a lot on American Idol.”  Antonella Barba gave one last performance of “Put Your Records On.”   

The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006; this was the first season of the series to be aired in high definition. Auditions were in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, with Greensboro, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada included after the cancellation of the Memphis auditions due to Hurricane Katrina. The season used the same rules as Season 4. Contestants had to be between the ages of 16 and 28 on August 15, 2005, being born on or between August 16, 1976 and August 15, 1989.

Although this season had little controversy in comparison to the four prior seasons, various troubles emerged. Derrell and Terrell Brittenum were twins who auditioned together in Chicago. Derrell had threatened to, and did quit when he had mistakenly heard his brother was cut. After realizing his error, Derrell pleaded to the judges to let him reclaim his spot in the competition, much to their consternation. They gave Derrell and his brother another chance, but the twins were later disqualified in January 2006 due to a prior arrest for identity theft.

Finalist Bucky Covington also had prior troubles with the law. Coincidentally, Covington's crimes involved himself and his twin brother, Rocky. The two had allegedly switched spots in 1998 to confuse the police. However, this prior crime had no effect on Covington's time on American Idol, and he was voted off on April 12.

The winner of the season was Taylor Hicks, with Katharine McPhee finishing as his runner-up. Taylor Hicks joined Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood as the only winners of American Idol to never be in the bottom three or two. Hicks was named American Idol on May 24, 2006 at 9:56 PM (EDT). On May 30, 2006, Telescope announced that a total of 63.5 million votes were cast in the finale round. A total of 580 million votes were cast in the entire season. Taylor Hicks is the second American Idol winner from the city of Birmingham, Alabama (the first being Ruben Studdard), and the fourth finalist with close ties to the city. The finale was seen by some as the best yet, with surprise performances from stars such as Live, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton singing duets with the members of the final 12. An additional performance by Prince was generally seen as a statement of Idol's acceptance in the music world.

The introduction of the Golden Idol awards brought back memories from the auditions, such as the return of "Crazy Dave" and even the foul-mouthed Rhonetta Johnson (or at least a skilled impersonator), while providing comic relief in the midst of the suspense. For example, Michael Sandecki was an auditioner who closely resembled Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken at his original audition, but unlike Aiken, Sandecki was not a good enough singer to be accepted to Hollywood. He appeared on the finale to receive a Golden Idol for "Best Impersonation", and was asked to sing. He started to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and much to his and Idol fans' joy and surprise, the real Clay Aiken came out on stage and finished the song with him.

American Idol Season 6 began on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 and in the UK on ITV2 on Friday, January 19.

It has been reported that the 2006 British The X Factor winner Leona Lewis is scheduled to perform on an early episode of American Idol Season 6, thanks to the connection with Simon Cowell.