{"id":21939,"date":"2025-07-26T18:35:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T18:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=21939"},"modified":"2025-07-26T18:35:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T18:35:54","slug":"the-lights-dimmed-the-circle-lit-up-and-when-the-first-note-hit-the-crowd-knew-this-wasnt-just-nostalgia-it-was-a-comeback-the-latest-american-idol-winner-stepped-onto-the-gran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=21939","title":{"rendered":"The lights dimmed, the circle lit up, and when the first note hit, the crowd knew \u2014 this wasn\u2019t just nostalgia, it was a comeback. The latest American Idol winner stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage and delivered a performance so powerful, so full of soul, it brought the house down. Thunderous applause erupted before the final chorus even finished. One fan summed it up best: \u201cHe\u2019s still got it \u2014 and then some.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"m-detail-header mm-detail-header--featured mm-detail-header--content-position-above mm-detail-header--image-size-inline mm-detail-header--in-content-well\">\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--container\">\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--content\">\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--dek\">Taylor Hicks was the winner of the reality singing competition\u2019s fifth season.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"m-detail--body\">\n<p>It\u2019s hard to believe that it\u2019s been nearly 20 years since\u00a0<strong>Taylor Hicks<\/strong>, now 48, was crowned the winner of\u00a0<em>American Idol<\/em>\u2018s fifth season in 2006, but his talent is still as real as ever.<\/p>\n<p>The proof is in a TikTok video he shared on his official account on Saturday, July 19, when he performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, once again bringing down the house like his fans know he always does.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"is-fallback-player m-in-content-ad\">\n<div id=\"eaf696a3-bf1d-4497-b3aa-09e9f5499536\" class=\"pbs\" data-exs-config=\"{&quot;reporting&quot;:{&quot;subId&quot;:&quot;parade.com&quot;,&quot;utmContent&quot;:&quot;pxp-472-aff:a&quot;,&quot;subId2&quot;:&quot;tm-ci02ece58af00027e9&quot;},&quot;customParams&quot;:{&quot;channel&quot;:&quot;parade.com&quot;,&quot;author&quot;:&quot;tm-ci02ece58af00027e9&quot;,&quot;correlator&quot;:5494899582612373,&quot;direct&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;terms&quot;:&quot;American Idol&quot;,&quot;pagetype&quot;:&quot;article&quot;,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;\/news\/american-idol-winner-brings-the-house-down-with-grand-ole-opry-performance-hes-still-got-it&quot;,&quot;pod&quot;:&quot;1&quot;},&quot;macros&quot;:{&quot;gpid&quot;:&quot;\/88059007\/news\/video\/preroll-0&quot;}}\" data-pbs-root=\"true\" data-pbs-position=\"sticky\" data-pbs-device=\"desktop\" data-pbs-video-title=\"true\" data-pbs-sticky=\"bottom-right\" data-pbs-size=\"small\" data-pbs-logo-pos=\"right\" data-pbs-content=\"loading\" data-pbs-player=\"content\">\n<div id=\"exp_be3eda34-7f20-453d-a48b-ab23d4022c05\" class=\"pbs__player shown\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"application\" aria-label=\"Video Player\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__wrapper falcon\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__controls\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__common-button exp-ui__next-button\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"button\" aria-disabled=\"false\" aria-label=\"Next\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"exp-ui__title-and-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__animated-title-wrapper exp-ui__state__active\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__animated-title\">Great American Family\u2019s \u2018When Hope Calls\u2019 \u2013 Episode 202 \u2013 Sneak PeekGreat American Family\u2019s \u2018When Hope Calls\u2019 \u2013 Episode 202 \u2013 Sneak Peek<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"exp-ui__cta exp-ui__state__shown\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"exp-ui__cta-text\">Read More<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"exp-ui__customer-logo exp-ui__customer-logo-sticky\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"exp-ui__customer-logo__image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ex.co\/logos\/49a1a873-e2d8-4bed-bf1f-682037d4da0f_null__1659470818536.png\" alt=\"exp-customer-logo\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"exp-ui__sticky exp-ui__sticky-position__bottom-right\">\n<div class=\"exp-ui__sticky__close-btn\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Close\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>In this clip, Hicks is performing a cover of the Eagles\u2019 hit \u201cTake it to the Limit,\u201d and it\u2019s giving fans flashbacks to his\u00a0<em>American Idol<\/em>\u00a0days. He\u2019s still got it!<\/p>\n<div id=\"tiktok-7528911142312250637\">\n<figure class=\"m-embed mm-embed--tiktok l-inline\">\n<blockquote id=\"v41507528405754424\" class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@taylorhicks\/video\/7528911142312250637\" data-video-id=\"7528911142312250637\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\">\n<section>@taylorhicksAnother great night at the @Grand Ole Opry! Thanks for having me back! #taylorhicks #opry #grandoleopry #eagles\u266c original sound \u2013 taylorhicks<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>After watching Hicks prove that he still doesn\u2019t miss a beat, fans flooded the comments to let him know just how blown away they are by his talent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s still so good! Love him,\u201d one commenter wrote, while another added, \u201cSo great. Brilliant performer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hicks also shared some photos and more performance videos from his night at the Opry on Instagram, writing, \u201cAnother great night at the @opry! Thanks for having me back!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though his reality singing competition days are now behind him, Hicks is still keeping busy. He\u2019s still regularly performing live, and though he\u2019s not releasing as much new music as he once did earlier in his career, his most recent single, \u201cPorch Swing,\u201d came out in February 2023.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"m-in-content-ad-row l-inline mm-in-content-ad-row--in-content not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-2\">\n<div class=\"m-in-content-ad not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d\" data-ad-group=\"in_content-2\" data-zone-count=\"3\">\n<div class=\"not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d m-in-content-ad is-empty not-filled\">\n<div id=\"ad-in_content-14423ca69da84af2bc80523296601975\" data-google-query-id=\"CLvNv5XC1I4DFbYk-QAdK8sNYQ\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Looking back on his time on\u00a0<em>American Idol<\/em>\u00a0during an interview with news outlet WAAY 31 earlier this year, he did admit that\u00a0he is \u201cpartial\u201d\u00a0to his season of the show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think obviously being on Idol at that time when it was so big \u2014 it was an amazing run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taylor Hicks was the winner of the reality singing competition\u2019s fifth season. It\u2019s hard to believe that it\u2019s been nearly 20 years since\u00a0Taylor Hicks, now 48, was&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The lights dimmed, the circle lit up, and when the first note hit, the crowd knew \u2014 this wasn\u2019t just nostalgia, it was a comeback. The latest American Idol winner stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage and delivered a performance so powerful, so full of soul, it brought the house down. Thunderous applause erupted before the final chorus even finished. One fan summed it up best: \u201cHe\u2019s still got it \u2014 and then some.\u201d -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=21939\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The lights dimmed, the circle lit up, and when the first note hit, the crowd knew \u2014 this wasn\u2019t just nostalgia, it was a comeback. The latest American Idol winner stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage and delivered a performance so powerful, so full of soul, it brought the house down. Thunderous applause erupted before the final chorus even finished. 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