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Ryan Seacrest said that Perla Meneses was prepared to flirt her way to Hollywood, and she told Ryan that she was wondering if he had a girlfriend.  Perla asked Ryan if he liked Spanish girls, and he said “yes.”  However, Ryan took offense to Perla saying they were both kind of short, and he responded that she was short and he was average.  

Perla Meneses is originally from Columbia, but she currently lives in Margate, Florida.  Perla revealed that she came to this country when she was fifteen with two backpacks, her teddy bear, and her guitar.  Perla also said that at one point during her life she was homeless and living out of her car.  Perla insisted “It’s not a sob story, it’s a survival story.”    

Twenty-five year old Perla Meneses sang Blondie’s “Call Me.”  After her first song, Randy Jackson requested that she sing Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie.”  Randy Jackson said “There’s something about you I like.  You’ve got this kind of spunky, kind of crazy, wild attitude.  I feel like you can jump out of your skin at any minute.  I like daredevils.  I kind of like you.”  Jewel said “I think you’re cute and perky.  You have a cute personality.  I think your singing is a little bit in the middle as far as talent goes right now.  I do think the second song was a little bit better.”  Paula Abdul said “I much preferred you doing Hips Don’t Lie.”  Simon Cowell said “You are great doing that Shakira thing, the problem is that when you did the Blondie song it’s so heavily accented it does sound a bit odd, so your choice of songs are going to be difficult for you.  Ok, but you know that, you’re great fun.”  All four judges agreed on putting Perla through to Hollywood.

This is what Perla Meneses might have to look forward too.....

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.