A PREMATURELY greying bar singer from Birmingham, Alabama, has been named 2006’s American Idol after viewers of the talent show cast nearly 64 million votes in one night — more votes than any US president has received.

Taylor Hicks, 29, won despite being compared to a “drunken father singing at a wedding” by Simon Cowell, the British music executive who was one of the show’s three judges.

Cowell, whose put-downs and sarcasm initially turned him into a pariah in the US before viewers came to value his honesty, normally prides himself on correctly predicting the winner of the show at an early stage.

“Thank you America! I’m living the American dream!” shouted Hicks at the end of Wednesday’s two-hour show, held in the Kodak theatre in Hollywood. Hicks, whose routine includes leaning to one side and shouting “Whoo!” — as well as a much-derided Elvis-style tiptoe dance — built up a huge following of Southerners. Even before winning he was being satirised by the comedy show Saturday Night Live.

Wednesday’s finale also included performances from Prince, Dionne Warwick, Mary J. Blige, Burt Bacharach, Toni Braxton and Meat Loaf.

Only recently have such celebrities taken the show seriously, thanks to huge ratings, a Grammy win for Kelly Clarkson, who won the first season of American Idol, and combined record sales of 33 million for all contestants.

Ms Clarkson has, however, noticeably distanced herself from the competition recently.

Mr Hicks’s rival in the finale was Katherine McPhee, 22, from a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. Although Ms McPhee never quite managed to define herself — and often failed to live up to the Whitney Houston-style numbers she attempted — she won praise for her provocative rendition of the Judy Garland theme tune Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which she performed lying down on the stage.

The show is based on the British Pop Idol, a talent contest devised by Simon Fuller, the manager of the Spice Girls.

It is now arguably Britain’s most successful cultural export. Trade publications estimate the show’s value at $1 billion (£535 million) a year, with an estimated 1.7 billion votes being counted since it first went on air in 2002.

The show is produced and directed by a largely British team, in spite of its Hollywood location. It is broadcast on the Fox network, which is part of the News Corporation, parent company of The Times. It is also broadcast in more than 150 other countries around the world, with an estimated global audience of 200 million.

HAVING THEIR SAY

Simon Cowell is paid $36 million to judge the show

Click here for LA Notebook with Chris Ayres: American Idol reviewed