With an enviable record of more votes than any American President,
American Idol Taylor Hicks will head for the White House. No, he isn't running for Presidency of the United States. He's merely meeting President George W Bush.
On Friday, the White House said it has invited Hicks and other top 10
American Idol finalists to the Oval Office on July 28, the same day as British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the US residence of power for discussions on the Middle East.
The
American Idol entourage will be in Washington at the time as part of the
American Idol Live tour and will perform at the Verizon Center. Before meeting the President, the finalists will be shown around the White House. It is not clear if Katherine McPhee, the 2006 finalist with model good looks, would be attending the event as bronchitis and laryngitis forced her to opt out of some recent tours.
The Alabama singer, by far the most popular show winner so far, beat others in May with 63 million votes. Besides winning the talent contest, he set a record by garnering four million more votes than President Bush's 59 million when he was elected in 2004. However, more than one vote can be cast by
American Idol viewers while President Bush has to rely on one vote per person.
Meanwhile, greater popularity than President Bush isn't the only way Hicks is tied to the White House. During his visit there, the salt-and-pepper-haired singer will get a chance to catch up with his ninth grade English teacher Susan Whitson, who happens to be First Lady Laura Bush's press secretary. Whitson taught Hicks at the Hoover High School in Birmingham.
