Believe in your dreams: Hicks

Excerpts from an interview with the 29-year-old Taylor Hicks, winner of 'American Idol 2006'.

Describe your feelings when the winner was about to be announced.
I was telling myself, 'Don't fall on the floor, and don't let your knees buckle.' I want to thank all the people who voted for me, because this is my dream and it has come true. So believe in your dreams.

You've been an evangelist for soul music. Has that been your goal?
It has! My dream as an artist, when I first heard Ray Charles as a 12-year-old, was to inject some soul into my music and touch the lives of people. And 'American Idol' has given me the outlet to do that.

Do you think you have opened the door for older singers still chasing their dreams?
Definitely! I had no idea America would embrace grey hair as much as they have.

What kind of an album do you plan to make?
An album with soul. I'm an instrumentalist as well as a vocalist, and I'm going to play harmonica and guitar on it. It has to be a representation of who I am as an artist.  I want really good songs.

Will you live in native Birmingham or Los Angeles?
I'll probably live on my tour bus. I might have a place where I can sit on a porch and just stare at a tree and some water. But I've always wanted to be on a bus. My home has been the road even before 'American Idol'. I have an apartment in Birmingham but I've been there only for a few days.  A tour bus with some good, cold, iceberg lettuce is probably where I'm going to stay.

The sixth season of 'American Idol' will shortly commence on Star World.