American Idol Season 5: Encores is compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 released on May 23, 2006 and contains one cover song from each of the top 12 finalists during season 5

American Idol (season 5)

The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006 and concluded on May 24, 2006. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell returned to judge, and Ryan Seacrest returned to host. It is the most successful season to date ratings-wise and also with 18 contestants getting record deals -...

 of the television show American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

. It is the only American Idol album that does not feature an ensemble track by all the contestants, and is the first year in which several individual finalists made the popular music charts. The album sold over 154,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, behind the Disney Channel Original Movie's High School Musical Soundtrack and the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way

Taking the Long Way

-Public reception:On May 31, 2006, the album took three number one spots on the charts of Billboard magazine. It was number one on the Hot Country Albums, Top Digital Albums, and on the Billboard 200 chart, going Gold in its first week with 526,000 units sold....

, thus becoming the best-selling debut any American Idol compilation disk. It was also #2 on Top Soundtracks, #4 on Top Digital Albums and #6 on Top Internet.

With five albums in the Top 10, American Idol became the most successful soundtrack franchise of any motion picture or television program, beating out Star Wars

Star Wars music

The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams from 1977 to 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 to 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. It includes the Star Wars: The Clone Wars music written by Kevin Kiner...

. This Season 5 album sold 381,075 copies by September 2, 2006.

Track listing

1. "" – Melissa McGhee
2. "" – Bucky Covington
   Bucky Covington
   William Joel "Bucky" Covington III is an American country music singer. He placed eighth on the 5th season of the Fox Network's talent competition series American Idol. In December 2006, he signed a recording contract with Lyric Street Records...
   
    
3. "" – Mandisa
   Mandisa
   Mandisa Hundley is an American gospel singer, who was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season of American Idol.-Early life:...
   
    
4. "" – Chris Daughtry
   Chris Daughtry
   Christopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006...
   
    
5. "" – Ace Young
   Ace Young
   Brett Asa "Ace" Young is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He came to national recognition upon appearing on the fifth season of the reality television talent show, American Idol, although he was eliminated from the competition on April 19, 2006, finishing in seventh place.-Early...
   
    
6. "" – Taylor Hicks
   Taylor Hicks
   Taylor Reuben Hicks is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released...
   
    
7. "" – Lisa Tucker
   Lisa Tucker (singer)
   Lisa Gabrielle Tucker is an American singer, musical theater and television actress who was the tenth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.-Early life and career beginnings:...
   
    
8. "" – Kellie Pickler
   Kellie Pickler
   Kellie Dawn Pickler is an American country music artist and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol, eventually finishing in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to 19 Recordings and BNA Records as a recording artist, releasing...
   
    
9. "" – Elliott Yamin
   Elliott Yamin
   Elliott Yamin , born Efraym Elliott Yamin, is an American singer known for his hit single "Wait for You" and placing third on the fifth season of American Idol....
   
    
10. "" – Katharine McPhee
    Katharine McPhee
    Katharine Hope McPhee is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records...
    
     
11. "" – Paris Bennett
    Paris Bennett
    Paris Ana'is Bennett is an American singer. She came to national recognition as a contestant on the fifth season of the reality television talent show, American Idol, finishing in fifth place...
    
     
12. "" – Kevin Covais
    Kevin Covais
    Kevin Patrick Covais is a fifth-season American Idol finalist from Levittown, New York. He was the second finalist eliminated from the competition on March 22, 2006, making him the eleventh-place finalist. He is also an actor in the movie College....
    
     

Personnel

• Cheche Alara – keyboards
• Michael Anderson – bass, backing vocals, engineer, associate producer, production coordination
• Rob "Fonksta" Bacon – guitar
• Tommy Barbarella
  Tommy Barbarella
  Tommy Barbarella is an American keyboardist. He was a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's recording and stage band, from 1991–1996.In 2010, Barbarella became a member of Nick Jonas and the Administration along with other former members of The New Power Generation, drummer Michael Bland...
  
  – organ, keyboards
• Derek Bramble – organ, bass, organ, producer, engineer
• Johnny Britt – trumpet, horn arrangements
• Craig Burbidge – engineer, mixing
• Mabvuto Carpenter – backing vocals
• Daphne Chen – violin
• Dorian Crozier – percussion, drums, engineer, associate producer, drum programming
• Richard Dodd – cello
• Derrick Edmondson – saxophone
• Michael Fell – harmonica
• Loren Gold – keyboards
• Eric Gorfain – violin
• Michael Herring – acoustic guitar
• Teresa James – backing vocals
• Leah Katz – viola
• David Kutch – mastering
• Mika Lett – backing vocals
• Stephen Lu – orchestration
• Colin Miller – mixing
• Tom Ralls – trombone
• Eamon Ryland – pedal steel, bottleneck guitar
• Mike Segal – photography
• Greg Suran – guitar
• Ramon Yslas – percussion