OK! Interview: Taylor Hicks

Along with releasing his latest album, Early Works, Taylor Hicks has been keeping quite busy: The winner of American Idol season 5 recently moved to NYC, and is just finishing up a stint as the Teen Angel in the Broadway production of Grease. OK! spoke with the salt-and-pepper crooner about his new life and love in the big city.

How Taylor is adjusting to life in New York City: Very slowly. Coming from Alabama, there was a quite a change dealing with the people, the traffic and the pace. The pace, there’s such a fast pace up here.  I love getting around and seeing the sights, the different kinds of people. It’s really cool.

Taylor's craziest NYC story so far: I got lost in Central Park. One of the first weeks I was here I thought I knew my way around New York City, I ended up actually getting lost in Central Park. That’s a big dark forest. I was on the street in the big city, then all of a sudden, I’m lost in this dark forest. I was a little nervous to ask anyone for help. It was in the middle of the day. I don’t know what I would have done if it was night. That would have been pretty scary.

On dating in NYC: It’s been really tough… If you go out with a big group of friends, and you see another group of people that you know, it’s basically like one big date... I think it’s really cool because it takes the edge off it.

Taylor's type of girl: I think down to earth is always key. It’s always good to be down to earth, Musical, not nessecarily she has to play a musical instrument or be Mary Poppins, but definitely fun to have a good time with. You never there, there are plenty out there right now so I’m definitely I’m actively seeking.

What he's like on a date: The perfect date is being who you are. I don’t think where or how, I think great food and great service in a restaurant always helps. But even just, I think really showing a true colors. And really being a Southern gentleman.

How breakups help him write songs:  I wrote a song called "The Fall," which is on the CD I just released called Early Works.  I wrote it for a girlfriend I had at the time. Basically the two albums I had prior before I won American Idol, I put them together and released them nationally. There’s a few songs on that particular album that I’ve written for breakups. If you get a good breakup, breakups are easy. You can write a good song.

His celebrity crush: I think Anne Hathaway. I think that she’s a classy lady, which is always a really attractive quality.

The hardest part about being on Broadway: The schedule. You have to have a lot of discipline to know that you’ve got to go to work the next day. The idea of going to work and being in the frame to entertain a lot of people and be on you think about that.