Auburn is the home of the Auburn Tigers, Toomer’s Corner and is known to be the “Loveliest Village on the Plains,” but Auburn is also known for churning out its share of reality stars. From musicians to models, four locals have made their mark on reality shows in the last few years, and we at The Corner wondered ... where are they now?

Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks was born in Birmingham, Ala., and majored in business and journalism at Auburn University. After a few years he dropped out of school, but he still had his music to fall back on. Hicks began playing music at an early age, and pursued his music career while living in Auburn by performing at local venues that included the Strutting Duck and the Supper Club.

Hicks recorded his first album in 1997, titled “In Your Time,” and moved to Nashville, Tenn., and worked with musicians that included Billy Earl McClelland and Percy Sledge. Hicks only remained in Nashville for a year and returned to Alabama.

Hicks continued performing in Auburn and the surrounding areas until 2006 when his step brother convinced him to audition for the fifth season of “American Idol.” Hicks auditioned for “American Idol” in Las Vegas and made it through the first round of tryouts. After weeks of performing on the show, Hicks eventually made it to the top three along with Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin.

Hicks beat the other two contestants winning “American Idol” on May 24, 2006, with 63.4 million votes. Hicks was 29 at the time, the oldest person to win the title to date.

Hicks was signed by 19 Recordings Limited/Arista Records and his debut single “Do I Make You Proud” debuted on the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA. His self-titled first album after “American Idol” was released in December of 2006 at No. 2 on the charts, but it never reached the 1 million mark, unlike previous “American Idol” winners.

Hicks also released an autobiography in 2007 titled “Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way.”
In January of this year, Arista Records confirmed that they dropped Hicks from their label. Hicks addressed his fans on his MySpace page after the incident:
“The important thing for all of you to remember is that I’ve been a working musician my whole life. This is turning the page on a new chapter of my career.” He went on to say, “Taylor Hicks is not going to stop anytime soon. I’ve started working on the new album, writing and scheduling exciting collaborations.”
Hicks has also recently joined the cast of “Grease” on Broadway taking on the role of Teen Angel, Frenchy’s guardian angel who sings “Beauty School Dropout.” Hicks joined the cast June 6, and will perform at New York’s Brooks Atkinson Theater until Sept. 7. The show also features Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, the winners of NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want!”

Hicks is also planning a re-release of his pre-"Idol" music through his own Modern Whomp Music label and distributing through Vanguard Records. His “Early Works” album is available for pre-order and will be released Aug. 19
For more on Hicks, visit myspace.com/taylorhicks.

Brad Cotter

Brad Cotter was born in Opelika. Cotter’s first live performance was at the age of 9 at a church in Columbus, Ga. For the next eight years, Cotter recorded five gospel albums and was even named “Top Child Gospel Soloist in America.” As he got older, Cotter took a break from music.
“I recorded my last gospel album when I was 16 and didn’t really play or sing much again until after I graduated from high school,” Cotter says on his Web site. “I then went to Southern Union State Jr. College on a music scholarship for two years, but didn’t exactly take my classes very seriously ...  I did gain a lot from the experience though.”

Cotter soon turned back to music.

“I went to school for a little while and that led to playing fraternity houses, and clubs ...  you know, the college circuit,” Cotter said. “I’ve never quit, I’ll never quit singing and writing songs whether there’s a record deal or not. I’ll just do it for the sheer love of it.”

In 1993, Cotter moved to Nashville to pursue his music. When his own music didn’t seem to be working out, Cotter began singing demos for other songwriters and had a number of hits including “Good Morning, Beautiful,” a number 1 hit for Steve Holy.

But Cotter had the chance to have his music heard when he entered and won the a country music competition called “Nashville Star.” The win gained him a recording contract with Epic Records, who released his debut album, “Patient Man,” in mid-2004. He was dropped by the label after one album.
Cotter is now in the process of completing his newest album, “Continuity,” on Adobe Road Records. The first single, “God’s Fingerprints,” was released to radio on July 2nd, and a digital EP was released on walmart.com on the July 15th.

For more on Cotter, visit bradcotter.com.

Katy Caswell

Auburn native Katy Caswell Caswell said that she was a tomboy growing up, but that fashion was always an influence. 
“As I got older, fashion was such a major influence in my Family,” Caswell told The Corner last November. “My grandmother had her own sense of style and I’ve always loved that about her.”

The 21-year-old got into modeling not even two years ago and had modeled in in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, before she saw a casting call on Craigslist.com for Bravo’s first season of “Make Me a Supermodel,” hosted by Tyson Beckford and Niki Taylor. Caswell made it as a finalist and online voting determined whether she made it to the show.

Caswell did make the show and lived in Manhattan with 13 other models.  The models took part in different challenges and the bottom three contestants were selected at the end of each episode and viewers of the show determine which were eliminated.

Caswell continually received critique that she didn’t look high fashion enough for the show and was up for elimination four times before finally being eliminated in the fifth week.

Caswell told BuddyTV.com that her favorite part of the show was Fashion Week.
“I’ll never forget it,” Caswell said. “That was the most amazing thing I have ever done.”
Caswell is still pursuing her modeling career.

Stephen “Twitch” Boss

Stephen “Twitch” Boss, a Montgomery native and former Southern Union student has been a stand out on Fox’s fourth season of “So You Think You Can Dance” airing now. The 25-year-old has competed on “Star Search,” and has appeared on MTV’s “Wade Robson Project,” and in the movies “Hairspray and “Blades of Glory.”

Boss has made it to the top eight on “So You Think You Can Dance.” which earns him a spot on the tour that will hit Atlanta in November.
The show airs at 7 p.m. CDT Wednesdays on Fox.