It doesn't take much to put a smile on Taylor Hicks's face since he earned the title of American Idol. A list of things that are doing the trick these days:

TOURING: "I've lived in a van for 10 years learning my craft, and now I get to do it with the help of great lighting and sound," says Hicks, 30, who's on the road promoting his self-titled CD.

BEING No.2: Huh? "If I can take No. 1 on Idol, I can be No. 2 on the charts," says Hicks, whose CD didn't quite debut at the top spot but went platinum nonetheless. "I'm not into numbers; I'm into music."

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP, DR PEPPER AND SALAD: That's the list of Hicks's must-haves on his tour rider. But he's quick to point out that he's not demanding. "No separated M&M's just yet," he says.

WRITING HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY: "It's in the final stages now," says Hicks. "A lot of people have only seen the side of Taylor that entertains everybody, but there are things I want people to know about me. I might even let them know why I dance funky."

MEETING STEVIE WONDER: "I snuck down to where I wasn't supposed to be," says Hicks of Idol's guest musician. "If you want to talk to Stevie Wonder, you have to figure out a way to do it. If he's downstairs, you need to just walk your ass down there and start talking, and that's what I did. We talked about the harmonica; we just jived."