TAYLOR Hicks is singing a happy tune these days about a new girlfriend he’s been secretly seeing – until now.

Hicks, who won “American Idol” last year, was caught this week with Caroline Lyders, a local morning news co-anchor in Milwaukee.

She and Hicks headed straight for Hawaii last week – after the “Idol” finale – where they’ve been making waves of their own.

“Yes, Taylor and I are friends,” Lyders told a Milwaulkee reporter yesterday. “And as a journalist, I respect your asking, but beyond that, I’d rather not comment on my personal life.”