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AMERICAN IDOL

 

 

 

               The 19-year-old Pickler auditioned for American Idol in the fall of 2005 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She sang both Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and Martina McBride's "A Broken Wing". The judges unanimously sent her to Hollywood. Pickler advanced through the semi-finalist rounds in February and March, reaching the Top 12 On March 9.

 

 
 

 

               Pickler gained attention on the show by saying (for example) that she had never performed before real audiences, pronouncing "salmon" as "sal-mon", and confusing "minx" with "mink." She also amused many people with her false eyelash incident, saying that it felt as if there were "tarantulas on her eyes". She was compared to Jessica Simpson in a March 27 story in US Weekly magazine entitled "Kellie: The Next Jessica Simpson", due to her "sweet southern style and ditzy demeanor." Later in a J-14 article, she responded to the comparison by saying "Vocally, Jessica's great, and she's beautiful." Various Internet blogs alleged that Pickler was merely putting on an act in order to win votes. Host Ryan Seacrest asked Pickler about the allegations during the April 4 broadcast, and she denied the claims. On April 19, Pickler and contestant Taylor Hicks became the only contestants among the rest of the Top 6 to never be in the bottom 3. That changed on April 26 when she was in the bottom 2 and then eliminated. Due to time constraints, her exit performance was not aired on the show, which happened to be the first time this occurred in American Idol history. Her exit performance was later shown when she appeared on Extra.

               She returned in the finale to sing several songs with the other finalists; she was also featured in a pre-taped segment called "Puck 'n Pickler", in which she was introduced to some unusual food by chef Wolfgang Puck for comic effect.

 

 

 

Semi-finals

  • February 21, 2006 - “How Far”, Martina McBride

    • The judges agreed that her vocal performance wasn’t the best, but cited her personality as a primary reason she would go far.

  • February 28, 2006 - “Something to Talk About”, Bonnie Raitt

    • The judges were complimentary and felt it was an improvement over the previous week.

  • March 7, 2006 - “I’m the Only One”, Melissa Etheridge

    • The judges were complimentary. Simon called her a “naughty little minx.” Kellie misunderstood the comment as him calling her a mink.

Finals

  • March 14, 2006 - “Blame It on the Sun”, Stevie Wonder

    • Received poor reviews from judges. Simon said it was boring and did not like how she looked. He said it looked like Dolly Parton.

  • March 21, 2006 - “Walkin’ After Midnight“, Patsy Cline

    • The judges enjoyed her performance and said it was her comeback performance from the week before.

  • March 28, 2006 - “Suds in the Bucket“, Sara Evans

    • The judges loved her performance but Simon said she should have picked a more popular song on 21st century week, saying her choice was “gimmicky”.

  • April 4, 2006 - “Fancy” by Reba McEntire

    • The judges thought she did very well in her home genre.

  • April 11, 2006 - “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

    • The judges thought she was brave choosing that song and did a good job. Simon said that “on paper” it would seem like a disaster for her to do that song, but he thought she pulled it off and gave a good performance.

  • April 18, 2006 - “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” by Ella Fitzgerald

    • The judges thought that it wasn’t the best of the night and that they thought that she did well in the beginning but by the middle it got pitchy and ahead of the music. Kellie herself was more frank, exclaiming “I butchered it!”. Seacrest told her that she did good at rehearsal though. Paula liked her shoes though and Randy said her dress was awesome! After Seacrest asked jokingly if she could sing it over, Kellie answered rapidly “I wouldn’t put you through the torture”, immediately the audience (including Paula and Randy) shouted “Aaaw!”.

  • April 25, 2006 - "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers (Eliminated)

    • Jackson said there were pitch problems but liked the falsetto. Abdul said that she adores Pickler and said that America has fallen in love with her, although she failed to raise the bar as far as her singing was concerned. Cowell thought that it was a never-ending song that was bland, monotonous and said she was like a robot with no heart during the performance. Pickler was in the bottom two with fellow contestant Paris Bennett and was eliminated.

 

 

 

  
 
 
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