Aww maaannn, Kellie was cut :(
Kellie Pickler: I deserved cut
By MARK WASHBURN
Charlotte Observer
Albemarle's Kellie Pickler was cut from "American Idol" Wednesday, one of the most memorable contestants in the show's five-year history for both her stirring country performances and off-handed provincialisms.
Even in her final appearance, she defied convention. Contestants traditionally get to sing a last song.
But the ever-talkative, ever-polite, never predictable Pickler was still thanking the show's judges, producers, stagehands, fans and others when final credits rolled.
The end came after her second lackluster show in a row. She was criticized by judges Tuesday for an unremarkable vocal of "Unchained Melody."
Placed in the group of lowest vote-getters Wednesday with Paris Bennett, 17, of Fayetteville, Ga., Pickler admitted, "After seeing my performance last night, I feel like I deserve to be here." Moving on: Chris Daughtry, 26, of McLeansville, North Carolina's other contestant.
Looking back on the path she's taken in from the Greensboro auditions of "American Idol" last fall to a Cinderella spin in Hollywood, Pickler said, "I definitely learned a lot since I've been here. it's definitely different than Albemarle, North Carolina."
Pickler's star-struck observations of life in the fast lane helped propel the show to its highest ratings ever. Because of the high number of votes pouring in this season, "American Idol" opened a second phone number this week for contestants and the show drew more votes Tuesday -- 47.5 million -- than all but two of the previous finale shows.
Pickler related her astonishment that people in California eat something called calamari, which, she confided, is just squid. She admitted that her trip to Hollywood was her first plane ride. And when judge Simon Cowell called her a "naughty little minx," the 19-year-old stopped the show and flustered him by asking, "What's a mink?"
In the audience on her last night was maternal grandfather Ken Morton of Fayetteville, who emerged as one of the blessings of Pickler's troubled life, one wrung from the kind of heart-tugging grit of a country song.
She was born June 28, 1986, in Albemarle, six weeks after her parents wed.
Her father, Clyde "Bo" Pickler Jr., struggled with substance abuse and was occasionally jailed.
Her mother, Cynthia, abandoned the family one day after Kellie's second birthday and vanished.
She reappeared in Albemarle when Kellie was in grade school and eventually won custody. It was, Kellie said in a February interview with The Observer, two years in which she suffered physical and mental abuse.
Kellie's grandparents Clyde and Faye Pickler, who raised her in a modest, loving home whenever her father was imprisoned, regained custody of her in 1997 after filing a court petition that alleged her mother used "inappropriate methods of discipline including excessive corporal punishment and requiring the minor child to drink and swallow liquid soap."
Her mother soon vanished again, off to California and Colorado. Pickler lost touch with her grandfather Morton.
Pickler said she remembers singing all her life, even as a small girl. She liked to perform and in 2004 tried out for Miss Stanly County just to have a chance to perform. It was her first pageant and she stunned the judges, in part with her platform that focused on rising above your unfortunate circumstances and taking charge of your own life. She won first place and moved on to the Miss North Carolina pageant.
Her grandfather Morton, who had lost touch with her over the years, called her up when she was 17. They rekindled their relationship and have been close been close ever since. She calls him "Grandpa Ken." He takes her shopping.
After graduating from North Stanly High School, Pickler spent a year at Stanly Community College studying cosmetology, but dropped out to pursue a singing career.
Last fall, Morton suggested she try out for "American Idol."
"She said, 'I don't think I'm that good,' " Morton recalled in an interview with The Observer last week, " 'but I'll try it if you'll go with me.' " He accompanied her to the Greensboro auditions, where Pickler was ready to quit because there were so many people.
"She said, 'Let's go home and forget this,' and I said, 'Naw, let's stick around. If you don't like it, we'll leave later,' " Morton said. She stuck it out and made it.
A national debate has simmered since March on whether Pickler is affecting an Ellie Mae Clampett personality or if her upbeat naivete is real. "Kellie is Kellie. That's her. Albemarle is a small town," said Morton, who admits he's not exactly worldly either.
"When Simon said 'You're a minx,' I was ready to run out to California and whup him. I didn't know what it was, either."
ON THE WEB:
www.KellieFans.com
By MARK WASHBURN
Charlotte Observer
Albemarle's Kellie Pickler was cut from "American Idol" Wednesday, one of the most memorable contestants in the show's five-year history for both her stirring country performances and off-handed provincialisms.
Even in her final appearance, she defied convention. Contestants traditionally get to sing a last song.
But the ever-talkative, ever-polite, never predictable Pickler was still thanking the show's judges, producers, stagehands, fans and others when final credits rolled.
The end came after her second lackluster show in a row. She was criticized by judges Tuesday for an unremarkable vocal of "Unchained Melody."
Placed in the group of lowest vote-getters Wednesday with Paris Bennett, 17, of Fayetteville, Ga., Pickler admitted, "After seeing my performance last night, I feel like I deserve to be here." Moving on: Chris Daughtry, 26, of McLeansville, North Carolina's other contestant.
Looking back on the path she's taken in from the Greensboro auditions of "American Idol" last fall to a Cinderella spin in Hollywood, Pickler said, "I definitely learned a lot since I've been here. it's definitely different than Albemarle, North Carolina."
Pickler's star-struck observations of life in the fast lane helped propel the show to its highest ratings ever. Because of the high number of votes pouring in this season, "American Idol" opened a second phone number this week for contestants and the show drew more votes Tuesday -- 47.5 million -- than all but two of the previous finale shows.
Pickler related her astonishment that people in California eat something called calamari, which, she confided, is just squid. She admitted that her trip to Hollywood was her first plane ride. And when judge Simon Cowell called her a "naughty little minx," the 19-year-old stopped the show and flustered him by asking, "What's a mink?"
In the audience on her last night was maternal grandfather Ken Morton of Fayetteville, who emerged as one of the blessings of Pickler's troubled life, one wrung from the kind of heart-tugging grit of a country song.
She was born June 28, 1986, in Albemarle, six weeks after her parents wed.
Her father, Clyde "Bo" Pickler Jr., struggled with substance abuse and was occasionally jailed.
Her mother, Cynthia, abandoned the family one day after Kellie's second birthday and vanished.
She reappeared in Albemarle when Kellie was in grade school and eventually won custody. It was, Kellie said in a February interview with The Observer, two years in which she suffered physical and mental abuse.
Kellie's grandparents Clyde and Faye Pickler, who raised her in a modest, loving home whenever her father was imprisoned, regained custody of her in 1997 after filing a court petition that alleged her mother used "inappropriate methods of discipline including excessive corporal punishment and requiring the minor child to drink and swallow liquid soap."
Her mother soon vanished again, off to California and Colorado. Pickler lost touch with her grandfather Morton.
Pickler said she remembers singing all her life, even as a small girl. She liked to perform and in 2004 tried out for Miss Stanly County just to have a chance to perform. It was her first pageant and she stunned the judges, in part with her platform that focused on rising above your unfortunate circumstances and taking charge of your own life. She won first place and moved on to the Miss North Carolina pageant.
Her grandfather Morton, who had lost touch with her over the years, called her up when she was 17. They rekindled their relationship and have been close been close ever since. She calls him "Grandpa Ken." He takes her shopping.
After graduating from North Stanly High School, Pickler spent a year at Stanly Community College studying cosmetology, but dropped out to pursue a singing career.
Last fall, Morton suggested she try out for "American Idol."
"She said, 'I don't think I'm that good,' " Morton recalled in an interview with The Observer last week, " 'but I'll try it if you'll go with me.' " He accompanied her to the Greensboro auditions, where Pickler was ready to quit because there were so many people.
"She said, 'Let's go home and forget this,' and I said, 'Naw, let's stick around. If you don't like it, we'll leave later,' " Morton said. She stuck it out and made it.
A national debate has simmered since March on whether Pickler is affecting an Ellie Mae Clampett personality or if her upbeat naivete is real. "Kellie is Kellie. That's her. Albemarle is a small town," said Morton, who admits he's not exactly worldly either.
"When Simon said 'You're a minx,' I was ready to run out to California and whup him. I didn't know what it was, either."
ON THE WEB:
www.KellieFans.com
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