Kellie Dawn Pickler is an American singer best known for her sixth-place finish on the fifth season of American Idol. She was eliminated from the show on April 26, 2006.
Pickler was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother abandoned her at age two, and her father, Clyde "Bo" Pickler, Jr., described by Kellie as having had a lifetime problem with drugs and alcohol, is currently serving a 3 year 9 month prison sentence at Florida State Prison for aggravated assault and battery, stemming from a 2003 stabbing incident.
Pickler moved to Albemarle, North Carolina (near Charlotte) with her grandfather, Clyde Pickler Sr., and lives with him and her younger brother. She graduated in the class of 2004 from Albemarle High School. She has worked at Wal-Mart as a singing greeter and as a waitress at a Sonic Drive In franchise. As an active participant in the Miss America circuit, Pickler won the "Miss Stanly County" pageant at age 17 and subsequently competed for Miss North Carolina 2004. In 2005, she made an appearance on WSOC-TV's Gimme the Mike! contest and took second place.
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". 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 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." Various internet websites and 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, she did not sing on the results show, which happened to be the first time of its kind in American Idol history.
