I was awoke at 6:30 am by the wife to tell me that American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler would be at the station for the morning news and she wants her picture taken with Miss Pickler and needs the camera. Not what I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. ("Good morning, honey" would have been better) Of course the camera battery wasn't charged. I told her I would get up, get the battery on change and be at the station before 8. Miss Pickler wasn't scheduled to be on air before 7:30 and was to be there all morning. Well until the end of the show at 9 anyway, so there would be plenty of time for her picture.
I watch American Idol not as a fan but for work. American Idol having the largest viewing audience on television right now, not to mention in the Triad next to NASCAR races, is a big deal at work. If I am watching and something happens I will know it before the station can call and I have a good chance of getting it corrected before viewers start to tune out. Well, that is the plan anyway. The fact that in the top 12 we had three contestants (Chris Daughtry, McLeansville; Bucky Covington, Rockingham; Heather Cox, Jonesville) who are viewers of ours, along with their family and friends, makes it a good business move. (If you are off the air, you are not making money.) For the moment, Idol is paying the bills so you treat it with care.
Miss Pickler was on a publicity tour after being voted off the show two weeks prior. Being from Abermarle, a mere 60 miles from the station, we were on the back end of a kids dream come true tour. Miss Pickler has that awe shucks Gomer Pyle country hick style of personality. Just because someone acts like a hick, doesn't mean they are not smart. (Think Dolly Parton.) Far from it. Miss Pickler may not like calamari, or doesn't know the double entendre of "minx," but under the bleach blond hair, I suspected she had more of a brain than many people gave her credit for. Of course on a show like American Idol, it is shot in such a way, you really only see what the producers want you to see. Hype and image is king when you talk about ratings and the money it brings. I was curious to see if my hunch was right about Miss Pickler.
When it looked like there was going to be time for pictures, we were herded into the Production Studio where an "American Idol" set has been created. It is really just some very large AI posters hung from the lighting grid and a riser with tall folding studio chairs for sitting. Miss Pickler was shown to the only chair on the riser and asked to sit for a bumper shot to tease her upcoming call in segment. As she navigated to the riser in her simple outfit of a brown leather jacket, white tank top, form fitting jeans and leopard skin wooden sole high heel shoes, the look of an intelligent woman replaced the bubbly smiley kid that America has come to know.
As Miss Pickler set on the set waiting for her turn on the air, her eyes darted around the studio drinking everything in. It is obvious that some of Hollywood has rubbed off on her and she has gotten quite good at knowing what she needs to do in a television studio, and not just the Hollywood fashion either, but the business side and what it takes to stay there and that is what she is up against now. She has been given a small window to try and make something happen that will last for a while at least. And she has her eyes wide open trying not to miss a single thing. The floor director cues her and that big toothy smile turns on and her right hand starts waving and the Kellie Pickler that viewers have come to know and love comes to life.
After the bumper shot, she is escorted to the interview area trying to not step on cables and more importantly not to trip and fall off her heels and cause a commotion (how do women wear those things anyway?) as she dodges the paraphernalia of a television studio, where she will wait for the call in segment and where she could be on the air for a wave and smile if needed for more teases prior to her segment. Well no pictures, not enough time. Maybe in a little while.
I stood in the now darkened Production Studio and watched a very mature young woman, not a silly little girl, as some think, asking questions, answering questions and just enjoying life. Grateful for having the opportunity to be in such a wondrous position. I was impressed with her. She is naive, but not dumb (my hunch was right) and she catches on quickly. She understands she is not in Kansas anymore and really does enjoy what she is doing. What you see is what you get.
Growing up in a small town like Abermarle is unique in itself. But Miss Pickler has had it tough in life. No real mother, father who wasn't there, raised by her grandfather, and a dream to sing and get out of town to a better life. But in this short time of 4 months, she has gone from queen of the roller drive in, to heart throb of young boys and the admiration of young girls who can see themselves, through her, standing up on the stage belting it out. She seems to have discovered that being from a small town isn't so bad and the fame she has acquired could all leave just as fast. That "country smarts" of growing up in a small town isn't the big city sophistication and she may not catch on as fast for calamari or minx's, but she has good ole common sense and that will take her much further than "big city smarts" ever could. If she can muster the talent level needed and she can keep the breaks coming her way, her stint on American Idol is the start of what small town girls dream of.
Oh, yeah, the wife got her picture. All I got was to take it.
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