Sunday, March 26, 2006
Posted by
Clyde
at
12:56 AM
American Snow Job
The Selling and Marketing of Kellie Pickler
Minx – noun – (mingks) – a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men.
When Simon Cowell makes his mind up about a contestant, that’s pretty much the way it’s going to be. He is seldom if ever wrong. So when Cowell proclaims on more than one occasion that Taylor, Chris and Kellie Pickler will be in the top three, you can pretty much take it to the bank. But did we really need Simon to tell us something many viewers have already figured out for themselves?
Since “Pick Pickler’s” first appearance on Idol, her hard luck story of “My daddy’s in jail, my mommy left me when I was two, and I had to live with my grandparents” has not only been played to the ultimate hilt by Idol, but has been picked up and replayed time and time again in the newspaper tabloids, the TV tabloids, and is plastered on just about any web site you come across when you Google the name “Kellie Pickler.”
A good portion of Idol viewers, including yours truly, bought it all hook line and sinker at the beginning, but after hearing about her poor family life and her sad sack story for what seemed to be the millionth time, I was screaming, “enough already!” And it would seem that there is a growing number of Idol fans who feel the same way.
Kellie hasn’t pimped that particular story on the show a great deal over the last few weeks, but she doesn’t have to now that she’s got Fox, Idol, and every entertainment show in the country doing it for her. Instead she has moved on to the “I’m just a poor dumb ignorant and naïve country girl from leetle ol’ Albemarle” shtick instead, and it seems as if the Idol producers are pushing her every step of the way. That too was okay the first couple of times. One certainly can understand that a person might not know what calamari is, especially in “leetle ol’ Albemarle” and I’ll be the first to admit that in the beginning I may have gotten more than a chuckle out of it. I might even give her the benefit of the doubt on the word minx, but just barely. After a while though, repetition can’t help but breed suspicion.
Kellie did actually graduate from North Stanly High School, didn’t she? And they do teach vocabulary and literature in the Stanly County school system don’t they? Hopefully, Kellie Pickler is not indicative of what the education system in North Carolina is churning out because if it is folks, you’re not getting a whole lot for your tax dollars.
Maybe they don’t have televisions in Albemarle Land so it would only be natural that Kellie wouldn’t know about the outside world, or had never seen a dog with a sweater before. Or maybe Albemarle is really just like the town in the movie Pleasantville, where Main Street ends and then begins where it ends, and life is just beautiful all the time. Oh wait, she must have heard of American Idol. Well, maybe the reception is poor.
After calamari and minx, you would have thought that was more than enough of that shtick also. But no because every time that Kellie takes center stage it’s as if the little mouse that powers the wheel in her head is rapidly churning like it’s been pumped with the latest steroids to help Kellie decide which dumb mispronounced word or misunderstood definition she can blurt out for the amusement of all of those who like their Southern blondes, naïve, dumb, and as air headed as Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears on their best days or even God help us, Kelly Bundy.
The problem is, that po’ little ol’ mouse in the wheel in her head must have finally collapsed from working overtime because Kelly has taken to falling back on recycled material from previous weeks.
“I got new shoes; I don’t have tarantulas on my eyelids no more. I’m a mink coat,” tee hee tee hee tee hee. Yes, you can go get out the barf bag now.
Probably the first time I smelled a rat was on Stevie Wonder night. In the early clips when the Idols met Stevie Wonder, Kellie’s eyes filled with tears as if she had just been crowned Corn Festival Queen in Hooterville. Later we found out she was clueless as to who Stevie Wonder was and knew nothing about his music. But maybe I misjudge her. Maybe she was crying because she actually had to sing something with a higher degree of difficult than Row Row Row Your Boat. Or then again, since she didn’t know who he was, maybe she was upset that he was blind. I half expected her to ask him how he became blind and how long had he suffered with this particular affliction until I realized the word affliction may not be in her vocabulary. Have you asked her about that one yet, Ryan?
When I first wrote about her performance of “Blame it on the Sun” during Stevie Wonder week, I said it looked like she had given up on it halfway through. I was wrong. It’s apparent that she never had any intention of giving it much of an effort, and decided her so called charm would bail her out as it always does, and that she could vamp Simon into another evening of submission. And it did. The judges helped her along with the usual excuses that it wasn’t her type of song, and Kellie threw in a few of her own excuses just for good measure: “I wasn’t used to the eyelashes, I was afraid the dress would fall off, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” tee hee tee hee tee hee. And although it was her worst performance yet, her other vocals haven’t been anything the rooster in her grandfather’s barn could crow about on any particular evening. As I have mentioned so many times though, when you’re one of the contestants that 19 Entertainment Executives are salivating over with the thought of putting you on a CD, in a low cut blouse it does have its advantages.
As I look back at Kellie's past performances, none have been memorable, and only one or two could be considered passable. Yet viewers and board posters alike have practically memorized the word’s “calamari, minx, and tarantula.” It should come as no surprise that seldom if ever, have the judges actually critiqued Kellie’s vocals. It’s “oh you’re just so darn cute and likable” and “people like you.” By comparison, when Ayla Brown did her rendition of “Unwritten” the critiques wasn’t of her vocals, or how she performed the song, it was “the song wasn’t difficult enough to showcase your vocals.”
By comparison, week after week Kellie has taken the easiest path possible, and has yet to hear one word of criticism for doing so, or do a song that would challenge her vocal chords beyond gargling Listerine in the morning. Likewise, when Cowell offhandedly says he likes Kellie better than Carrie when she (Kellie) couldn’t match one tenth of Carrie’s vocal ability on her best day, you know you are being sold a bill of goods. And when you give one of the worst performances of anybody during the season, such as Kellie did with “Blame it on the Sun” and the criticism is so mild and you still don’t drop to the bottom of the Idol barrel, you know they want you in it for the long haul.
It certainly didn’t take long for the web site Vote for the Worst to catch on. For those very few of you who don’t know, Vote for the Worst is a web site that promotes the fact that we should all vote for the worst contestant, keep them on the show as long as possible to teach Fox some kind of morality lesson about their secretive vote totals, shameless promoting of certain contestants, and their handy knack for putting weak performers through to Hollywood simply for entertainment value that has nothing to do with ability.
At first I was puzzled by this pick, simply because in the early stages, it has seemed as if Kellie was one of the favorites to win. But after giving it some thought, I understand it. When you lump all the contestants together at this stage of the game, it would be relatively easy to surmise that indeed Kellie is the worst of the lot, at least in the vocal department. I suppose one could make the case that Bucky is, but when Bucky is singing the right songs there’s nothing much wrong with his vocals at all. Then there is one other element where Bucky excels that Kellie does not, that being honesty. Bucky is genuine. What you see is what you get. It would now appear that Kellie is as about as genuine as a packet of nutra-sweet.
As Vote for the Worst pointed out in this cached article (the article will be reposted on March 26th with new information), her claim to have never sung in front of a big audience before would make one believe she walked straight out of the cow pasture and onto the stage of American Idol. She has in fact sang at a county beauty pageant when she was 17 which led to her being a contestant in the Miss North Carolina pageant, where she was helped along by a Summer Miller, a former beauty queen contestant and professional singer herself. She then appeared in a local version of American Idol called "Gimme the mic". She managed to make the finals of that show but eventually went down the tubes with an absolutely horrid rendition of Tammy Wynette’s Stand by Your Man, a few snippets of a performance that you can find here.
Vote for the Worst also rehashes some of her other claims and how they ring false, including her supposed naiveté, her true likeability factor, and her repeated claims of the rough life she has led. Now granted, a few of these claims come from an unnamed source, but it is supported by a photograph obtained from their unnamed source, one that hasn’t appeared elsewhere. Many of their other claims are backed up with known corroboration from independent web sites, including AOL’s TMZ. And does the girl wearing the prom dress that I posted a couple of days ago look like some naïve little country bumpkin to you? The Kellie supporters have rushed to claim it is photo-shopped, but I can put that theory to bed with the picture over at the left of this paragraph.
And besides the source at Vote for the Worst, there are others in and around Albemarle who aren’t particular thrilled with Kellie Pickler. One gentleman writes in his column:
Dear United States,
I apologize on behalf of Albemarle, NC. Please believe me when I say that Kellie Pickler does not stand for us (or at least doesn't represent me). Please do not resort to generalizing; we are not a lowly lot of inbred slack-jaws. Granted, there are a high percentage of those around here but for the most part they're good folk. Now, let's all find that common ground and pray to God that American Idol will be steadfast to its impending demise, as it looms like Death's scythe over the heads of all dedicated to virtue, sense, and plain ol' good taste.
Another North Carolinian writes:
I'm from North Carolina and it makes me sick that this girl is representing us. Contrary to popular belief we eat salmon, spinach and calamari and we know the difference between a minx and a mink.
It amazing that while she's getting her fake tan, teeth whitened and hair done that she has never run across SALMON before.
And elsewhere:
It's like they picked the biggest redneck they could find to represent NC and put her on AI for the world to see. And I am FROM NC.
As a Tar heel that comment sent me over the edge too, therefore the Pickler Tour Spinach Chop. There are hundreds of miles of cabbages and spinach around NC. Also, NC has some of the best public education in the country, so that act is insulting.
But, more telling than anything was this passage:
"This comment will make everyone angry, but please read all of it before you pass judgment on it. You have to live where we do to understand it fully.
I really don't mean to be rude, but I grew up here in Albemarle, NC and I see Kellie in a whole different light. Don't let her fool all of you.
Did any of you know she went to an expensive dance school?
She has won the Miss Stanly County Pageant which includes scholarship money, endorsements, advertising spots and many more incentives.
And just last year, she competed in a professional talent search in Charlotte, NC called 'Give Me the Mike Charlotte'.
To make things worse and to make her hometown look like a bunch of country bumpkins, hicks or rednecks, her speech is mostly fake. She is a well spoken young lady and does not have that much of a southern drawl.
I'm proud that she has made it as far as she has, but she is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes with her sob story. "
Minx – noun – (mingks) – a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men.
When Simon Cowell makes his mind up about a contestant, that’s pretty much the way it’s going to be. He is seldom if ever wrong. So when Cowell proclaims on more than one occasion that Taylor, Chris and Kellie Pickler will be in the top three, you can pretty much take it to the bank. But did we really need Simon to tell us something many viewers have already figured out for themselves?
Since “Pick Pickler’s” first appearance on Idol, her hard luck story of “My daddy’s in jail, my mommy left me when I was two, and I had to live with my grandparents” has not only been played to the ultimate hilt by Idol, but has been picked up and replayed time and time again in the newspaper tabloids, the TV tabloids, and is plastered on just about any web site you come across when you Google the name “Kellie Pickler.”
A good portion of Idol viewers, including yours truly, bought it all hook line and sinker at the beginning, but after hearing about her poor family life and her sad sack story for what seemed to be the millionth time, I was screaming, “enough already!” And it would seem that there is a growing number of Idol fans who feel the same way.
Kellie hasn’t pimped that particular story on the show a great deal over the last few weeks, but she doesn’t have to now that she’s got Fox, Idol, and every entertainment show in the country doing it for her. Instead she has moved on to the “I’m just a poor dumb ignorant and naïve country girl from leetle ol’ Albemarle” shtick instead, and it seems as if the Idol producers are pushing her every step of the way. That too was okay the first couple of times. One certainly can understand that a person might not know what calamari is, especially in “leetle ol’ Albemarle” and I’ll be the first to admit that in the beginning I may have gotten more than a chuckle out of it. I might even give her the benefit of the doubt on the word minx, but just barely. After a while though, repetition can’t help but breed suspicion.Kellie did actually graduate from North Stanly High School, didn’t she? And they do teach vocabulary and literature in the Stanly County school system don’t they? Hopefully, Kellie Pickler is not indicative of what the education system in North Carolina is churning out because if it is folks, you’re not getting a whole lot for your tax dollars.
Maybe they don’t have televisions in Albemarle Land so it would only be natural that Kellie wouldn’t know about the outside world, or had never seen a dog with a sweater before. Or maybe Albemarle is really just like the town in the movie Pleasantville, where Main Street ends and then begins where it ends, and life is just beautiful all the time. Oh wait, she must have heard of American Idol. Well, maybe the reception is poor.
After calamari and minx, you would have thought that was more than enough of that shtick also. But no because every time that Kellie takes center stage it’s as if the little mouse that powers the wheel in her head is rapidly churning like it’s been pumped with the latest steroids to help Kellie decide which dumb mispronounced word or misunderstood definition she can blurt out for the amusement of all of those who like their Southern blondes, naïve, dumb, and as air headed as Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears on their best days or even God help us, Kelly Bundy.
The problem is, that po’ little ol’ mouse in the wheel in her head must have finally collapsed from working overtime because Kelly has taken to falling back on recycled material from previous weeks.
“I got new shoes; I don’t have tarantulas on my eyelids no more. I’m a mink coat,” tee hee tee hee tee hee. Yes, you can go get out the barf bag now.
Probably the first time I smelled a rat was on Stevie Wonder night. In the early clips when the Idols met Stevie Wonder, Kellie’s eyes filled with tears as if she had just been crowned Corn Festival Queen in Hooterville. Later we found out she was clueless as to who Stevie Wonder was and knew nothing about his music. But maybe I misjudge her. Maybe she was crying because she actually had to sing something with a higher degree of difficult than Row Row Row Your Boat. Or then again, since she didn’t know who he was, maybe she was upset that he was blind. I half expected her to ask him how he became blind and how long had he suffered with this particular affliction until I realized the word affliction may not be in her vocabulary. Have you asked her about that one yet, Ryan?
When I first wrote about her performance of “Blame it on the Sun” during Stevie Wonder week, I said it looked like she had given up on it halfway through. I was wrong. It’s apparent that she never had any intention of giving it much of an effort, and decided her so called charm would bail her out as it always does, and that she could vamp Simon into another evening of submission. And it did. The judges helped her along with the usual excuses that it wasn’t her type of song, and Kellie threw in a few of her own excuses just for good measure: “I wasn’t used to the eyelashes, I was afraid the dress would fall off, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” tee hee tee hee tee hee. And although it was her worst performance yet, her other vocals haven’t been anything the rooster in her grandfather’s barn could crow about on any particular evening. As I have mentioned so many times though, when you’re one of the contestants that 19 Entertainment Executives are salivating over with the thought of putting you on a CD, in a low cut blouse it does have its advantages.
As I look back at Kellie's past performances, none have been memorable, and only one or two could be considered passable. Yet viewers and board posters alike have practically memorized the word’s “calamari, minx, and tarantula.” It should come as no surprise that seldom if ever, have the judges actually critiqued Kellie’s vocals. It’s “oh you’re just so darn cute and likable” and “people like you.” By comparison, when Ayla Brown did her rendition of “Unwritten” the critiques wasn’t of her vocals, or how she performed the song, it was “the song wasn’t difficult enough to showcase your vocals.”
By comparison, week after week Kellie has taken the easiest path possible, and has yet to hear one word of criticism for doing so, or do a song that would challenge her vocal chords beyond gargling Listerine in the morning. Likewise, when Cowell offhandedly says he likes Kellie better than Carrie when she (Kellie) couldn’t match one tenth of Carrie’s vocal ability on her best day, you know you are being sold a bill of goods. And when you give one of the worst performances of anybody during the season, such as Kellie did with “Blame it on the Sun” and the criticism is so mild and you still don’t drop to the bottom of the Idol barrel, you know they want you in it for the long haul.
It certainly didn’t take long for the web site Vote for the Worst to catch on. For those very few of you who don’t know, Vote for the Worst is a web site that promotes the fact that we should all vote for the worst contestant, keep them on the show as long as possible to teach Fox some kind of morality lesson about their secretive vote totals, shameless promoting of certain contestants, and their handy knack for putting weak performers through to Hollywood simply for entertainment value that has nothing to do with ability.
At first I was puzzled by this pick, simply because in the early stages, it has seemed as if Kellie was one of the favorites to win. But after giving it some thought, I understand it. When you lump all the contestants together at this stage of the game, it would be relatively easy to surmise that indeed Kellie is the worst of the lot, at least in the vocal department. I suppose one could make the case that Bucky is, but when Bucky is singing the right songs there’s nothing much wrong with his vocals at all. Then there is one other element where Bucky excels that Kellie does not, that being honesty. Bucky is genuine. What you see is what you get. It would now appear that Kellie is as about as genuine as a packet of nutra-sweet.
As Vote for the Worst pointed out in this cached article (the article will be reposted on March 26th with new information), her claim to have never sung in front of a big audience before would make one believe she walked straight out of the cow pasture and onto the stage of American Idol. She has in fact sang at a county beauty pageant when she was 17 which led to her being a contestant in the Miss North Carolina pageant, where she was helped along by a Summer Miller, a former beauty queen contestant and professional singer herself. She then appeared in a local version of American Idol called "Gimme the mic". She managed to make the finals of that show but eventually went down the tubes with an absolutely horrid rendition of Tammy Wynette’s Stand by Your Man, a few snippets of a performance that you can find here.
Vote for the Worst also rehashes some of her other claims and how they ring false, including her supposed naiveté, her true likeability factor, and her repeated claims of the rough life she has led. Now granted, a few of these claims come from an unnamed source, but it is supported by a photograph obtained from their unnamed source, one that hasn’t appeared elsewhere. Many of their other claims are backed up with known corroboration from independent web sites, including AOL’s TMZ. And does the girl wearing the prom dress that I posted a couple of days ago look like some naïve little country bumpkin to you? The Kellie supporters have rushed to claim it is photo-shopped, but I can put that theory to bed with the picture over at the left of this paragraph.And besides the source at Vote for the Worst, there are others in and around Albemarle who aren’t particular thrilled with Kellie Pickler. One gentleman writes in his column:
Dear United States,
I apologize on behalf of Albemarle, NC. Please believe me when I say that Kellie Pickler does not stand for us (or at least doesn't represent me). Please do not resort to generalizing; we are not a lowly lot of inbred slack-jaws. Granted, there are a high percentage of those around here but for the most part they're good folk. Now, let's all find that common ground and pray to God that American Idol will be steadfast to its impending demise, as it looms like Death's scythe over the heads of all dedicated to virtue, sense, and plain ol' good taste.
Another North Carolinian writes:
I'm from North Carolina and it makes me sick that this girl is representing us. Contrary to popular belief we eat salmon, spinach and calamari and we know the difference between a minx and a mink.
It amazing that while she's getting her fake tan, teeth whitened and hair done that she has never run across SALMON before.
And elsewhere:
It's like they picked the biggest redneck they could find to represent NC and put her on AI for the world to see. And I am FROM NC.
As a Tar heel that comment sent me over the edge too, therefore the Pickler Tour Spinach Chop. There are hundreds of miles of cabbages and spinach around NC. Also, NC has some of the best public education in the country, so that act is insulting.
But, more telling than anything was this passage:
"This comment will make everyone angry, but please read all of it before you pass judgment on it. You have to live where we do to understand it fully.
I really don't mean to be rude, but I grew up here in Albemarle, NC and I see Kellie in a whole different light. Don't let her fool all of you.
Did any of you know she went to an expensive dance school?
She has won the Miss Stanly County Pageant which includes scholarship money, endorsements, advertising spots and many more incentives.
And just last year, she competed in a professional talent search in Charlotte, NC called 'Give Me the Mike Charlotte'.
To make things worse and to make her hometown look like a bunch of country bumpkins, hicks or rednecks, her speech is mostly fake. She is a well spoken young lady and does not have that much of a southern drawl.
I'm proud that she has made it as far as she has, but she is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes with her sob story. "
And more:
I liked Kelly up until the last couple of shows, but she is really going over the top now with her dumb redneck act. She has been on the pageant circuit and also in the Miss North Carolina pageant, so those dumb remarks of hers just makes the rest of us from the south cringe.
Another blogger wrote:
Could she be any more manipulative and phony? She's from Albemarle, NC (Where the Terrorist Threat level is at 2 "Guarded" - potential threat. Go look; it's on the front of their webpage). Sure, this isn't the middle of Times Square, but it also isn't Hooterville Junction from the planet Hayseed in the Galaxy better known as East Bumfuck. This girl has a past and sooner or later photos from a Spring break trip to Panama City, the redneck Riviera, are bound to surface.
Of course, if you mention any of these inconsistencies to the rabid Kellie fans you get the usual silly stuff that you just can’t stand it that someone is so nice and genuine, and is a poor ol’ country girl that even has to work at the Sonic for extra spending money. As anybody in North Carolina will tell you, there are many young girls who work 10 to 20 hours a week at the Sonic and it’s not always for extra spending money. They work there for another very important reason. It’s where the guys go to ogle at the waitresses, and where the waitresses can ogle right back at them. When asked if guys come to the Sonic to stalk Kellie, the manager replied, “Well, I wouldn’t say stalk her exactly, but they certainly do notice her” And does somebody who can afford the expense of entering beauty pageants really need to be delivering food on roller skates?
When Leslie Grey Streeter took Kellie on in her Palm Beach Post internet column she wrote under the banner, Kellie Pickler, Evil Genius?
I think that, pushed far enough, pretty much everybody has an obsessive smacking gene in them somewhere. But Pickler, she of the charming ladies' man grandpa, the wonder-eyed discovery of
citified food they ain't got down there on the farm (this week: "Sal-mon!") and Comet the Wonder Mutt, doesn't want to channel that, because that would alienate the Dolly-bot fans that she's supposed to be inheriting. Nope, even though Simon thinks she's a "saucy little minx" - and excuse me, while I roll my eye - Pickler's only gonna growl so much until she remembers that her carefully ginghamed image with Grampy and Comet and sal-mon, and then she'll toss her adorable blond head and wrinkle her nose and giggle some more. Unless she drops that act and taps into her full CMT Ann-Margret capabilities, she's just so-so cakes to me.
And of course there were the usual replies pro and con, and the pro’s when talking about Kellie Pickler never fail to mention her “hard life.” But how hard was it really?
It’s not hard to tell even in the audition segments of American Idol who they intend to play up in the coming weeks. When Kellie’s audition was shown, her sad story that her mother left her when she was two, her grandparents raised her and her dad was a drug addict was put out there front and center for all of us to see so that we could shed a tear with her. It’s a story that Kellie wears like a badge of honor and draws like a gun. If you live in Albemarle, you certainly know of her sad tale of woe, likewise if you had anything to do with Miss Stanly County, Miss North Carolina and the Gimme’ A Mic, it’s the first thing you’ll find out about Kellie. It was partly that story that encouraged Summer Miller to guide Kellie through the pageants. Those who saw her on Gimme A Mic’ say her persona on that particular show was nothing like you see on American Idol.
What you have to remember is that all of these contestants have some background, both good and bad. Ayla Brown did not garner support although one could easily make the arugument that her vocals had been far superior than that of Kellie’s. She failed to receive votes because it’s hard for the gullible mass of American Idol viewers to shed a tear or two for a straight A hard working student. Idol certainly knows this, I’ve been well aware of it for the three years I’ve tuned in, and some more discerning viewers understand it. Certainly we heard time and time again about Fantasia’s sad story about trying to raise her child with little or no income. Last year it was Carrie’s story about being a naïve country girl from Oklahoma. And this year it’s the Kellie Pickler story.
While some people would love to see this as simply a talent contest where we decide who is the best vocalist and performer, it is in reality much more than that. Simon Fuller, the head honcho of American Idol, was the one who marketed and packaged the Spice Girls for us. And just as they were a commodity to be sold, so are those who sign on to American Idol. For that, Fuller receives far more than the usual 15 to 20 percent that any other manager might earn. He controls the merchandising, touring, sponsorship and movie deals. For appearing on World Idol, Clarkson received $1400. And what about those Ford commercials that the Idols do? They don’t get paid.
There is a clause in each Idol contract that states the show "may reveal and/or relate information about me of a personal, private, intimate, surprising, defamatory, disparaging, embarrassing or unfavorable nature that may be factual and/or fictional." So obviously only those details that Idol wants us to know about and which will help sell their product down the road are the ones that are publicized.
One case in point is Melissa McGhee. Certainly her story rivals that of Kellie Pickler.
When asked by a Fox interviewer "What would people be surprised to know about you?” McGhee replied, "I have had a really, really difficult life.
"When I was in high school I was ... still bubbly," said McGhee. "I wasn't a person who showed it, but things at home weren't always the best."
Her parents have both spent time in jail. McGhee's father, 42, has been arrested 30 times since 1981, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Johnson has been convicted repeatedly of writing bad checks and violating his probation. His most recent conviction was for domestic battery, for striking Mitzy McGhee in July 2002, court records show.
McGhee's mother, 40, was arrested 20 times between 1984 and 2000, mostly on charges of writing bad checks, records show. She has been convicted at least eight times on charges such as bad checks, larceny and probation violations, court records show.
Stranger still, In a written Q&A on the American Idol Web site, she went into detail about her family problems. That interview was later removed from the site, less it interfere with that of their main attraction Kellie Pickler.
And then there’s the case of Gedeon McKinney:
[Gedeon] McKinney is a textbook example of a contestant who would have stood a much better chance had the producers chosen to tell more of his back story.
He was supposed to audition in Memphis in September, but the auditions were canceled because of Hurricane Katrina. The teenager then went to Chicago, after raising the money by holding a concert at the Yo! Memphis Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and getting a donation from a local police association.
He earned his ticket to Hollywood, but in December, before the semifinals, his father died. McKinney chose to stay in the competition anyway, and sang well each week. Perhaps had he gotten the airtime that Kellie Pickler received before the semifinals started, that would have given him a fan base that would have carried him to the finals.
At first, I thought it may have been the choice of Gedeon or Melissa not to have this mentioned, but as the above contract paragraph states, that’s not the case. It’s solely a decision of the producers and who they want to back or not back to go on as far as they can. Poor Melissa didn’t even have her audition played on the program and the fact that she made it as far as she did is remarkable. There is no doubt in my mind that if Melissa or even Gedeon’s story had been put out there front and center, and Kellie’s had been put on the backburner that they would more than likely still be around and she would not. At this stage, when people vote for Kellie Pickler, it has little to do with vocal talent. Certainly I find Melissa’s and Gedeon’s stories just as compelling if not more so.
So why Kellie? Besides the advantage of having the soap opera type tear jerker of a story, the producers also get to make use of the naïve country bumpkin shtick along with it, giving America tears and laughter all at the same time. Could anything be more compelling than that? And there is another big advantage to having your hard luck story featured early and often.
Immediately after Kellie’s story aired during the audition, fan support groups sprung up all over the internet giving her an immediate and strong fan base before she had sung a single note in actual competition. When Gedeon and Melissa first sang in their appearances on the final 24, they were in fact starting from scratch where Kellie and possibly a few others were not. This makes a world of difference on American Idol. Yet, at no time has anybody really taken the time to delve further into Kellie’s hard luck story beyond the standard press releases handed out by Freemantle and 19 Entertainment.
So what about that hard luck story of Kellie’s? Was life as miserable as she has played it out to be time after time? There are so many unanswered questions about that story and more than enough holes in it that if it were a cruise ship it would sink faster than you can say Titanic.
The basic story is this, and the same few lines have run just about every where with nothing more than a few words possibly changed here and there.
Kellie's mother left her when she was two years old, and her father has been in and out of prison. Her grandmother passed away a couple years ago.
In interview after interview its generally the first thing out of Kellie’s mouth.
Of course, if that’s all anyone bothered to look at or read, the would be under the presumption that a) Kellie’s mother left at the age of two and b) she lived with her grandparents from then until now. Except that isn’t quite the way it happened.
Before we condemn Kellie’s mother to be burned at the stake, let’s remember a few things. When Kellie’s was born, her mother was barely out of high school herself probably no more than eighteen years old. Certainly a young girl with a child and an abusive husband may find life difficult to deal with. Kellie's father was a known drug addict and alcoholic. We know her mother left two years later, but it is highly unlikely that she just up and fled and was never heard from again for no reason. Well, not exactly.
From the Charlotte Observer:
Like Barrino, Pickler is forthright and unsoured by the crushing grief she faced. "My mother left me when I was about 2 years old," she said via telephone between rehearsals in Hollywood. "I don't know where she moved to, somewhere in California. ...
"My dad was a drug user and an alcoholic. So I lived off and on with my grandparents. Whenever my dad would get locked up, I'd move in with my grandparents and wait until he got out and got straightened out again."
Unbeknownst to Pickler, her mother returned to Albemarle (about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte). Their paths crossed in a chance encounter when Pickler was in the fourth grade.
"My grandparents and I were eating out and my mother was in there with some of her friends. I don't know how I knew it was her, but we made eye contact. She went to court trying to fight for custody of me."
Her mother won, Pickler said, and for the next two years had custody. "That whole time my grandparents were trying to get me back."
They eventually succeeded. Pickler's mother left. She and her daughter haven't been in contact for years. Her father, meanwhile, was arrested several times in North Carolina -- drunken driving, assault, armed robbery. "He'd get out of prison, get on drugs really bad, get tied up with the wrong people," she said.
Okay, maybe I’m overly suspicious, but to hear Kellie talk about it, she has no clue as to why her mother left. It would also appear that she was dividing her time up between the grandparents and her father. Yet, her mother did have custody for at the very least two years after her return, and certainly in that amount of time, Kellie had to have learned something about what was going on. Well, maybe Kellie was too young at that time to understand what was going on. You know, trying to explain to a child why things happened the way they did can be quite difficult except for the fact that Kellie wasn’t so young when this was going on. In fact, the custody case wasn’t settled until just three short years ago as we find out in this interview with her maternal grandfather, Ken Morton, that ran in Fayetteville Online:
Pickler is living out a young woman’s dream, and Morton has his granddaughter back in his life.
The girl with the corn silk hair is the product of a dysfunctional home that saw her mother abandon her at age 2 and a father run afoul of drugs, alcohol and the law.
Clyde “Bo” Pickler, her 41-year-old father, is serving out a 45-month prison term in a Florida and Morton says he has no idea where his daughter — Kellie Pickler’s mother — is.
He is guarded in his words, but does say that for years she would not allow him to have contact with his granddaughter.
“Until about three years ago,” he says when a child custody dispute was settled and Kellie was ordered to live with her paternal grandparents in Stanly County, just east of Charlotte.
Which means Kellie was at least sixteen before losing contact with her mother again, and not the little child everybody has pictured. And if she ran into her mother again in the fourth grade, exactly how long did that custody battle rage? And let’s not forget that in cases of this nature, in which a child has spent a great deal of time with one half of the family, in this case Clyde Pickler and his parents, they are obviously going to paint a picture of the other parent as they see fit, not necessarily as to what really happened, and it’s certainly going to change a child’s prospective.
Could she be any more manipulative and phony? She's from Albemarle, NC (Where the Terrorist Threat level is at 2 "Guarded" - potential threat. Go look; it's on the front of their webpage). Sure, this isn't the middle of Times Square, but it also isn't Hooterville Junction from the planet Hayseed in the Galaxy better known as East Bumfuck. This girl has a past and sooner or later photos from a Spring break trip to Panama City, the redneck Riviera, are bound to surface.
Of course, if you mention any of these inconsistencies to the rabid Kellie fans you get the usual silly stuff that you just can’t stand it that someone is so nice and genuine, and is a poor ol’ country girl that even has to work at the Sonic for extra spending money. As anybody in North Carolina will tell you, there are many young girls who work 10 to 20 hours a week at the Sonic and it’s not always for extra spending money. They work there for another very important reason. It’s where the guys go to ogle at the waitresses, and where the waitresses can ogle right back at them. When asked if guys come to the Sonic to stalk Kellie, the manager replied, “Well, I wouldn’t say stalk her exactly, but they certainly do notice her” And does somebody who can afford the expense of entering beauty pageants really need to be delivering food on roller skates?
When Leslie Grey Streeter took Kellie on in her Palm Beach Post internet column she wrote under the banner, Kellie Pickler, Evil Genius?
I think that, pushed far enough, pretty much everybody has an obsessive smacking gene in them somewhere. But Pickler, she of the charming ladies' man grandpa, the wonder-eyed discovery of
citified food they ain't got down there on the farm (this week: "Sal-mon!") and Comet the Wonder Mutt, doesn't want to channel that, because that would alienate the Dolly-bot fans that she's supposed to be inheriting. Nope, even though Simon thinks she's a "saucy little minx" - and excuse me, while I roll my eye - Pickler's only gonna growl so much until she remembers that her carefully ginghamed image with Grampy and Comet and sal-mon, and then she'll toss her adorable blond head and wrinkle her nose and giggle some more. Unless she drops that act and taps into her full CMT Ann-Margret capabilities, she's just so-so cakes to me.And of course there were the usual replies pro and con, and the pro’s when talking about Kellie Pickler never fail to mention her “hard life.” But how hard was it really?
It’s not hard to tell even in the audition segments of American Idol who they intend to play up in the coming weeks. When Kellie’s audition was shown, her sad story that her mother left her when she was two, her grandparents raised her and her dad was a drug addict was put out there front and center for all of us to see so that we could shed a tear with her. It’s a story that Kellie wears like a badge of honor and draws like a gun. If you live in Albemarle, you certainly know of her sad tale of woe, likewise if you had anything to do with Miss Stanly County, Miss North Carolina and the Gimme’ A Mic, it’s the first thing you’ll find out about Kellie. It was partly that story that encouraged Summer Miller to guide Kellie through the pageants. Those who saw her on Gimme A Mic’ say her persona on that particular show was nothing like you see on American Idol.
What you have to remember is that all of these contestants have some background, both good and bad. Ayla Brown did not garner support although one could easily make the arugument that her vocals had been far superior than that of Kellie’s. She failed to receive votes because it’s hard for the gullible mass of American Idol viewers to shed a tear or two for a straight A hard working student. Idol certainly knows this, I’ve been well aware of it for the three years I’ve tuned in, and some more discerning viewers understand it. Certainly we heard time and time again about Fantasia’s sad story about trying to raise her child with little or no income. Last year it was Carrie’s story about being a naïve country girl from Oklahoma. And this year it’s the Kellie Pickler story.
While some people would love to see this as simply a talent contest where we decide who is the best vocalist and performer, it is in reality much more than that. Simon Fuller, the head honcho of American Idol, was the one who marketed and packaged the Spice Girls for us. And just as they were a commodity to be sold, so are those who sign on to American Idol. For that, Fuller receives far more than the usual 15 to 20 percent that any other manager might earn. He controls the merchandising, touring, sponsorship and movie deals. For appearing on World Idol, Clarkson received $1400. And what about those Ford commercials that the Idols do? They don’t get paid.
There is a clause in each Idol contract that states the show "may reveal and/or relate information about me of a personal, private, intimate, surprising, defamatory, disparaging, embarrassing or unfavorable nature that may be factual and/or fictional." So obviously only those details that Idol wants us to know about and which will help sell their product down the road are the ones that are publicized.
One case in point is Melissa McGhee. Certainly her story rivals that of Kellie Pickler.
When asked by a Fox interviewer "What would people be surprised to know about you?” McGhee replied, "I have had a really, really difficult life.
"When I was in high school I was ... still bubbly," said McGhee. "I wasn't a person who showed it, but things at home weren't always the best."
Her parents have both spent time in jail. McGhee's father, 42, has been arrested 30 times since 1981, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Johnson has been convicted repeatedly of writing bad checks and violating his probation. His most recent conviction was for domestic battery, for striking Mitzy McGhee in July 2002, court records show.
McGhee's mother, 40, was arrested 20 times between 1984 and 2000, mostly on charges of writing bad checks, records show. She has been convicted at least eight times on charges such as bad checks, larceny and probation violations, court records show.
Stranger still, In a written Q&A on the American Idol Web site, she went into detail about her family problems. That interview was later removed from the site, less it interfere with that of their main attraction Kellie Pickler.
And then there’s the case of Gedeon McKinney:
[Gedeon] McKinney is a textbook example of a contestant who would have stood a much better chance had the producers chosen to tell more of his back story.
He was supposed to audition in Memphis in September, but the auditions were canceled because of Hurricane Katrina. The teenager then went to Chicago, after raising the money by holding a concert at the Yo! Memphis Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and getting a donation from a local police association.
He earned his ticket to Hollywood, but in December, before the semifinals, his father died. McKinney chose to stay in the competition anyway, and sang well each week. Perhaps had he gotten the airtime that Kellie Pickler received before the semifinals started, that would have given him a fan base that would have carried him to the finals.
At first, I thought it may have been the choice of Gedeon or Melissa not to have this mentioned, but as the above contract paragraph states, that’s not the case. It’s solely a decision of the producers and who they want to back or not back to go on as far as they can. Poor Melissa didn’t even have her audition played on the program and the fact that she made it as far as she did is remarkable. There is no doubt in my mind that if Melissa or even Gedeon’s story had been put out there front and center, and Kellie’s had been put on the backburner that they would more than likely still be around and she would not. At this stage, when people vote for Kellie Pickler, it has little to do with vocal talent. Certainly I find Melissa’s and Gedeon’s stories just as compelling if not more so.
So why Kellie? Besides the advantage of having the soap opera type tear jerker of a story, the producers also get to make use of the naïve country bumpkin shtick along with it, giving America tears and laughter all at the same time. Could anything be more compelling than that? And there is another big advantage to having your hard luck story featured early and often.
Immediately after Kellie’s story aired during the audition, fan support groups sprung up all over the internet giving her an immediate and strong fan base before she had sung a single note in actual competition. When Gedeon and Melissa first sang in their appearances on the final 24, they were in fact starting from scratch where Kellie and possibly a few others were not. This makes a world of difference on American Idol. Yet, at no time has anybody really taken the time to delve further into Kellie’s hard luck story beyond the standard press releases handed out by Freemantle and 19 Entertainment.
So what about that hard luck story of Kellie’s? Was life as miserable as she has played it out to be time after time? There are so many unanswered questions about that story and more than enough holes in it that if it were a cruise ship it would sink faster than you can say Titanic.
The basic story is this, and the same few lines have run just about every where with nothing more than a few words possibly changed here and there.
Kellie's mother left her when she was two years old, and her father has been in and out of prison. Her grandmother passed away a couple years ago.
In interview after interview its generally the first thing out of Kellie’s mouth.
Of course, if that’s all anyone bothered to look at or read, the would be under the presumption that a) Kellie’s mother left at the age of two and b) she lived with her grandparents from then until now. Except that isn’t quite the way it happened.
Before we condemn Kellie’s mother to be burned at the stake, let’s remember a few things. When Kellie’s was born, her mother was barely out of high school herself probably no more than eighteen years old. Certainly a young girl with a child and an abusive husband may find life difficult to deal with. Kellie's father was a known drug addict and alcoholic. We know her mother left two years later, but it is highly unlikely that she just up and fled and was never heard from again for no reason. Well, not exactly.
From the Charlotte Observer:
Like Barrino, Pickler is forthright and unsoured by the crushing grief she faced. "My mother left me when I was about 2 years old," she said via telephone between rehearsals in Hollywood. "I don't know where she moved to, somewhere in California. ...
"My dad was a drug user and an alcoholic. So I lived off and on with my grandparents. Whenever my dad would get locked up, I'd move in with my grandparents and wait until he got out and got straightened out again."
Unbeknownst to Pickler, her mother returned to Albemarle (about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte). Their paths crossed in a chance encounter when Pickler was in the fourth grade.
"My grandparents and I were eating out and my mother was in there with some of her friends. I don't know how I knew it was her, but we made eye contact. She went to court trying to fight for custody of me."
Her mother won, Pickler said, and for the next two years had custody. "That whole time my grandparents were trying to get me back."
They eventually succeeded. Pickler's mother left. She and her daughter haven't been in contact for years. Her father, meanwhile, was arrested several times in North Carolina -- drunken driving, assault, armed robbery. "He'd get out of prison, get on drugs really bad, get tied up with the wrong people," she said.
Okay, maybe I’m overly suspicious, but to hear Kellie talk about it, she has no clue as to why her mother left. It would also appear that she was dividing her time up between the grandparents and her father. Yet, her mother did have custody for at the very least two years after her return, and certainly in that amount of time, Kellie had to have learned something about what was going on. Well, maybe Kellie was too young at that time to understand what was going on. You know, trying to explain to a child why things happened the way they did can be quite difficult except for the fact that Kellie wasn’t so young when this was going on. In fact, the custody case wasn’t settled until just three short years ago as we find out in this interview with her maternal grandfather, Ken Morton, that ran in Fayetteville Online:
Pickler is living out a young woman’s dream, and Morton has his granddaughter back in his life.
The girl with the corn silk hair is the product of a dysfunctional home that saw her mother abandon her at age 2 and a father run afoul of drugs, alcohol and the law.
Clyde “Bo” Pickler, her 41-year-old father, is serving out a 45-month prison term in a Florida and Morton says he has no idea where his daughter — Kellie Pickler’s mother — is.
He is guarded in his words, but does say that for years she would not allow him to have contact with his granddaughter.
“Until about three years ago,” he says when a child custody dispute was settled and Kellie was ordered to live with her paternal grandparents in Stanly County, just east of Charlotte.
Which means Kellie was at least sixteen before losing contact with her mother again, and not the little child everybody has pictured. And if she ran into her mother again in the fourth grade, exactly how long did that custody battle rage? And let’s not forget that in cases of this nature, in which a child has spent a great deal of time with one half of the family, in this case Clyde Pickler and his parents, they are obviously going to paint a picture of the other parent as they see fit, not necessarily as to what really happened, and it’s certainly going to change a child’s prospective.
Drug addicted, alcoholic father who can’t stay out of jail and left eight years ago – good, Mother who left under circumstances we know nothing about, returned to regain custody and fight for it for years and left three years ago – bad. It just doesn’t add up and is a far cry from the simple story we’ve been fed time and time again.
But what about the mother? Who knows? She isn’t speaking, and nobody else is talking about the custody case. Was there a payoff, or a settlement? Why did she finally lose custody again after fighting it for so long? What happened during those two years with her mother? They couldn’t have been exactly horrible or I’m sure we’d be hearing about that also. And why was her maternal grandfather, who isn’t exactly filling in any details, denied permission to see her. What was up with that? There had to be a reason. There was a story in The Star that said her mother allegedly had married three or four times and allegedly may have been a con artist. Yet, that’s the only mention of it and the facts of that story are certainly questionable taken from nothing more than a search of county records.
The point I’m trying to make is that the short Cliff Notes version of her “hard life” that Kellie is selling time and time again, may have more to it than meets the eye. But if it will win you a favored spot on American Idol, you give it to the producers and let them sell it. After all, you do want to be the next American Idol, don’t you?
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148 Comments:
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I have a couple of things to say. First off the reason I didn't like Ayla was because even though she was nice and hardworking she also had a bit of a "my horse is better than your horse" attitude. Also I didn't like Fantasia at all. She was like a polition showing off her baby and everything. Nadia Turner had a child and she wasn't married to my knowlege so why didn't she show her child off? People like me, liked Carrie because she had an amazing voice (feel free to disagree), she was someone to look up to, and she was sweet and genuine. To me Kellie Pickler is like a younger Jessica Simpson. No I don't really like her voice but I laugh at her stupidity. Fake or not fake, frankly i don't care. It's funny!
~B
Candice Gonzalez
Mooresville, NC
Ken
Webmaster,
KickPickler.com
I have been saying all this from the very beginning of the show!! You see I'm from NC and actually I auditioned for Give Me The Mike... right behind Ms.Pickler... my whole intention was to pull for the little girl until she got on national TV and LIED!! I saw the "minx" audition and watched her on the show GMTM!!! I am also know how hard the interview process is for the Miss NC Pagent...there is not way that you can be as DUMB as Ms.Pickler acts and go through that interview with out being laughed at by the judges!!! I have told everyone I see the girl is a LIAR!! I will say for the most part when they hear my side of the story... they tend to change thier minds about little Ms. Pickler! Here again THANK GOD OTHER PEOPLE ARE SEEING AND LEARNING THE TRUTH!!! The sad part is she would have had a much bigger fan base if she would have told the truth!! She is in all reality a very dumb blonde to have never thought her past would catch up with her!! It is sad that her past is filled with things she should be proud of...instead the good girl has now turned BAD!!
BTW, you can call me a "vergin" if you want, doesn't offend me!
there's a lot of heresay on both ends of this, so who knows who she really is, but the disturbing thing is that there is manipulation in the background of the show that may change the outcome. This, of course, another lesson in "follow the money". It's that way in government and it's that way in all industry. What's the point of watching or voting or caring one way or the other if the big money is editing and manipulating us like we are the sheep that we are.
AI is all about mass manipulation and it IS a TV show, let we forget. The 1st season may not have been rigged but every one after that has (Ruben over Clay -- pullesse!). I would expect nothing less from FreeMantle.
Having said that, I still believe that if her numbers start getting lower and lower, they will drop her like a hot potato and hitch their wagon to another star. Trust me, I'm sure they've thought it all through. All we can hope for is that America will show the Brits that they won't be paying for her goods and she'll be back in NC before you know it!
Keep writing! I've enjoyed your POV!
Maven
ashley
and to tell you the truth all of you are jealous of her all you do is sitt here and bad mouth her and you dont even know hewr you dont know how bad that looks on your part!!
In defense of the "calamari" and "salmon," I cannot throw stones. It wasn't until I was in college that I learned salmon doesn't come in a can. In addition, I think I was 22 or 23 when I first had calamri. Just because it's on the menu doesn't mean you have eaten it.
Finally, she is from Stanly County. Notice there is no "e" in Stanly.
Thanks for the updates.
It will come out that Seecreep between the ages of ten and twelve years old, had sex with girls who were his classmates in elementary and middle school, and were the same age as he.
I was born and raised in California, just outside the bay area. I grew up with the idea that the rest of the country was living three year's behind, with the exception of New York and Chicago. Obviously, I was delusional.
I moved to Chapel Hill, NC eleven years ago, and it might amuse most of you to learn that over half of my neighbors are So-Cal transplants. Our motto here is: Welcome to North Carolina, now go back to California. (We're not saying you're unwelcome, but we'd like to keep the property values down.)
I live in a wonderful community, filled with successful professionals of every variety. I'm the Executive Director of one of the largest non-profit Recycling Associations in the entire nation, (second only to California,) my neighbor is an accomplished surgeon, and my sister studies pottery in a world-renowned studio, just up the road.
My favorite restaurant, the General Store Cafe, boasts an incredible menu of international dishes made with fresh ingredients caught and harvested in neighboring counties, of a quality and variety you're not likely to experience anywhere else in the world.
The point is, there's no way I could undo the damage Ms. Pickler has inflicted on this charmingly rural, yet sophisticated community.
I'm proud to know my neighbors, I enjoy a front-porch ice cream social as much as the next person, and I wouldn't trade the relaxed, deliberate pace of life here for anything.
Ms. Pickler's degradation of the Southern Dialect and Intellect is nothing less than utterly reprehensible.
Is it any wonder she's trying so hard to make it in Hollywood? She's not smart enough for the South. I say so long, and good riddance.
Jan Cedarpond
c3derp0nd@gmail.com
No Ace anywhere...
Loved what you had to say about everything else though, and I believe Kellie Couldn't be this Dumb......
The # of people that dislike Kellie is far greater than the entire state of NC, so no, that populace is not comprised of old high school classmates who are jealous. It is comprised of people who actually recognize talent and Kellie's total lack of it.
Second, if people hate Kellie so much, why vote for her? If people think the votes are manipulated or some kind, the stay away from fox on Wednesday and Thursday. As easy as that.
So yes, I'd venture that her supporters are all ignorant bumf-cks.
"I guess what I don't understand is why is there so much hatred towards this girl."
What I don't understand is why it's so very hard to get that people DON'T LIKE IT when they're being lied to. People DON'T LIKE IT when stereotypes are perpetuated, especially when it's being used as a ladder up. That's the way people who still have values react to lies.
It is a lie when Pickler says she's only sung in the shower. It's not a little lie that she told to a cute guy, but one told to all of America, which requires a whole lot of hubris to say in front of tens of thousands who know the truth.
I am literally amazed at the number of people who posted "who cares" comments. Your element of society is what's bringing the rest of us down.
Clyde, good on ya, bro.
Having neither singing experience nor talent (I guess tone-deaf is the right word) I can't really judge them, but I still believe that even I can tell if someone can't sing at all. I'm not saying Kellie can't sing at all, but she's definitely one of the weakest vocals on the show, and tries so hard to sell herself in a different way...really annoying and not necessarily someone the kids should look up to.
TV is fake in general, I think we all know that. And they show and use what sells and brings in the big bucks...which is just the more reason for me to be happy about people who make it known that not all the audience is just wasting their thinking ability but like to change the world a little for the better (really liked the comment: "Because even in entertainment, it's nice to see the liar get served a little justice." - ya, I know it's a little far-fetched, the whole making-the-world-better but if something is so obvious a marketing strategy, fake and pre-made, and the producers and all those behind the scheme think that the audience buys just everything...it annoys me and apparently not only me, and it deserves critique.
Now she's 'representing' NC but if she really wins American Idol, she 'represents' America...well, some 20 million or more (no idea how much in the end) and that's really sad. America (other countries, too of course) already has so many artists who succeed faking their way through so-called 'careers' and rely on peoples ignorance and hunger for sensation. You can't stop them anymore, but can prevent new ones to waste the music (and other) industries' money in search for real talent. Based on real talent not on their 'glamourized' past.
Basically I'm annoyed by fakers who take the dreams away from deserving people.
In the beginning I didn't think I would be that 'invovled' but seeing this little 'scandal' evolve...it's fun to read and write about it. (I really wish VFTW would vote for someone else because she really doesn't deserve to stay on...and did I mention that she annoys me?!)
I really don't understand comments like: "Why do you care; get a life; then just don't watch it; why do you waste your time on this; TV is supposed to be like this" and so on.
First of all, if you say something like that, what does it say about you participating in this conversation?! Everybody has different interests and this is the web with blogs and freedom of speech. So if we don't like something and we say or write something about it...great for us. Sharing opinions, hearing others and talk about stuff. I enjoy reading about all kinds of things and sometimes throw in my 2 cents. But that has usually to do with the conversation topic...if not and I think 'how can they waste their time on this', then I just go ahead and read something else. But don't waste anybodies time.
sarea
In Heaven will we all speak the same language? Will we all speak English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and every other language with an infinite understanding of each of them? Will we all be the same race and the same color? If there are different races and different colors will any of us or any of our ancestors who bore prejudices against any other race or color get to Heaven. Will God allow both Union soldiers and Confederate soliers into Heaven? How about KKK members and Black Panthers? How about Nazis and folks that believe in Judaism? How about Native Americans and Pilgrims? How about members of the Spanish Inquisition and anyone that lived in Spain who criticized the Pope. Will those mounted to The Rack be there along with those who put them on the Rack? I have a lot of trouble with my faith sometimes because I have too many questions my preacher can't give me a decisive answer on. Can anyone here help me out?
If the answer to all of my questions is, "As long as they believe in Jesus everything will work out okay," is the answer then I have all the info I expected to get, but I still feel a litttle confused about it all.
So in view of all of the unanswered questions in the world is there really any morality in the world and does it matter at all how Kellie gets to the top as long as she gets there?
You know what I do know about her? She lied when she said she only ever sang in the shower before and she never sang in front of people before. What more do I need to know? She's LYING in an attempt to snatch a recording contract from more talented people, for chrissakes!
And let's not forget the fact that she's lying by omission. She has given people watching the impression that her mother left her at the age of two or three and never returned. In face, we know that's not true. She did return, and had custody of her again for at least two years, possibly three. And the only reason she lost that custody was because of a court battle raised by the grandparents. So why omit it unless you're trying to give the impression of something that isn't true?
Funny how nobody who is defending her can explain her lies, half truths, but most of all her mediocre singing.
Fact: It's widely said Kellie is lying over her experience, based solely on the fact she stated in her audition she "never sang in front of anyone hardly".
Fact: What she really said was she "never sang in front of anyone hardly, until I was 15".
You people base your claims off speculation and interpreted writing you get from other websites and newspapers because you feel it makes you look important somehow. It's shameful. Kellie's not lying by omission, this site and others like it are lying by omission because unlike real investigative reporting, they take the lazy way out, reposting and regurgitating the same slop over and over in the hopes that if it's said enough it will be believed. Your claims about her mother are unfounded, unsubstantiated and solely based on a expose done that served no other purpose but to stir up this nonsense. I challenge anyone to come here and investigate on their own and prove what you claim.
And for the "transplants" that live here and are ashamed of it. Please leave.
And regarding Charlotte... being the bustling financial metropolis it is.. it's 40 miles away, and never once in either cities history has Charlotte done anything that helps Albemarle.
Bottom line.. If your ashamed to live here.. LEAVE!
Listen up America. It IS America right? That means AI is a business that is out to make MONEY. Lot's and lot's of money. This little fad called American Idol will one day be a memory. The powers that be at the top will go on to make money doing something else. The top dogs already know who they want to win this thing and they still have 9 weeks of competition left. Mark my words right now: It will be a white male to win this year. Why? Because that's what the big boys want. Look for the winner to be either the slick headed rocker or the gray headed spasmotic dancing machine. Since the Fox (haha) that is guarding the henhouse is counting the votes, the people who will draw in the most for ratings advance. Of course, there can be exeptions to the rule, but lets face it. America is the fodder that that is sucking this down faster than a baby on Pablum. I watch it because I love hearing people who can't sing get a national audience. There are only a very few in this crowd that can sing good enough AND perform/entertain well enough to carry them to a long term career. Simon tells the rocker we have to see more variety out of him in order to advance: WHAT A LAUGH! Can you see Simon saying that to a James Taylor or Ted Nugent? How pompus!!! Chris needed to look at him and say, "I'm gonna dance with the one that brung me here". Simon said that because the boy is running away with this thing right now and somebody has to put the brakes on him so MAYBE, just MAYBE, he can get in the bottom 3 next week so America will keep tuning in. Wake up and smell the coffee. The powers that be know what they are doing and you all are being played like fiddles. And for those of you that feel like little Kelly is in a way prostituting herself to advance...can you spell M-A-D-O-N-N-A???
According to you everybody is lying. That means the Fayetteville newspaper is lying and made up their interview with Kelly's grandfather, that means the Charlotte Observer lied in their interview with her, and everyone is a big fat nasty liar, except Kelly of course. So why don't you write those newspapers and tell them how their interviews were nothing but a terrible lie, that they never happened, and were made up?
Bottom line.. If your ashamed to live here.. LEAVE!,
Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, I remember, it was back when George Bush was lying about Weapons of Mass Destruction and lying about Hussein being involved with 9/11. And anybody who dared question him about his motives were told the exact same thing, to leave the country. As it turned out, those question him turned out to be the ones who were right.
So what you are saying is that everybody in Albemarle absolutely has to believe that all things Kellie are just wonderful and peachy keen, that they shouldn't question anything about her, that they should never ever have an opinion of their own that might run contrary to yours. Can you say STEPFORD?
Just get over it!!
Oh and if ive spelt anything wrong, im only 15, so dont start getting at me aswell.
Many people have grown up without their Dad. Few without their Mom who is alive. A Mother's love is like no other. Someone mentioned
Fantasia and Nadia. Just look a what they went through to keep their kids.
Are you hating on Kelly because she is beautiful. No matter how you look at it, Kelly got a raw deal and a heartbreaker. Even her Dad couldn't clean up his life to do what was right by her.
Through all this Kelly does not seem to be bitter or uncaring. She talks like she is looking forward to her Father's release. She also speaks lovingly of her Grandfather. I would be proud to be Kelly's mother. She sure has done good without loving parents.
Nell
i mean i dont like her and im definitler NOT jealous of her, just because you don't like someone doesnt mean you have to be jealous of them, there are many reasons why people would like Kellie but there are also many reasosn why people wouldnt like kellie
I'm not gonna lie i really liked Kellie the first performances in the top 24 and i enjoyed her calamari comment, but seriosuly her "funny comments" are getting really old. she always has something to say even when she shouldnt be talking for example in the "what's ballsy" qyestuon i mean seriously that was obviously one way to commercialize herself it was right in the middle of the cutting process.
Also for kellie fans that are going to start sayign that it's sad that peopel are bashing kellie without knowing her, well i am not bashing kellie i didnt say anything bad about her and i won't becase it's true i dont know her i dont know anyone that knows her and i dont know what she is like so i would never say anything mean about her
but what really bothers me about kellie is that she doesnt know when to not talk...she always has soemthing to say and what she says at least SOUNDS really fake
ALso i agree with one thing that you said in your post and that is that when simon said that he liked er better than carrie!! i mean seriouisllyy!! kellie is nowhere as good as carrie in my opinion and simon saying that totally made me disrespect any of the comments that he has to say towards kellie because seriously in my opinopn there were at least 10 other contestants that got cut or voted off that were better than her vocally
and what really bothers me is that the producers always want to favor someone and this season they chose kellie showing her sad story all over and her repeating it like 1000 times, for example Melissa also had a really hard life but they never showed that so it's obvious that they are trying to favor kellie
Also the fact that America always has to go with the "pity votes" like they see kellie and she is cute and she had a hard life so she immeadiatly gets a big fan base, but then ayla who got A's in everything and is good in sports and just had a normal happy life doents get as many votes even when a lot of people would agree whe was better than kellie at least in my opinion
So yes kellies "cuteness" is getting a little too old and fake soemtimes
I went back and looked at the tape of her audition. These are her exact words:
“I've always enjoyed singing. I've been singing since I was a little girl. Not in front of anyone hardly.”
“I've always enjoyed singing. I've been singing since I was a little girl. Not in front of anyone hardly.”"
Fine thanks, typed it from memory. The point was, to add the "hardly, until I was 15" part. Simple little fact, that's showing up in other commentary around about. But it puts an entirely different perspective on the statement and nullifies the argument VFTW originally threw out there. It's idols creative editing.
And to the bartender at Pontiac Point. Interesting reply, I bet you have a different opinion on Tuesday nights or else you take the night off. Like I said, at least have the stones to back up your opinion instead of posting as anonymous. Just makes you look to be taking cheap shots at her expense.
Too the comment from Charlotte about Kellie's speech. You should get out of Charlotte sometime, North Carolina speech is laced with various inflections on the "southern drawl". Kellie sounds just like anyone else from around here that's not a transplant. Yet, I know very few Charlotte natives that exhibit that sharp southern drawl. Same for RTP, being the only "educated North Carolinians" anyway, I expect them to think very little of anyone not from that area.
"Also, Charlotte does not do anything for Albemarle because Charlotte simply chooses not to acknowledge it." And this is a surprise how?
You know what they say about opinions right.... yeah, thought so.
The real problem is people can't understand why they are so captivated by this girl and as history has proven time and again, it's human nature to attack what we don't understand. That's great, keep it up, negative press, positive press it all keeps her name out there and simply fuels the fanbase. I don't profess that anyone is jealous of her, that would be silly, he other contestants all have plenty of non-fans, she shouldn't be any different, yet all these arguments are simply attempts to rationalize how people think the world should be. They can't imagine that someone could get on tv and be true to themselves, granted, at least to the extent the idol producers will let them, so they attack them, by rationalizing anything anyone says and spinning it to suit their own justification for how they think they should feel.
Clyde.... thanks for turning AI into a politcal statement, not taking the bait.. sorry...
THANK YOU for this post. this tells exactly what i have been saying to everyone about kellie pickler. shes ignorant, fake and her sob story has gotten to my last nerve. shes 19 yrs old and shes never heard of ballsy? youve got to be kidding me. im 15 and my vocabulary is 400 times better than hers. i would love to get her off the show just so i dont have to see her or hear her anymore. the people in North Carolina, arent like that and shes making them out to be stupid, damn rednecks. So thank you, thank you for this blog
BTW: why do you people say that kellie picker is so beautiful and adorable and hot, have you ever seen her not dressed up with make up on? do we even know what the real kellie picker looks like, without all that crap on her face?
I must say, though, kudos to AI for stirring up this drama. As someone who hardly watches TV and would've never plugged into AI before my friends forced me to watch it this season, I am amazed by my own fascination. Sickly enough, I'm getting flashbacks to the last presidential election. The defensive statements for (and some of the attacks against) Kellie Pickler have a familiar ring to them.
After Simon's comment that her performance was ballsey, she replied with, "What's a ballsey? Teehehehehe!" My God, honestly.
VFTW Victory!
And to the commentor who said that Kellie never used pity to get vote -- Kellie *has* said "I had such a hard life, I deserve to win." This is a quote.
I don't think anyone should win a *singing* competition based on how easy or difficult their life was. It should be all about how well you *sing*. Just like nobody "deserves" to graduate med-school because they studied harder than everyone else -- it's how much you've learned that matters. Effort, while admirable, doesn't count in either.
Waiting...and hoping...
Damn, that prom dress was hot.
http://votefortheworst.com/images/picklertruthprom.jpg
Seriously, most people just like Kellie cuz she's a cute blonde with very cute mannerisms. And is a passable singer. Get over it. I don't think her sob story really matters all that much in the overall picture - hence nobody really cares all to much about it, no matter how accurate or not it is.
So, enjoy her as eye-candy but these long-winded analyses of TV pop-tarts ultimately do nothing but DIVERT THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION FROM ISSUES OF TRUE NATIONAL IMPORT! That's the REAL smokescreen here!
At this point, though, it seems that contestants are going out in reverse order of talent, so she'll probably be there until the very end.
I like Kelly, but I appreciate talent more.
The story makes perfect sense and all(the one on how she is such a fake)but Kellie seems really nice and she's funny with all the calamari stuff
I'd like to say some things, to all of you out there who are like, why don't you put your name up, are you scared? I'll tell you, my name is sarah, that's not going to help though because like, 1 out of every 5 kids is named sarah, (yes, i'm exaggerating)and i'm to lazy to sign up. Another thing, as of right now i have no life, It's spring break and I have my laptop attached to myself, so no, i have nothing better to do right now than rant. Hope you all enjoyed my boredom.
Many ppl in my country love watching American Idol, cuz my Country idol is dull and boring. Anyway, I thought my country was 10yrs backwards than American. After seeing all these posting, I think we're all just human :p. Cuz, beside technology and political advance, mentality is same as here. In my country we have ppl who likes Kellie, and also ppl who dislike her ignorant.
After I listened to their speech, I just have to come online and read about what they read. Well, if u allow me to say this, I think it's all just entertainment. Entertainment industry wants to capture audiences's emotion. And that's why it's so successful all around the world. I never watch my own country's idol, but I watch American idol. Cuz, American Idol knows how to capture audiences attention. Stirring up audiences emotion with laughter or hatred.
Whether smart or stupid ppl, we just like to fight and argue over something that has already clouded our thought. In other words, that's emotionally controlled.
Enyone have the right to vote for anyone, but noone have the right to condemn others to vote for the one ones dislike. I don't think it's world saviour or a saint to condemn someone who tries to lie her way to popularity. What's important is, she knows how to make ppl angry and laugh. That's entertain.
By the way, you should be proud to be American. It's not just AL, NC or NY! You have such talented ppl to provide such talented show. But plz not to condemn those who lack of knowledge. Just enjoy being entertained. Don't stress up urself :).
By the way, I personally like Melissa McGhee :p. Plz dun condemn me :s...
Peace,
Daniel
HOWEVER
Where the lights went on was a few weeks ago where on performance night, at the end of her song, when she (off camera) dropped the mic and tried shouting to the judges across stage.
She's been in pageants; she'd been in idol a few weeks and knew about the post-song grilling and swift interview after with Ryan. There is NO way in hell she would have thought 'I'm done; let me drop the mic.'
This was the night Simon called her performance 'ballsy'.
The next night, right after Ryan repeated what Simon said, she put on a look of surprise more adapt to a sixth-grade play than to Don Knotts, and said 'what's a ballsy?'
If she didn't know, she had 24 hours to find out before that moment.
That, for me, is when she jumped the shark.
I didn't let her slide. I had already deleted two of her posts earlier today. Unless I turn on comment moderation once again, the only way I know those kinds of posts are up as if I sit by my monitor 24/7.
I don't want to turn comment moderation back on. I'd like people to say what they have to say, pro or con. Most writers have been able to do so. Unfortunately there always has to be one in the crowd to mess it up.
In Kellie's defense, she is a person and doesn't deserve people saying cruel things about her character. We don't know her or her full story, and she could very well be a very nice person.. But then again, most of these things people are saying are facts. AI is pimping her and her story out, and it's sad. I have felt from the start that there were far better singers and performers than her, yet she still seems to be a favorite. Her first dumb comment about calimari seemed sweet and funny and innocent enough to me, but after that first week when she kept saying things like that (obviously on purpose) it started to annoy the crap out of me.
There was an episode of Oprah on just yesterday, about women who "dumb themselves down" in order to move ahead in the world and be accepted. The pop star Pink was on, discussing her new song "Stupid Girls" and how it is really about those women who are everything they think they "should" be and unfortunately the only thing they aren't being is true to themselves. It's sad still that so many girls and women dumb themselves down. Why can't a woman be beautiful and strong willed and sucessful??? It's sad that if Kellie's real story of her being a beauty pageant contestant and being in the Miss North Carolina contest and almost winning a TV broadcasted AI-like show in NC was aired she probably wouldn't have made it as far as she has. People would have seen her as a good looking girl who's had a pretty decent life despite her setbacks, and who is intelligent enough to be in or win pageants (because no matter what people say, you do have to have smarts to be in those types of things).. a girl who hasn't had it all that bad afterall, and who has just an okay singing voice. Then maybe they wouldn't have given her the pity vote, or the "she's so blonde and thin and pretty and adorably dumb" vote.. they would have been smart and not given her ANY vote because frankly her voice isn't all that compared to the other contestants and many people who have been voted off or just plain didn't even make it in the actual competition at all.
Kellie isn't giving young girls a very good role model. Thankfully my 7 year old niece see's her for what she is, and asks her mother or myself why she acts the way she does and says the things she says. My niece notices that Kellie doesn't act like the smart stable and strong women in her life. Don't get me wrong, the women in my nieces life know how to laugh and have fun and act goofy and enjoy life... but we also do not make ourselves seem dumb to anyone just to make ourselves more likable.
Thank goodness since Ryan addressed the whole "dumb act" thing with Kellie last week or so she's toned it down a bit.. hopefully she's learned her lesson. I honestly wish VFTW weren't promoting her and I hope that Simon was right in saying that the VFTW site won't have much of an impact on the outcome, because I don't think that she deserves to be in the competition any longer. As Simon keeps saying to Paula, "It's a singing competition".. and it needs to start being treated as such. Yes, I know that the contestant's styles and looks have something to do with it as well.. but their voices should be THE main factor. Charisma should be the second factor, and Kellie has shown us very little of that.
Kellie, PLEASE stop dumbing yourself down... it's embarrassing to watch you when you act like that. Most of us see right through it. The only people you are fooling are the legit rednecks who don't know any better, the puberty stricken testosterone driven teenage boys, and the 13 year old Jessica Simpson wannabes.
Thank you for finally opening my eyes to this atrocious conspiracy. As I'm speaking, "American Idol" is airing, and Kellie Pickler's mascara is running down my screen. Sob, sob, sob.
Simon Fuller is the devil.
They pimped that poor guy out BEYOND belief. Poor dude probably still thinks he sings good...
Me, personally? I liked Kelly at first. I'm from Albemarle and when we found out she made it we all turned on American Idol and gathered around the TV during our dinner to watch her audition the first time. "wow she can sing pretty good". And I admit that she is very pretty... So we all liked her for a while, and I still admire the fact that she's bringing business and attention to my city. But once we saw she was using the fake thing, we changed our minds. Albemarle is a small town where everyone knows everyone knows everyone. I've seen her a few times, singing at my sister's graduation because she was Ms. Stanly County... and even then she samed very full of herself and fake. She has done a lot for our county, but I'm tired of the act... it's getting old. I was very surprised by her performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and... dare to say, I liked it actually. But as soon as she dropped the mike from her mouth and got back into her character, I remembered why I don't vote for her. My votes go to Elliot, Taylor, and Chris... of course
PS - i'm not anonymous because i'm scared. my name is Jordan, and I'm 16 years old, from Albemarle NC... duuhhh
<3jordan
http://kellieisbetterthanace.blogspot.com/
***Emily B.***
thanks alot
ashley
1/ No, I don't know her and I don't have to know her nor do I want to know her. This is the image she is choosing to project onto us. This is the image she wants us to see and know and like. I'm here to say it's garbage and I don't like it.
2/ Anyone who has ever thought that America really decides who wins AI is as dumb as Kellie pretends she is. Of course the producers manipulate the show. Of course the judges push for their favorites. But even the producers get it wrong. Yeah, they made tons from Kelly Clarkson and are making more from Carrie Underwood. But what happened to Rueben? They need to start backing the real deals -- Chris and Taylor -- 'cause if they don't, and Kellie wins, she'll end up a trivia question 'cause she won't make it in the real world.
3/ I read through the comments posted here and it's sad. Since when is it a good thing to dumb yourself down? "Look at me, I'm pretty and I'll flaunt my body and I'm stupid" giggle, giggle. This is a role model? No wonder the rest of the world thinks Americans are stupid and crazy. Any female who dumbs themselves down for personal gain is purely and simply trash.
4/ Why did this guy spend so much time writing this? Probably because, like me, he's fed up with stupidity on television, stupidity with people and money hungry television executives. Not to mention a dislike for people who are fake and people who use stupidity and sex appeal for personal gain. Not when there are more deserving, more qualified people who were passed by.
5/ The girl has no class and it showed last night when she referred to Ryan's handkerchief as a "snot rag". Also note: Kellie was the ONLY performer Tuesday night NOT to talk to Ryan before her performance. Me thinks the producers realize they need to limit her camera time now because she is going way over the top with this garbage.
6/ The backlash to this dumb blonde image is picking up more and more steam . . . over the next few weeks I am willing to bet Kellie will be more subdued and quiet . . . still smiling, of course, and still using that heavy drawl, but not saying as much. I'm willing to bet the producers will sit her down and tell her to start keeping her mouth shut more. If it keeps up, they'll lose viewers.
Don't believe me?
Case in point: the immense backlash when Constantine Maroulis got "voted off" (bullshit) last season. The backlash was so bad and AI lost a couple million viewers the following Tuesday that they had to give Scott Savol the boot next or they would have lost even more viewers.
If the backlash to her stupid, false image continues, we'll see her suddenly shut up (one can only hope) and the judges start backing Chris and Katherine and Taylor a lot more.
Again, I don't have to know her . . . this is who she wants America to think she is. And I think it's trash.
All of the mean things said about Katharine are remarkably similar to comments made about Ayla (Privileged, spoiled, conceited, arrogant) Why can't we just vote for the talent? I admit that Kellie is pretty, but that's about it. Here in Southern California, Kellie's shtick isn't flying around my fellow AI fans. Unfortunately, my fellow fans in my area don't rally around Katharine the way Albemarle, NC rallies around Kellie.
I've noticed quite a bit of that on the message boards also. It's just more of the "well for the brainless country bumpkin with the sad sob story" before we'll even consider talent mindset of the same people who help make the Jessica Simpsons and Paris Hiltons of this world popular. Everytime I see Paris Hilton plastered on the TV screen, I want to vomit.
As for the custody battle, I'm not sure there really was one. It seems more to me that at least in her teen years, Kellie pretty much went where Kellie wanted to go to. She again likes to give the impression that she lived with her grandparents from the beginning of the world to date, but as you can see that's just not true.
As a matter of fact, when she did actually go live with her grandparents three years ago, it was about the same time that she hit the beauty pageant circuit. Coinicdence?
She also pretty much slacked her way through the beauty pageants. In her own words, the only part she was interested in was the singing competition and didn't want to make any effort to deal with the other necessities needed to win. Fine, that's he choice, but she did have sponsors that she was at least obligated to make some kind of an effort.
And let's not forget that this is a girl who quit her cheerleading squad in her senior year either because she didn't like the captain or because she couldn't be captain herself.
And the whole Sonic thing is a joke. She went to Community College for one year where she had the opportunity to try to better herself but quit because (and these are her words not mine)"the education bit isn't her thing". Now that's the kind of role model all of our kids should have.
And the whole thing is cloaked in way too much secrecy, and the only reason it would be as because you don't want people to know the real truth.
One of tv stations in my country aired AI every week, and frankly I'm not satisfied at all with the results. How could they kick a talented singer like Mandisa, and keep a terrible singer like Kellie and Ace ? Are you American really can not see a talent, or do the producers manipulated the votes ?
As I'm not American, I don't understand the meaning of ballsy, or minx, or ever eat calamari. I don't know if those words are common words that people with high school education must have understood. But without knowing the words, I can see that Kellie is pulling an act to be a dumb (/naive/cute) girl to get people attention. In my country where women still have to fight for emancipation, to be accepted as equal in men's dominated world, I feel Kellie's act is just irritating. She gives the confirmation that women mostly are just dumb, ignorant creatures who use pretty faces and firtatious act to gain something.
I choose Elliot as the next AI, but watching him getting to the top 3 bottom for 2 weeks, I fear next week he will leave us all.
Regards,
Anna
Look, if you think all these "moments with the stars" happen exactly as we see them, then you are buying into it exactly the way Fox wants you to. So good for you.
But have you read Brian May's reply as to how his appearance with Ace was edited? Fox edits every bit of this show, makes the back stories the way they want to, leaving out or putting in whatever they see fit. And do you really expect them to say she's a lousy singer? No, but if you go back and look over the comments of the guests, seldom is she complimented on her vocal ability.
The only reason Kellie admitted she was bad tonight was for the same reason she pulled practically the same thing when she did Blame it on the Sun. It's because it deflects attention from her lousy performance. But if you're buying into it, good for you.
Sure Kellie can have a successful career in the entertainment industry, but since you point out Jessica Simpson, I feel it my duty to point out that Jessica Simpson would be on a very long list of talentless celebrities. You also seem to admire women who dumb themselves down. Why you or anyone else would find this an admirable quality is something I'll never figure out but you'll be happy to know that a new version of The Simple Life will be starting up soon which will be right up your alley.
But then that's what we admire most in this country isn't it? It's not talent, it's how stupid can you be.
As for the half truths, you will note that both of the articles regarding her upbringing were taken from newspapers regarding the fact that her mother has returned, and in fact that she didn't go live with her grandparents until three years ago. These are details she conveniently omits when she talks about her so called hard life which included quitting the cheer leading squad, not giving much effort at the Miss North Carolina Pageant because she was only interested in the singing part, and dropping out of Stanly Community College because "education isn't her thing." And those are her words not mine and were in the Charleston Gazette.
But I guess if that's what you want your family to look up to, that's your business.
She moves a little too well for someone so innocent as she claims to be. I would advice the 41 year old to stop admiring with his fantasies and grow up.
The problem is you don't really address the issues. Kellie herself admits that she slacked her way through the pageants only so that she could sing in the talent portion. But if that's okay with her sponsors or whomever then sure why not.
And you still didn't address the main issue which is that Kellie has manufactured this simple story about her mother to intentionally leave the impression that she hadn't seen her mother since the age of two. I guess it just sounds better than saying she lived with her mother as early as three years ago. So why is it necessary to lie about it? And it is a lie any way you look at it and it's a lie continually repeated by her friend Summer Miller.
I also don't understand this rush to judgment about her mother. You don't really know what went on and neither do I. I find it odd that she can be so forgiving of her alcoholic, drug-ridden, crime-ridden father yet still has no words about her mother. If you want to know the truth I don't buy any part of the custody story the way its being told.
For one thing, Kellie has left the impression that she lived with her grandparents when her mother left at the age of two. We know that's a lie from her own words. She in fact lived with her father and only "stayed" with them when he was doing time. Again, she didn't go live with them permanently until three years ago, which was the same time she began hitting the beauty pageant circuit. Kind of convenient, wasn't it?
And there is way too much secrecy about the whole thing as if there is something being hidden. One need only read the interview with the grandfather to understand that. Could it be that the real story isn't quite pathetic as the abridged version that is always aired?
I don't know exactly what the truth is, but I do know a lie when I see it and only they know for sure what they are hiding. But I do know that eventually the story will come out whatever it is.
What?!? You've mis"spelt" words I knew how to spell when I was FIVE years old. Pay attention in class, read a book, do something about your miserable spelling skills! It will help you in the future.
While I agree with you that a 15-year-old ought to know how to spell properly, you should also note that the past tense of 'to spell' may either be declined as 'spelled' or 'spelt'. The latter is primarily British, but both are correct.
For those who say that Clyde has too much time on his hands, could you learn how to use the "spell check", please?
People who can't spell correctly shouldn't be allowed to post ANYWHERE!
It's called "SPELL CHECK" people...learn how to use it!
Oops - you are absolutely right. Thanks for the correction!
You must not like Katharine because she is much prettier than you or something. If you don't think that girl can sing, you're in the minority. She was top 2 this week. Come on!
Ex-Albemarlian
I am a bit irritated, however, that people think that Kellie had it bad, when others have similar, or even worse, stories. I am also irritated with Kellie, but that is another story.