b. 28 June 1986, Albemarle, North Carolina, USA. This country pop singer owed her career to the power of reality television in the late 00s, with even distant runners-up earning recording contracts and prominent public profiles. Pickler had what many consider a classic country singer’s upbringing, raised by her grandparents in the small North Carolina town of Palestine after her mother gave up custodial rights to her child. She was working as a waitress and appearing on talent shows when she won through to the televised section of the fifth season of the American Idol contest, which began screening in January 2006. By April, Pickler had been knocked out of the competition despite the approval of acerbic UK judge Simon Cowell. Her sweet, southern girl charm and ditzy manners had proved an attractive commercial proposition, however, and a recording contract with the American Idol -affiliated label 19 Recordings followed shortly afterwards. Her debut single, ‘Red High Heels’, broke into the country Top 20 in September 2006, while Small Town Girl was even more successful, topping the country album charts and reaching the mainstream Top 10. Despite the critical catcalls, the album was a pleasant enough collection of melodic country pop with Pickler’s vivacious personality shining through.
