Between the time she auditioned for American Idol and the time she was voted off, I changed my mind at least four times, if not more. Is she a young woman with a sad story to tell, is she a young woman in full control of her career by playing up the differences she knows exist between her little corner of North Carolina and the rest of the country, or is she so naive she doesn't know about the many foods that exist outside the burger place she once worked? Perhaps she's all of them.

There is no doubt the background story now attached to Kellie is a sad one. The question is how much of it is true, and how much has been embellished for the show. She told us her father was in prison for drugs, and her mother had run out on the family years earlier, leaving her to be raised by her grandparents. Seeing pictures of her childhood, many began to question this story, but listening to her CD, Small Town Girl, two particular songs are so jarringly honest, we know this sadness really did exist in Kellie's life.

In the song I Wonder, Kellie addresses her mother's absence, wondering if her mother thinks about her as much as she thinks about her mother. She points out the things she missed growing up without a mom, such as no one to braid her hair and no one to help her dress for the high school prom. My Angel has Kellie singing about her grandmother and the increased importance she took in her life, as she grew up without her mother.

I was lucky enough to interview Kellie last fall by phone when her CD was first released, and I addressed these two songs, in particular, and said the CD just seemed to have so much more depth than what we were accustomed to hearing from her on American Idol. Kellie told me that all of the songs on Small Town Girl are very personal to her, and that while it was certainly autobiographical, it wasn't the whole story. I told her I couldn't even make it through My Angel without crying, as I thought of people that I, too, have lost, and Kellie said she particularly liked that her fans would enjoy listening to music that was more intimate to her.

One of Kellie's neighbors from Albemarle, North Carolina had emailed me after my interview was published, and backed up everything that Kellie had said about her difficult childhood. It was nice to have that confirmation, and know that we weren't being snowed, but by the time I listened to Kellie's CD, I could hear the honesty of it. It was becoming more and more clear who this girl was and why she was there.

Kellie entered the beauty pageant circuit at one point and competed to be Miss North Carolina. It was some of this story that had people doubting her honesty, as she had remarked during her American Idol audition that she didn't have much experience singing in front of people, and we later found that she had sung as her talent in the pageant circuit. It's hard to take her comment and nail it down, as she may have meant she wasn't used to auditioning for people. It's just hard to tell. Regardless, she wasn't very fond of her her time in pageants, telling me she felt weird doing things like the swimwear competition, and she found the many of the people involved very superficial.

Finding work as a roller skating waitress at a hamburger stand, Kellie was obviously looking for something more. She took a lot of flak for talking truthfully about her family's history, and many accused her of using it to get ahead. Similarly, this season Jamie Lynn Ward, perhaps not so coincidentally, also from North Carolina, discussed her sad life at her audition. She told of her father being paralyzed after shooting himself and his cheating wife. Jamie and her grandmother take care of her father. This week, we then heard from the so-called cheating wife, saying she had not cheated on him, and she felt "emotionally destroyed" after hearing Jamie Lynn talk about her in this way.

It's anybody's guess why Kellie and Jamie felt the need to discuss their family's history on TV as they did. I'm guessing it wasn't all their decision, and am pretty confident that producers of the show, looking for a good storyline, convinced these two girls to tell their stories, telling them they'd have an easier chance getting on the show. Watching the show, they seem to look for those things.

At first, Kellie came off as a naive country bumpkin, but then at times it was hard not to wonder if it was an act. She became well-known early on for her pronunciation of the word calamari, after she discussed trying it in Hollywood, after never hearing of it before. She also pronounced the L in salmon, and later when Simon called her a "naughty little minx," she thought he was calling her a coat, getting minx mixed up with mink. Her neighbor from Albemarle confirmed for me that her mother would pronounce salmon with an L as well.

Kellie was voted off American Idol after butchering Simon Cowell's favorite song, Unchained Melody, well-known from the pottery scene in the movie Ghost. Justin Guarini had covered it, and Clay Aiken perfected it, so it would have been hard to top either of those two. Kellie definitely wasn't on top of it that week, and was gone, as this wasn't her first bad performance. She left the show with some great experience, and some great new friends.

It was well-known that Kellie had created a fast friendship with runner-up Katharine McPhee while on the show, and she also told me she had grown close to Mandisa and Bucky Covington, as both of them were also now in Nashville, as Kellie was. After the show she packed everything up, shoes, clothes, and pictures, and drove the U-Haul herself from Albemarle to Nashville. Something tells me this is pretty close to the real Kellie.

To put a rumor to rest, there never was a relationship between her and season four contestant Constantine Maroulis. He's not her type, for one thing, and she has a boyfriend she has been with for awhile that is also from Albemarle. She felt the rumors about her and Constantine were particularly hurtful to him. She believes he has very good intentions regarding her, and she is especially moved that he is so accepting of her busy life after post American Idol.

Kellie's father was released from prison shortly after she was voted off American Idol, and they tried to pick up where they left off, but it was very difficult, as Kellie wasn't the little girl she was when he entered prison. She still hadn't heard from her mother at the time I talked to her and doesn't even know where she is. She doesn't even know if her mother knew she was on American Idol or not.

Yet now armed with a hit CD, Small Town Girl, and her songs all over the radio, and with Kellie making appearances on Ellen, The View, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, etc., I don't know how her mother could not know of her success. For her to show up in her life now would seem very disingenuous, so it's probably a good thing she stayed away. Although as a mother myself, I just can't imagine it.

Kellie shared with me that she would love to pursue an acting career, but for now, she's just wanting to get her singing career off on the right track. I had mentioned thinking she was a natural after watching a bit she did with Wolfgang Puck on the American Idol finale. It turns out I wasn't the only one that thought that. So did television producers, and she was quickly signed to a development deal with 20th Century Fox.

I ask again, just who is Kellie Pickler. She's a singer, actress, friend, daughter, and granddaughter. Is she naive? Probably not at as much as she was. Was any of it an act? I certainly didn't find any signs of it in my interview with her. I found her on the phone the same way I found her on her CD. Enjoyable, warm, and friendly.