Kellie Dawn Pickler is 19 years old and is from Albemarle, NC. Singing "before she could talk" (according to Kelly), Kelly has not had an easy life. But one thing is true: Kelly can sing. Up untill she tried out for American Idol Season 5 in Greensboro, NC - she lived with her grandfather. After losing her grandmother 2 years ago and working at Sonic, Kelly decided to make a better life for herself by trying out for American Idol. In February of 2006, Kelly made the top 14 finalist of American Idol out of hundreds of thousands of hopefuls.