Kellie Pickler, five years removed from "Idol," certainly knows what calamari is now. She has matured before our very eyes.
Yes, the sweetness is still there. And she can turn on the goofy when she wants (as on any “Ellen DeGeneres” visit). But she has become a seasoned performer with several hits under her belt. She’s done a gazillion interviews, including a few with me, none of which I’m sure she remembers. She recently got married.
And she'll visit sick kids. With a new single "Tough" ready to hit the airwaves soon, she brought a couple of her bandmates from Nashville down to Atlanta and host a Kicks 101.5 "Idol" viewing party at Ryan Seacrest's The Voice studio at Children's Healthcare at Egleston (by Emory University. I earlier wrote "at Emory.").
She posed for photos and signed autographs. She talked to Fox 5 and the Kicks morning hosts Cadillac Jack and Dallas McCade. She sang her two hits "Red High Heels" and "Don't You Know You're Beautiful."
Pickler does not follow “Idol” at all nowadays and barely even looked at the TV screens while “Idol” was airing last week. She spends more time reading.
