Kellie Pickler

With her charming, Southern girl persona and endless drive, singer Kellie Pickler went from finalist on the fifth season of "American Idol" (Fox, 2002-16) to become a chart-topping recording artist and one of country music's more successful young artists. After making it all the way to the top six on "Idol," Pickler embarked on a successful recording career with her debut album, Small Town Girl (2006), which topped the Billboard country charts and earned a 2008 CMT Award for the single "I Wonder." In 2008, she followed up with her second album, the self-titled Kellie Pickler, which cracked through the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 1 on the country charts. From there, she earned high critical praise for her third effort, 100 Proof (2012), and broke through to the reality TV world by becoming a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ) in 2013, proving that her talents extended beyond her small-town country roots.