Idol Chatter & Voice Views

I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t need more than two hands to count the number of former American Idol contestants who have been successful enough to release four albums since appearing on the show.

Today, Season 5’s Kellie Pickler joins that club.

Online sales of Kellie Pickler’s “The Woman I Am” began today.

And, judging from a quick listen, it sounds like Kellie has found a nice balance between her first two albums and last January’s “100 Proof.”

That album, which went for a more traditional country sound, received critical acclaim. But sales didn’t follow.

The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and was gone five weeks later.

Hence, Kellie’s new album comes on a new label — Blake River Entertainment.

On “The Woman I Am,” the traditional country sound is back. But so is fun Kellie, on songs like “Ring for Sale,” “Buzzin,” “Selma Drye,” “Bonnie and Clyde” and “No Cure for Crazy.”

Kellie told Billboard “Selma Drye” is about her great-grandmother, calling her your “stereotypical hillbilly granny.”

“She had a pistol and an apron, and kept a can of snuff in her apron,” Kellie said. “She never had a drivers license or a car — it was the devil. She never put her money in the bank — it was the devil. She was very old-fashioned and stuck in her ways. In some ways, it was beautiful.”

According to her website, Kellie has four TV appearances set for this week to promote the new album. Those include:

Nov. 11 – E! News interview on E! Entertainment Network at 7 p.m. ET
Nov. 11 – Kellie joins the audience of “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC at 8 p.m. ET
Nov. 13 – All new interview and performance on Ellen! .
Nov. 13 – Kellie performs on the “Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 12:35 a.m. ET on CBS

Circle that Ellen! appearance on your must-see TV calendar. Put those two together, and lots of laughs generally follow.

Kellie has already released a pair of singles from the new CD, “A Little Bit Gypsy” and the simply beautiful “Someone, Somewhere Tonight.” I’ve embedded those below.