Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Think back to season six of American Idol.

Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis squared off in the final that year, but two other singers turned heads on a regular basis.

Third-place finisher Melinda Doolittle released her first album earlier this year. Now, fourth-place finisher LaKisha Jones is following suit.

Her debut album, “So Glad I’m Me,” is set for a May 19 release. But folks don’t have to wait until them to hear new LaKisha Jones music.

The single, “Let’s Go Celebrate” is being release today (March 31) on iTunes. You can hear that song and the title track on the album using this link to LaKisha’s MySpace page.

LaKisha, now 29, grew up singing in church choirs and music programs in her hometown of Flint, Mich. She attended the University of Michigan and says on her MySpace page that she was rejected by Idol during the 2003 auditions.

Four years later, she was working as a bank teller in Maryland when staffers encouraged her to try out for Idol again at an audition in New York.

The second time around, you could say things worked out just a little bit better.