'American Idol' put Siouxland singer on her way

What you see on TV is what you get in real life, according to Admire, now 23 and working in the music industry in Nashville.

"I won a tri-state ("Siouxland Idol") competition and went to Omaha to audition for the show," the former Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, resident says. "I sang for 15 seconds and Simon raised his hand."

That was Admire's signal to stop singing. The trio of judges, who had learned a bit about Admire in the introduction, had heard enough. In a good way.

Abdul told Admire she looked like a cheerleader. Admire laughed and confirmed the fact: She was a cheerleader for her Sergeant Bluff-Luton Warriors back in Northwest Iowa.

She sang her version of the Judy Garland "Wizard of Oz" classic, taking it on a soaring pop/country bend. The a cappella version covered 2 1/2 octaves.

"They gave me 15 seconds and looked right at me the whole time," Admire recalls. "Simon raised his hand for me to stop and then, one by one, they voted."

Three affirmatives. A ticket for Hollywood that Admire shared with her parents, Rick and Becky Admire, and her siblings, Molly and Ryan, and cousin Michelle Collins, on the other side the audition door.

"I went through and said, 'Golden Ticket!'" Admire remembers.

The ticket allowed her a spot for the hit TV show as it recorded in Hollywood. The catch? Admire and her family had to keep everything on the quiet until she left. That means she spent the first semester of her senior year in high school with a buttoned lip, so to speak.

She trained with vocal coach Diana Guhin Wooley at Lamb Arts theatre in Sioux City. As part of the advanced workouts, she listened to different genres, be it classical, opera, country, pop or blues.

When it came time late that fall to travel to Hollywood, Admire's mother accompanied her, a rule as Admire was still a minor. Admire sang two opening rounds before learning her fate: She wouldn't be moving on.

"Ryan Seacrest (the TV show's host) is just what you see on TV: Super friendly, very upbeat about everything," Admire says. "He's really a nice guy."

There are camera and sound people bouncing around, catching the sights and sounds that help make the reality TV show.

And, those famous judges?

"The judges were great to me," she says. "Simon is one of my favorites. He's honest, right on. He offered me pointers and called me a young Dolly Parton. He was really inspirational."

David Cook, a singer Admire came to know a bit as they both came from the Omaha "Idol" audition, won season No. 7. Admire learned she  finished in the top 125.

Disappointed? Hardly. Admire's musical doors began opening as a result of the experience and the exposure.

"It's from 'Idol' that I learned about Belmont University," she says. "It got me to Nashville. I was really into studying music. I auditioned for Belmont one month after 'Idol' and got in."

Admired moved to Nashville to begin college in August 2008. That music epicenter has been her home ever since. A commercial voice major, Admire is still singing on occasion and stays busy writing and working with musicians. She works full-time for Sandbox Entertainment, a firm that represents heavyweights like Shania Twain, Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves.

Her latest recording occurred at Oceanway Studios, the premier country music studio in the world, she says. She previously recorded at RCA Studio B, once home to Elvis Presley.

"'Idol' was the starting point," she says. "It made me realize I wanted to stick with the music industry. My dream is to be happy with my life and to be working in the music industry, wherever that takes me."

Other than the exposure, the experience, the memories and the contacts, did anything physical reminder from "American Idol" stay with Katie Admire?

She laughs and thinks for a moment. The "Golden Ticket," she says, stayed with the show. There are no publicity photos that followed her back home.

"I kept one thing," she says, "the key to my hotel room."