AllMovie

Though she rose to fame by virtue of her involvement in the second season of the Fox network's competitive reality series American Idol (2003), Kimberly Caldwell was actually a veteran entertainer by the time she hit the Idol stage, at the age of 21, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. Born in 1982, Caldwell gained youthful experience as an entertainer years prior to Idol -- first via performances at beauty pageants and the Grand Ole Opry, then on Star Search, and finally on such programs as The Pulse and Popstars: USA. Though Caldwell made the top 12 in her particular season of Idol, she failed to make the final cut, losing the competition (along with many others) to first-place favorite Ruben Studdard. Post-Idol, Caldwell launched a second career as a TV host, beginning with acting as an insider Idol host before moving into other realms of entertainment like Celebrity Paranormal Project and Best Ink. Caldwell moved into a slightly different sphere of entertainment in 2007, with a (non-musical) dramatic role in the direct-to-video slasher opus Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. She appeared on an episode of Franklin & Bash in 2012.