Now you see her, now you don’t. That’s the way it’s been with Casey Carlson and “American Idol.” The 20-year-old University of Minnesota undergrad was one of the most buzzed-about “Idol” wannabes after her Kansas City audition aired last month on Fox. Since then, we’ve caught only glimpses of her on the show.
That all changes tonight, when Carlson takes to the stage to perform for America’s votes and a possible spot in the top 12 (7 p.m.).
“A lot of the preparation goes into rehearsal time,” said Carlson from “Idol” headquarters in Hollywood last week. “I’m trying to get ready mentally. It’s a lot of getting comfortable with the stage and getting to work with the vocal coaches.”
Eden Prairie High School choir instructor Julie Kanthak remembers Carlson as a hard-working teen.
“She’s not just another pretty face. She’s not just another pretty voice,” Kanthak says about the 2006 grad. “She didn’t smash other people on her way to the top. She was always humble and open to suggestions.”
During her senior year, Carlson snagged the lead role in “Singin’ in the Rain.” But after doing musical theater at NYU one summer, she started to rethink her showbiz dreams.
“I think it was too early in my life for me to do something like move to New York and be in such a competitive environment,” Carlson recalls. “I got really overwhelmed and thought that I wasn’t cut out for the business. I was also really homesick, so I decided to move back to Minnesota and go to school at the U.”
In the summer of 2007, Carlson met Andy Ulseth. The local musician was looking for someone to sing harmony in his band and he asked Carlson. Whether it was a Decemberists tune, something from Sufjan Stevens or one of his own songs, Ulseth says, Carlson could handle it all.
“She’s got the voice to sing Celine Dion, but she was way into indie rock,” says Ulseth, who performed with Carlson around town including at the 7th St. Entry and the 400 Bar. “She’s the kind of person people want to look at and listen to.”
It wasn’t long before Carlson decided she was ready to give music another chance: “I wanted another shot at being able to do what I love for the rest of my life.”
Not only has her short time on “Idol” earned her lots of accolades, but it’s also provided her with thousands of Google hits. Some of that popularity stems from sexy bikini pictures she took for a Campus Girls USA calendar that donates profits to breast cancer research. The day after her audition, those photos popped up on gossip site TMZ.com.
“I was preparing myself for it because I knew that they were out there and I wasn’t trying to hide them,” says Carlson, who had a relative die from the disease. “I’m really proud of that calendar. A lot of work went into it and we raised money for a good cause.”
There’ll be plenty of people rooting for her tonight to make the top 12, including her manager at the U’s Tea Garden store, Eric Huynh.
“I think she has a star quality to her and she’s talented,” says Huynh.
And having heard Carlson sing along to the radio while at work, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the next “American Idol.”
Amy Carlson Gustafson can be reached at 651-228-5561. Read more about Casey Carlson on her “Hot Dish” blog, at blogs.twincities.com/hotdish.
