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Kellie Pickler made 4,000 people very happy Monday afternoon.

The country singer and former "American Idol" finalist performed a private 45-minute concert in the Etowah High School stadium. Students and supporters of the Woodstock school sent in more than 500,000 texts to win the Kelly Pickler High School Hookup contest conducted by Kicks 101.5 radio.

Students from Etowah and neighboring E.T. Booth Middle School danced, cheered, held up signs and sang along as Miss Pickler, 21, belted out her rocking hits. The set list included her debut song "Red High Heels," as well as touching ballads and a couple of new songs from her upcoming album that haven't been heard before.

As the crowd chanted "Kellie, Kellie," the former cheerleader took the stage, dressed in jeans, a halter-top, sunglasses and - what else? - red high heels and broke into "Gotta Keep Moving." She followed it with her current single, "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind."

Her third song, "Throwing Rocks Instead of Rice," will be on her second album, which she's currently recording.

"I'm working on a new album, and I want to do one of my new songs," she told the crowd. "You will be the first ones to hear it."

She also performed another song from the album, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," during which a male student blew her a kiss she returned in kind.

The two ballads she performed, "My Angel" and "I Wonder," both came from personal experiences. She wrote "My Angel" for her grandmother, who raised her and died when she was only 15, and "I Wonder," her second single, is about her mother.

"On 'American Idol,' I talked a lot about my personal life and my relationship with my mother," she said. "There isn't one so I wrote a song about it. The thing that makes country music so great, so magical is it's about real life."

Her eyes filled with tears after finishing the song, which won three CMT Music Awards in April.

"I'm getting all emotional because I feel like I'm singing to my peers," the 2004 graduate said.

She also sang "One of the Guys"; "Small Town Girl," which she wrote for her hometown, Albemarle, N.C., where the Super Wal-Mart was "the biggest thing to ever happen to us"; and "9 to 5," in honor of Dolly Parton, "the greatest thing to happen to country music."

She closed the concert, which grew from a small acoustic set to a full show with her entire band, with her signature "Red High Heels." In her honor, the Etowah cheerleaders wore red heels, and some female students donned T-shirts bearing her shoe of choice.

"This is only our second time doing a show at a high school, and you guys were way better than the last one," she said.

Before the end of the show, Etowah Principal Ron Dunnavant and some of the cheerleaders presented Miss Pickler with a personalized megaphone, a football jersey and a gift basket.

"It's been awesome," Dunnavant said. "The kids loved it. It's been exciting the past week since finding out about it, and it culminated with a great show. We really give a big thanks to Kicks and to Kellie for everything they've done to make this happen for us."

Juniors Kara Hunter, Taylor Irvin and Kristopher Newton, all of Towne Lake, called the concert "amazing" and "awesome."

"She did a really great job, and we thank her for coming out here," said Kara, 17, daughter of Mike and Nancy Hunter.

"It's one of my best high school experiences," said Taylor, 17, daughter of Susan Irvin and Joel Irvin and Mark Powell.

"I like Kellie Pickler," said Kristopher, 17, son of Michelle Shelor and stepson of Kirk Newton. "I watched her on 'American Idol' and all that stuff."

The students also said all the texting they did was "definitely worth it."

"I definitely went over my bill so my mom is going to sue me," Taylor said. "I think I sent like 150, and I only get 250 texts."

Kara said she probably sent in 3,000 texts by herself.

"We all sent texts all day every day," she said.

Kristopher said he sent a text "about every 10 minutes."

The trio each had a favorite song that she performed.

Taylor liked "Red High Heels" because it "just puts you in a good mood when you hear it." Kristopher enjoyed "I Wonder" because it's a "touching song, a good song." Kara loved "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind" because "it's true."

During a meet-and-greet in the media center before the concert, Kicks morning deejays Cadillac Jack and Dallas McCade allowed 18-year-old senior Cayla Capozzi to interview Miss Pickler for their show.

Cayla, daughter of Barbara and John Capozzi of Towne Lake, asked Miss Pickler what she missed about high school ("You don't have many responsibilities - you just show up.").

She also asked whether she was a base or a flyer when she was a cheerleader ("Definitely a flyer, and they dropped me a couple of times.") and what her prom dress looked like ("After my prom, our principal banned anything that looked like my dress.")

"It was fun," Cayla said. "She's so sweet, so normal, just a normal girl like us."

The fill-in deejay, who works in the media center, just happened to be in the right place at the right time to do the interview.

"I wasn't sure if I was allowed to be up here, but they told me to come on and see what happens," she said. "I was talking to Dallas, and she said, 'Why don't you interview her?'"

Miss Pickler said high school shows are "so much fun."

"They're just so excited to have me there, and they need a break from their studies," she said.

The singer couldn't believe the Kicks contest received two million text messages from students across north Georgia.

"It kind of makes me feel like I'm on 'Idol' all over again," she said. "It's 'Idol' crazy. It's very, very flattering."

She also said she was "so bad at school" and doesn't consider herself a role model.

"Stay in school," she advises students. "I do recommend everyone graduate. You can't get a job anymore without a high school diploma."

dharris@cherokeetribune.com

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