../images/Emo26.gif
Nikki McKibbin talks about her experience on American Idol, on which she finished in third place on the first season. After finishing in third place on the first season of the hit show American Idol three years ago, Nikki McKibbin said her life has been a whirlwind. "My life has been crazy," said McKibbin, who will serve as a guest judge for the finals of the "America's Rising Star" contest tonight at Big Mama's Karaoke Cafe in Seymour. "I've gotten different offers to do different things. It's so confusing. Everything hits you one thing at a time." McKibbin, 26, owner of the karaoke company Angel Fire Productions, based in her hometown of Grand Prairie, Texas, was asked to serve as a judge after Doug Nolan, partner and owner of the Karaoke Cafe locations, sent her an e-mail. He asked if she was interested, and McKibbin jumped at the chance. "Karaoke is my life," said McKibbin. "I love doing it, so when (Nolan) called me, I said, 'Heck yeah.'" McKibbin said that when she appeared on American Idol, her business went down in production because she was not there to oversee the operation. After the first season ended, she also went on a 30-city tour with the other Idol contestants. "I had to hire people to take over," said McKibbin. "I lost a lot of shows because I couldn't be there all the time. I had to be here, I had to be there. It was crazy." McKibbin, the single mother of her 7-year-old son named Tristen, said that as soon as the tour was finished, she ended up signing with RCA Records, but the deal fell apart. "RCA wouldn't let me sing the stuff I wanted, so we mutually parted," said McKibbin. Even though she does not currently watch the show, nor did she seen herself on it during the first season, McKibbin said she still keeps in touch with some of the other Idol contestants from the first season, including Kelly Clarkson, the show's first winner and currently a pop music superstar; R.J. Helton; and Tamyra Gray. "Tamyra is one of my best friends," said McKibbin. "She should have won the whole thing." Gray was one of the odds-on favorites to win during that first season, but McKibbin was instead voted to move on into the top three, even though most pundits said they thought Gray was more talented. "I cried," said McKibbin, referring to the night when the voting results were announced. "She already knew she was going home because one of the producers told her. "I got booed off the stage that night," McKibbin continued. She went on to say that the voting system on the show was fixed and that she was told she actually got more real votes than Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the runner-up during the first season. "And I still got sent home," said McKibbin. She said that she had a lukewarm relationship with Idol judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the infamous Simon Cowell. "We got into a fight off-camera," McKibbin said of Cowell. "He didn't know that I could hear what he was saying about me. "I hardly talked to Randy at all," McKibbin continued, "but Paula loved me. She used to pull me into her dressing room and ask me why I would be pulling out certain songs. I wasn't treated very fair. I made them a lot of money." McKibbin recently appeared in an episode of Fear Factor, during which she got into a confrontation with Omarosa from the first season of The Apprentice. She said she has no regrets about being on American Idol and that she had fun and loved every minute of it. She added that she is thinking of getting out of the karaoke business and is considering a move to Los Angeles - or even Knoxville. "There are three record labels that I'm talking to," said McKibbin. "I also have some songs written. It's all about finding the right people to work with."
