'IDOL' SOB STORY

BEHIND BLONDE SONGBIRD'S PA-SHOT-MA TALE

By DON KAPLAN

Among the sad stories that have been on "Idol," Jamie Lynn Ward's ranks near the top.

February 1, 2007 -- THERE is more to the tragic tale of Jamie Lynn Ward, the girl who appeared on "American Idol" Tuesday and told the judges how her father had shot her step-mother and then turned the gun on himself.

At the show's Birmingham, Alabama auditions, Ward, 17, said that she now lives with her grandmother in Reidsville, N.C. and takes care of her father who was paralyzed from the neck down after he shot himself in the throat. Some locals from Ward's hometown said yesterday they were a bit appalled that she would mention the incident on national TV.

"I live with my grandma, and my daddy's paralyzed," Ward said in her sweet drawl. "He shot himself. . . but it's okay. His wife was cheating on him, she was my step-mama, but he caught her in the act. . . so he shot her and he shot himself."

Ward's stepmother has recovered from her injuries and moved away.

"She's said that she wants to put the whole thing behind her and get on with her life," Reidsville Police Capt. Guilio Dattero told The Post yesterday.

Beverly Emory Ward was shot by James Woodrow Ward last February during a heated argument after the pair returned from having dinner with a friend, according to a police report. A highway patrolman arrived in time to see a muzzle flash from several shots fired inside the Ward home as he pulled into the driveway.

Beverly Ward did not press charges against James Ward and the the case was closed.

Jamie Lynn Ward, who was named homecoming queen this year at her high school, sang Reflections by Christina Aguilera at her audition well enough to convince Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson to send her to "Idol's" Hollywood round.

Her tale of woe seemed just as tragic as another North Carolina native turned "Idol" wannabe, Kelly Pickler. Last year Pickler's father had been serving time in jail for stabbing a