And here are a couple from "Gimmie The Mike"
With the other contestants.
This is a freeze-frame when she won a semi-final round.
Now I don't doubt that she has had to overcome a lot in her life, and I don't mean to belittle what she's been able to accomplish, but nowhere in the article I linked to does it mention the fact that she's competed in pageants and talent shows.
Heck, the way Idol portrays her, you'd think Kellie arrived at the auditions on the back of a turnip truck.
Jonny, that's why I mentioned my own background a few posts back. I have also had to overcome a childhood devoid of a mother, family, love, a home and so on. At least Kellie wasn't shut up in what amounted to a soft prison while she was growing up, as I was. My entire childhood, I don't remember a single time -- not once -- when anyone ever told me they loved me. Not even my father.
At least Kellie had a grandfather who she could live with, and mentors who helped her. How did she enter pagents when she was underage without adults to help and encourage her? I had none of that in my childhood, young adulthood, and heck, not even throughout much of my adult life.
The reason I mention this is not to mine for sympathy for myself, but to say that I am on equal footing with her sob story and CAN criticise the way she is allowing AI to portray her. Do I understand why she and AI are doing it? Of course! However, they are being highly dishonest by, as you say, making it appear as though she just fell off a turnip truck.
And I say again...Kellie is not going to make it as a Carrie Underwood knock-off. If I could give Kellie one piece of advice, it would be to darken her hair, cut it to shoulder length or shorter, and be herself throughout the rest of the competition. Then she might have a chance.