Blue Skies

Diana DeGarmo finished second on the 2004 American Idol largely due to her plucky, irrepressible spirit. She was the local girl next door who always has the desire to put on a show, and viewers responded as much to that attitude as they did to her voice. It also didn't hurt that at the age of 16, she was one of the youngest contestants on the show, and it's very likely that many members of her fan base identified with her — when they watched Diana they could see themselves up there on-stage. Released six months after the close of the show's third season (and only two weeks after 2004's winner, Fantasia Barrino, released her first album), DeGarmo's debut, Blue Skies, is halfway between Kelly Clarkson's streamlined, mature take on Ashlee Simpson's rock-tinged anthemic pop (as evidenced on her fine second album, Breakaway) and Clay Aiken's deliberately safe, milquetoast adult contemporary. Musically, it's the right direction for DeGarmo, who isn't even as hip as Justin Guarini, and the hooky songs — many written by Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks, who also contributed to Lindsay Lohan's debut album, Speak — evoke DeGarmo's rise to fame. At 17, Diana DeGarmo may be young, but the best moments here — like her best moments on the show — prove that she's a likeable, ingratiating singer, particularly when given a chance to belt out a showstopper like "Don't Cry Out Loud."