Jailhouse rock.

American Idol’s Kellie Pickler told Randy, Paula and Simon during her initial audition that she had nothing to go home to – her mother left when she was only two years old and her father has been in and out of jail for most of her nineteen years. But it looks like things are about to change.

And not just because she’s one of Simon’s favorite contestants. Clyde "Bo" Pickler, Jr., Kellie’s father, currently residing in a Florida prison on charges of felony battery and aggravated assault, is scheduled for release on May 12.

"I’m looking forward getting involved as a productive member of Stanly County instead of a menace," he said in an interview with the Stanly News and Press (http://www.thesnaponline.com/homepage), the newspaper of choice in Albemarle, North Carolina (Kellie’s hometown). "I hope that I can reach out to others who have walked or are walking in the shoes I’ve been. I want to tell them that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (our over-comer.)"

Peachy. Kellie’s big daddy also claims that he and the little minx are actually quite close, despite what people might think. If that’s really the case, it must be through her thoughts and prayers, because papa bear surely isn’t mentioned anywhere else. On American Idol’s official web site, www.idolsonfox.com, Kellie lists her grandma as her personal American Idol, both of her grandparents as her heroes, and says, after God—you guessed it—they’d be the first people she’d thank if she won. Now if that doesn’t exemplify the bond between Kellie and her proud papa, I don’t what does.