As corny as it may sound, my true goal was to crack the Americana market.

Married and divorced, three beautiful daughters, two in college. The other one is 16, lives with her mom. I'm 46, I've worked for the Post Office for 18 years, seven facilities in three states.

While we got hotter and thirstier as the heat beat down on us. The somebody would call in a voice full of elation

I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is - I could be just as proud for half the money

The biggest deal for me was that all 24 winners are placed on the Billboard CD of the Year, which went out to 500 of the biggest Music Reps in the business, from radio and press to management and booking.

It's not an act, it's just my way.

I liked the way they treated the first, second, and third place finishers equally. It was an amazing year. I only entered two song contests this year; I won one and placed second in the other. And I entered each of them a day or two before the deadline.