STAGE TUBE: AMERICAN IDOL Golden Ticket Interview with Noel Reese

North Carolina native Noel Reese, now proud owner of an AMERICAN IDOL Golden Ticket, recalls in this interview her early start in the arts, as an admittedly nervous 7-year old, performing songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I' and 'The Sound of Music'.

The next episode of "American Idol" airs Tuesday, January 19th, at 8PM EST on Fox, and follows the Chicago auditions with guest judge Shania Twain.

"American Idol" is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted June 11, 2002 on the Fox network and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. It is currently the #1 TV show in the Nielsen Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons. The cast of "Idol" includes judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara GioGuardio, and Ellen Degeneres, and host Ryan Seacrest.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nation-wide auditions, and subsequent viewer voting. Through telephone voting, America has chosen past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and Kris Allen.
Several "Idol" contestants have been seen on the Broadway stage, including Barrino (The Color Purple), Hicks (Grease), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo(Hairspray), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), and Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages).

"American Idol" airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on Fox at 8PM EST.