Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, New York Times best-selling authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, have welcomed Debra Halperin Poneman onboard for Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, which showcases the personal and professional development of American Idol Participants.

Even if you've never been a fan of the show, if you're someone who believes in dreams coming true, then you'll embrace the stories that unfold in Chicken Soup for the American Soul.

Top American Idol performers, like Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard, and even Sanjaya Malakar all convey their own thoughts about their season on the hit TV show.

Let's all admit it - it's compelling to watch people's dreams come true. Each of us has a secret dream inside that we'd love to see come to fruition. There's only so much the TV cameras can catch and show to the American audience in the span of 30 minutes to an hour.

Many of the tales are how people overcame adversity. Regardless of whether or not you like American Idol, you'll love the heartfelt accounting of how these individuals followed and lived out their dreams. Plus, you hear from others close to the production - who get to see it all unfold - as told in Debra Poneman's Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul.

Whenever Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen embark on a new Chicken Soup for the Soul book, they know their #1 goal is to convey the lessons learned, the way lives were changed for good - the faith mankind has that helps us overcome any obstacles.

Debra Poneman of Evanston, IL, lives in a household where kids rule the remote on American Idol night. For two or three nights a week, the kids are glued to the TV absorbing the show - so Debra knew it was a phenomenon that needed to be unveiled from a different perspective.

After the horror stories watched around the world on the nightly news, many people are unwinding with Debra's Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul creation. It shows they weren't born superstars - they were human, with flaws to contend with and hopes that were dashed.

The show itself brings people together to talk about the events - and not just at the water cooler in offices each day. Mothers call their grown daughters after each episode and friends stay in touch - just to keep tabs on who made it through to the next cut and who fumbled the night before.

Debra Poneman captured the essence of more than 70 American Idols - their special memories, and hilarious accountings of what went on. It tells of little children whose dreams of meeting their American Idol were met, of fans who have grown closer through their love of this all-time favorite show.

Fill Your Heart with Dreams and Inspiration - Get Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul Here!

Click here to take a sneak peek of what's inside

Win tickets to the 2008 American Idol Finale in Hollywood!

Here's your chance to win up to $4000 in prizes!

Grand Prize - The Grand Prize Winner will receive:

* Two (2) tickets to the American Idol Finale show for the seventh season (May 2008)
* Two (2) round-trip coach airline tickets between the airport closest to Winner's
hometown and Los Angeles
* Three (3) nights stay at a hotel in Los Angeles (one (1) room)
* Round-trip ground transportation between the hotel and the Finale!

First Prize - The First Prize Winner will receive:

* Two (2) tickets to the American Idol Finale show for the seventh season (May 2008)
* A check for $350.00 (Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars)!

Second Prize - The ten (10) Second Prize Winners will each receive:

* One (1) autographed Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul book!

It's easy to enter!

In 200 words or less, tell us "Who is Your Favorite American Idol and Why?" You can write about any Idol from any season, and enter as many times as you like. Contest ends March 1, 2008. Entries won't be responded to unless you are selected as a winner.

Click here for the Official Entry Form.

If you asked me to tell a story, any story, about my life, I couldn't do it if I couldn't talk about God. God gave me the gift of my voice, and I intend to never forget that.

It was the last night of camp in the summer of 2005, and we were all a little sad that camp was ending. Every summer for the last seven years I'd gone to a Christian Athletics camp called Kanakuk, in Durango, Colorado, and every summer, on the last night of camp, I had the opportunity to sing. The mountain air was crisp and chilly, but as we gathered in the warming hut, our hearts were warmed by love. That night, I had an experience that changed my life forever.
Although we usually spent our days water-skiing, mountain biking, and riding the rapids, on the last day of camp we always talked about what God had done in our lives during the time we spent there.

Everyone at camp knew that I loved to perform and was always asking me to sing for them-and to be honest, I loved the attention and the praise.
So once again everyone was saying, "Sing, Jordin. Sing, Jordin," when one of the camp directors came up to me and said, "Jordin, if you sing, you should do it not because you want the attention but because it's a gift that God has given you."
I had to stop for a minute and take that in. Then it hit me how much I needed to hear those words. It was like, Yeah, I've been thinking it's me who can sing, and I'm the one who has the gift, and I'm so special. And for a moment I didn't know what to do because it was the last night and everyone was expecting me to sing, but I didn't know how to find that place to sing from that wasn't about wanting the attention and admiration.

The only thing I could do at that moment was pray. So I prayed and prayed. My heart was pounding, and in my prayer I said, "I know that I've been taking all the credit, but I do know it's You who has given me this gift, and I realize that this whole time I've been thinking it was me. What do I do now?" Suddenly a wave of peace washed over me, and I knew that I was ready to sing, and although the year before I had sung an upbeat song, I knew that on that night an upbeat song would not have shown what I was feeling.

So I got up in front of the camp and I sang "Finally Home" by Natalie Grant. It was the first time in my life that I felt like the Holy Spirit came through me. I had chills, and I cried, and I said silently, I'm so sorry that I've taken all the credit, and I'm so sorry that I kept thinking it was me. It was the most amazing moment I've ever had, and since then whenever I get really proud, I think of that moment and I'm completely humbled.

Once during Hollywood week, after my performance, I thought, Wow, that was the best thing ever! and I heard the voice over my shoulder say, "Hel-lo. It's not you. It's me." So after that, every time before I began to sing, I prayed that I'd be just a vessel for God to work through, so that I'd remember I wasn't doing it for myself.

And it's funny-I usually never get nervous when I sing, but the situation on Idol was extreme. I'd be shaking before I was about to walk out, but as soon as I stepped onto the stage and started to sing, I became oddly serene. Everything just came together and I felt at peace.

I believe it's because I knew it wasn't me, and I knew everything was in His hands, so whatever happened was okay. Even if I forgot the words, it would be totally okay. He just helps me through so much-I knew when I was out there, I wasn't alone.

American Idol opened Season 7 in Philadelphia and on Tuesday, January 15th, viewers got to see a hairy chested guy in a harem costume and a performer who rivals all-time horror William Hung. Viewers also saw some amazing new talent with natural, true voices in unassuming vocalists.

Abdul and Jackson say this season's singers shape up as the best yet...

I was six years old the night my mom and I walked into our apartment, switched on the lights, and nothing happened. She said to me, "Baby, this is going to be such a special night for us. We're going to do everything by candlelight! We're going to eat by candlelight and talk by candlelight-it will be so much fun."

I helped my mom gather up all the candles we could find, and I just loved our candlelit evening together-until I decided I wanted to read. I found it hard to do by candlelight and told my mom I wasn't having fun anymore. I was ready for the lights to be back on.

"Well, baby," she explained, "we won't be able to do that until tomorrow when we get some money and give it to the man at the electric company."

But I wanted the lights back on right then. So as my mom continued to explain the mechanics of bill-paying, I told her that I was going to pray to God to turn the lights back on. I said I knew he would do it because he knows how much I love to read. So I prayed, and then I went over to the switch-and on came the lights.

My mom taught me that with God all things are possible if your heart is in the right place. She never dissuaded me from trying anything, even if my success was unlikely. Like the time I tried to be a gymnast, which I was terrible at. Or when I started to play the saxophone, which was a disaster. Or when I took up the flute, which was only a little bit better.

But what I really wanted to do was sing. There was only one problem: I was completely tone deaf.

In fact, it was so bad that when I auditioned for the grammar-school choir, they let me in because they said I had charisma, but they asked me just to lip-synch. So there was little Melinda, smack in the middle, singing her heart out. But, in fact, I was lip-synching. I really didn't mind because I loved music, and I loved being able to smile and make the audience happy. It never even dawned on me to be upset about being asked not to sing.

One day during my lip-synching career-I must have been about twelve at the time-I was in a shoe store with my mom. When Whitney Houston came on the music system, everyone stopped and listened. How cool would it be if I could sing like that? I thought. Just grab people's hearts so that they stop and listen to me sing. So I told my mom that since I'm not good at anything else, I would like to be good at singing. She replied, "Baby, you are really going to have to pray very hard."

When we got home, I told her that I was going to sing in the youth talent show at our church, which was one month away. Although my mom was supportive, she was also honest. She told me that would be a great faith project for me. So I prayed, "Lord, I want to be able to sing in the talent show." My mom also told me I would have to practice really, really, really hard.

Every day, I tried to hit those notes, and they wouldn't come out right. My mom kept saying, "You've got to keep working at it. You're not there yet, but just keep trying and praying."

The day of the talent show arrived, and I wasn't yet confident that I could sing, but I was confident in the fact that up until then God had always answered my prayers. I saw no reason why he wouldn't this time.

So I strode onto the stage, dressed in my new dress and the shoes I had bought at that shoe store just one month before, and I opened my mouth. Amazingly, out came this beautiful tone! It was like night and day. And not only could I sing, but I could hear harmonies. My mom cried.

After the show, people called the pastor and said, "It wasn't fair to let Melinda lip-synch for the talent show." It was hard for them to believe the pastor when he replied, "She didn't-that was really her."

After that day, I got asked to join the worship team and the all-state choir, and I've been singing ever since.

One of the other things I loved to do was dance. It was something else I did badly, but that never stopped me before. When I was in college, I was practicing a dance number for a school show when my friend's mom walked up to me at rehearsal and said, "I don't know if you even sing, but I looked up at you and I got this message that I have to have you sing background for a recording session we're doing tomorrow. It must be a God thing."

Her name was Roz Thompson, and her husband was Chester Thompson. He'd played with greats like Phil Collins and John Fogerty, and she was not only a well-known worship leader but had sung with everyone from CeCe Winans to Donna Summer. They were recording a tribute to Rich Mullins called My Deliverer.

Roz drove me to the session, where I sang background for one song. When I was done, the producer handed me a check. I said to him, "I only did one song." He said, "I know." And I said, "Are you serious?" It was more money than I made at my part-time job in a month.

From that one session, my phone started ringing, and my career as a background singer began. To me it was just about the best thing in the world-to get paid to sing.

Nearly seven years later, I decided to audition for Idol. Although I'm sure my success story is similar to other's, I think each of us has a different moment when everything changes, when everything comes together. For me, it was the night that Diana Ross was the guest mentor.

Until that night, I still thought of myself as a background singer, even when the judges tried to tell me I was more. But that night, when I sang "Home," and I looked out and everybody was standing on their feet and clapping for me-that was the moment it all came full circle. The lyrics tell about being in a different place, a different time, and a different world-and there I was, little Melinda Doolittle, living the dream that I had in the shoe store so many years ago-the dream of people stopping and wanting to hear what I had to sing. I knew it was now truly a different world.

God had turned on the lights when I wanted to read, and had given me a voice when I wanted to sing. It was now up to me to be the best representative of him that I could be. On Diana Ross night, I knew it would never be hard to do. For it was on that night, when the people wouldn't stop clapping and they thought they were clapping for me, I knew the truth-and I will always know the truth-that without God . . . I'm tone deaf.

I have always been grateful to American Idol for all the amazing things that have happened in my life over the last two years, but I've never been more grateful for anything than having been allowed to be a part of Idol Gives Back.

It was a hot, muggy day when we visited a South African clinic. Tau was four years old and enjoying his time playing with the toys on the floor of the clinic waiting room. His mother and grandmother were with him, watching him fit the letters onto a brightly colored foam puzzle. They seemed so proud of him and made a fuss every time he completed the alphabet. He seemed like a typical young child in his overalls and lime-green shirt, only perhaps a bit shy-and sad.

Though he was only four, I believe he knew that being there wasn't a good thing.

The situation in this South African clinic is one that far too many children and families have to experience.

I tried to talk with Tau. I asked him his name and how old he was, the typical conversation one has with a small child. I smiled as I spoke to him, and he smiled back, seeming only a little nervous.
The nurse walked in and called Tau's name. We all got up to follow her. We were led to a small white room with one window and diagrams on the walls. There was a table in the center that held alcohol, cotton swabs, small metal tools, and other doctors' instruments. Close to the edge of the table were two little packages lying side by side.

When we sat down, the doctor explained what she was about to do. Tau nodded when she told him that she was going to prick his finger. He seemed confident and calm, but the doctor was worried that he would cry and make the task difficult, so she asked the boy's mother to comfort him as she took the various objects out of their sterile packages.

Tau didn't move a muscle as the doctor pricked his tiny index finger. There were two small, square plastic test plates. The tests were very much like pregnancy tests, and the doctor was looking at lines. A certain number of lines would mean the test was negative, while another number would mean it was positive. The results, she said, would appear in about ten minutes.

Those ten minutes seemed like an eternity.

Again, I tried to talk to Tau. I told him what a good job he did and what a brave little boy he was. He smiled and shook his head no when I asked him if it hurt. He held the bandage over his finger. He seemed proud of himself for being so brave and enduring such a mighty pain.

When the ten minutes were up, the doctor looked at the tests, then back at all of us waiting patiently for the results. Without hesitation, she delivered the difficult news: this tiny, sweet, young boy was HIV-positive.

The doctor explained that he should start his medications right away and would need to come back for frequent follow-up visits. She explained that it was very possible for Tau to live a normal life. But I could feel my heart break.

I could only imagine what his family must have been feeling.
To think that this precious little boy did nothing wrong. He was kind, smart, and so adorable. Yet, he had this virus that could potentially cause him so much suffering and even end his life long before his time.

We left the clinic that day lost in our own thoughts. The boy and his family had to deal with this horrible news. And I began to think about my life and the great fortune I've had.
Like Tau, I have done nothing to deserve the things that I have stumbled upon in my life. The only difference is that I get the chance to have a full life.

Neither one of us did anything right or wrong. It's just the hands we each were dealt.

The purpose of our trip was for us to visit the poorest areas of South Africa and give back to these people. Hopefully, we changed many of their lives for the better.

Because of my time with Tau, his family, and all the beautiful people of South Africa, my life has been changed forever. I now appreciate each day I have on this Earth so much more.

I never imagined when I agreed to go and "give back" that I would receive infinitely more than I could ever have given.

I remember when I first met Ruben Studdard.

"Boid," he said (everyone calls me by my last name), "back home in Alabama, a woman prophesied about you. She told me I would meet a singing teacher in Los Angeles, it would be in a contest, and the teacher would be the greatest help and the one that would get me through."

"Really," I said.

"Yeah. So I'm very glad to be with you, Boid."

I've been a performer all my life. I've done backup, made records, been in movies, and starred in five Broadway shows. Basically, my career has been 97 percent performing and only 3 percent coaching. So when I moved to Los Angeles from New York and got this gig as vocal coach for American Idol, people said, "How did she get that job? I've been in L.A. for years, for decades, looking for that type of job!"

Then they watched me work with these kids.

"Oh, now I get it," they said. "It had to be you."

Every day before I come into the studio, I thank God for helping me to meet every singer's need. Each of these kids needs something different-there are no stock answers. When I'm stumped, I close my eyes and ask for guidance. Like neon across my forehead, an answer comes, instantly.

Thank you, I say. "Now, this is how we fix this. . . ."

I know this is my ministry. A lot of people put their spirituality only into Sunday morning, but I believe in ministering to the world every day. American Idol is bigger than I am. I'm just a vessel and have to "get myself out of the way" so that I can be used.

If the contestants are caught up in their anxiety, and I've given them all the techniques and information I possibly can, then I just say, "Okay, you have to let go and let God. When you stand on that stage, just let the God energy flow through you."

It always works, and the audience feels it.

During Season 2, I heard a contestant named Charles Grigsby, and his singing hit me right in my heart.
"Charlie," I said to him, "when you sang that song, I could tell you were letting grace flow through you. People are going to love you, and they won't even know why."

He gave me a beautiful smile that said, Do you think so?

At that very moment, a woman from the office was walking by. She stopped and said to Charlie, "I just want to say that-I don't know why-but I just love you."

Charlie and I looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear.

I tell contestants, "You are not here to sing for yourself. It's about touching people's hearts. Your voice can heal, inspire, and elevate. The fact that you're here is bigger than you think. There is someone out there who needs to hear what you have to sing." I know this from my own experience. Once, when I was performing at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles with Barry Manilow, I felt bad after the show because I hadn't sung my featured songs well that night.

"I didn't do this right," I had whined. "I forgot to do that . . . waah, waah, waah."

I was completely caught up in my own frustration when a man walked up to me and said, "Thank you for singing that song tonight. You have no idea how you healed my broken heart."

I never complained again.

People say to me all the time, "You should be doing this! Why aren't you doing that? When are you gonna. . . ."

And I say, "It's not my time."

I just wait for God. Most people don't know how to wait on God because it's very hard to do. I'm one of those people who likes to be led through life by the Spirit. I don't like to butt my head up against walls. I've been told I have the patience of a saint, but really I just believe in divine timing.
Coaching at American Idol is a huge responsibility. I don't take it for granted-I'm incredibly grateful for it.

When I was a teenager, my mother used to say, "You have to 'walk on your knees,' give thanks, and be grateful all the time." I do. And I am.

I'm grateful for the smallest things. I remember during Season 1, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe said, "Byrd, I love you to your bones." That meant so much to me. I'm still grateful for it.

And when I leave the studio at the end of a day, I always say to God, "Thank you for speaking to me, and that I hear your voice. Thank you for being with me." Then I get into my car and all the songs in my CD player are songs about gratitude. I call them my thank-you songs.

Most of all I'm grateful that I'm aligned with what I'm destined to do. Whenever people ask me how I got this amazing job, I just tell them, "I have connections-God gave it to me!"