Keeping up with Mikalah Gordon

Mikalah Gordon, the memorable 11th-place finalist from Season 4, has pursued more of an acting career since closing the door on her Idol experience, but that does not mean she has left singing behind. The peppy Fran Drescher-like 20-year-old currently has a new single out called "Baby," which can be heard on her official music MySpace page and is also now charting on online radio station Idol Waves' Top 20 Countdown, where it is #5 for the chart's latest edition.

Mikalah will also try to hone her skills in the country music arena when she stars in the second season of CMT's Gone Country, on which she will compete for a single to be produced and released by John Rich alongside celebrities such as Jermaine Jackson and NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick. The series has already wrapped filming and will debut in August.

After starring as a country singer over in Iraq on CBS' The Unit last October, Mikalah returned to the small screen in May when she hosted David Cook's hometown viewing party at the Kansas City Live! stage in downtown Blue Springs, Mo., Cook's hometown, during the finale of the seventh season of Idol.