Flashback: Julia DeMato's "Breathe"

Julia DeMato had a storied journey on Season 2 of Idol before she was eliminated prematurely in 10th place, but it was good that she went out on a positive note with her rendition of Faith Hill's "Breathe." Watch the performance below:

Julia earned praise for her performance, especially considering how far she came from some of her earlier efforts on the show. And even her one time rival Kimberly Caldwell shed some tears after her friend was eliminated. Even though it wouldn't stand up to many performances that would come in subsequent seasons, Julia did well for herself here.

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Keeping up with Baylie Brown

Season 6 will forever be remembered more for its controversies than its talent, and Baylie Brown was a casualty of the former. The then-16-year-old country singer drew comparisons to Carrie Underwood due to her appearance and the fact that she lived on a ranch and impressed the judges with her rendition of Faith Hill's "Stronger," so much so that Simon called her "commercial with a capital C."

But Baylie's hopes were dashed in Hollywood when she was stuck with best friends Antonella Barba (the one with the pictures, remember her?) and Amanda Coluccio, which led to feuding and ultimately Baylie's demise.

Despite the fact that she could not advance on Idol, the Krum, Tex., native has actively pursued a career in country music, and is currently in the process of putting her debut album together. It helps that Jay DeMarcus, one of the members of Rascal Flatts, is producing the album. There are three tracks up on her official music MySpace page, "This Is My Life," "Young As Me" and "I Wish Ya Woulda Told Me," all of which sound like they could be hits on country radio.

Baylie, who is signed to Universal South Records, will appear today at 12th & Porter in Nashville where she will have a showcase at 6 p.m.

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2008 CMT Music Awards to be an 'Idol' reunion

Idol fans might as well tune in for three nights this week for the second week in a row, as the 2008 CMT Music Awards will be swarming with former finalists.

Carrie Underwood will be performing and is nominated for Video of the Year for "Wasted" and Female Video of the Year for "So Small," while Kelly Clarkson is nominated alongside Reba McEntire for their duet of "Because of You" for Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the Year. Kellie Pickler's "I Wonder" is nominated for Tearjerker Video of the Year and USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year in addition to Awards Performance of the Year for her performance of "I Wonder" at the 31st annual Country Music Awards. Bucky Covington is also nominated for USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year for "A Different World," while director Roman White is nominated for Video Director of the Year for three videos, including "Because of You" and "So Small."

Also set to appear is season 3 runner-up Diana DeGarmo, who will introduce Kenny Chesney with John Rich and a few fellow Gone Country stars. To top it off, Paula Abdul will introduce Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

The show kicks off with live coverage on the red carpet at 7 p.m., followed by the live telecast at 8 p.m. ET, which will be streamed on CMT.com in addition to airing on CMT. A full list of nominees is available here.

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