Kimberly Caldwell enchants crowd with stunning vocals and beauty – and makes ‘em laugh too

In the seven years since Kimberly Caldwell finished in seventh place during the second season of American Idol, she’s made a respectable career for herself with a long-running TV Guide hosting gig, a few very small film and TV roles, and serving as a spokesperson for a few brands. She has released original music over those years but after a few false starts, Caldwell has seasoned herself to be the artist she wants to be, and she proved with her live set on Tuesday night that she was more than ready to set out on the big time.

Caldwell performed a short intimate acoustic concert at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, where she joked that her mom (Who was present) probably bought half the tickets.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way – this former child pageant queen is one nice woman to look at. Her short cutting-edge haircut makes us all wish we could pull it off as easy as she could. Caldwell performed in a black blazer and a short fringe skirt, keeping it classy yet sexy all at the same time. But don’t let those looks fool you – Kimberly Caldwell is much more than a pretty face.

Caldwell’s unique, rocking, and raspy voice along with the emotions she lays on the stage is what makes her a musician to adore. She kicked off her set with the Kara DioGuardi and Chad Kroeger-penned mid-tempo rock tune “Heart Like Mine,” performed the debut single “Mess of You,” and showed a beautiful and very sensitive side with the ballad “Say Love,” along with three other songs from her upcoming debut album Without Regret (Set for a July street date). Additionally, she covered Melissa Etheridge’s “Come to My Window,” explaining that she still gets asked to sing the song at live shows following her rendition during her Idol run.

Not only did Caldwell perform at her musical best, but she also had the opportunity to show how candid, feisty, and funny of a person she was with in-between banter, and even by smacking the behind of her [hot] guitarist Eric after a song. One of the single best moments was Caldwell bringing up a friend of hers named Chris to serenade him with “Happy Birthday.” Caldwell said as he sat on a chair, “Maybe I should give you a lap dance – it’s been too long” seconds before demanding him to stand up.

After receiving her first applause of the night after singing “Heart Like Mine,” Caldwell cracked, “I didn’t even have to show my tits!” She’s hot, alright, but she’ll never have to, ever. Songwriting abilities, a hard-to-replicate voice, feeling, humor, and charisma: she already has all the goods.