American Idol

Justin Guarini and Kimberly Caldwell attend the Top 12 party for Season 7 of American Idol. Caldwell, a Season 2 finalist, will be a mentor at Idol Camp this summer.

Kimberly Caldwell has a little bit of a crush on a certain Season 7 American Idol finalist. And she’s not too shy about it, either.

“I’m obsessed David Cook,” Caldwell told me during a phone interview last week. “I want to make out with him … a lot. And probably will.” (Check out my last interview with Kimberly Caldwell.)

Maybe she’s joking. Maybe she’s not. But, either way, the Season 2 Idol finalist certainly will have her chance at many meetings with the current contestant and his competitors. As a host of several TV Guide Channel programs, Caldwell has kept plenty busy since finishing in seventh place on Season 2 of the FOX reality series. A native of Katy, Texas, Caldwell says she is thrilled with her career. But she still has a few regrets about how she responded to the pressures of Idol.

“I wish that I would have soaked it up,” Caldwell, now 26, says. “I was 20 years old, and I turned 21 when I was on the show. I was so caught up with being 21 and being young. I really, really wish I would have been focused more. I felt like I wasn’t focused on what the prize was.”

Even though she still hasn’t been able to complete a full-length CD in the last five years, Caldwell said she’s still focused on that goal. And she’s quick to let fans know she’s not just sitting around, being a TV host and giving up on her music career.

“Even though I’m not selling a bunch of albums right now, I perform almost every other weekend,” she says. “Hosting is kind of my day job.”

Still, Caldwell said she plans to return to the studio as early as this week to focus some more energy on the CD. She just wants to make sure she’s giving her best to those fans who have stuck with her since she was thrust into the spotlight.

“My fans have been so patient,” Caldwell says. “I don’t want to give them something that’s not 100 percent.”

Recently, Caldwell was one of a handful of former Idol contestants to record a track for a limited edition CD for Edy’s/Dreyer’s Ice Cream. She recorded an original song, Gave Yourself Away, for the disc, which also features her TV Guide Channel co-host and Season 1 Idol runner-up, Justin Guarini. So, what’s it like going to that “day job” with Guarini?

“We are absolutely insane and obnoxious off screen,” Caldwell says, noting she also shares a lot of laughs with co-host Rosanna Tavarez.

This summer, Caldwell will spend a little time sharing her talents with wannabe performers at the second-annual Idol Camp. The former daycare teacher — “that was the only job, aside from hosting, I was able to keep” — says the advice she has to share with campers is the advice she gives herself.

“My main thing, and I preach this to myself as well, all the time, is to be the best they can be,” she says. “Don’t try to mimick people.”

Back to this year’s finalists, who Caldwell has met through her work with TV Guide Channel, and the host admits there’s some pretty tough competition. “They all seem like solo artists,” she says, adding, aside from David Cook, she also is drawn to Carly Smithson and, of course, David Archuleta.

“Everybody’s already tired of it, but David Archuleta is flawless and amazing,” she says. “He’s that freakin’ sweet. He looks like he’s just about to pop, he’s so excited.”

So, what else is new for Ms. Caldwell?

“I just got booked for L.A. Pride, opening for Joss Stone,” the singer gushes. “I love performing anyway, but you put me in a gay club performing anywhere, and I’m probably the happiest person in the world.”

American Idol, Kimberly Caldwell, Justin Guarini, TV Guide Channel, Idol Camp