Who Is Haeley Vaughn?

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - "Yeah, I think I could definitely use some more experience," Haeley Vaughn told host Ryan Seacrest Thursday night. "I'll do my best."

Vaughn goes home early in the competition, not continuing to the next round.

Already dubbed the next Taylor Swift by Rolling Stone magazine, 16-year-old Haeley Vaughn has even won the heart of the toughest "American Idol" judge, Simon Cowell, who has called her "super, super talented."

According to The Coloradoan newspaper, the Fort Collins, Colo. high school junior has a lot of people back home sharing in her dream of making it on the super competitive talent competition.

The high school cheerleader never took her strong vocals for granted when she turned out to show her stuff, belting out "Last Name" by country superstar Carrie Underwood in Denver.

"That first audition at Invesco Field, it was just me and my guitar," Vaughn told The Coloradoan . "I never thought I would get this far."

Meanwhile, Digital Spy reports that the songstress was just a "normal teenage girl who went shopping" and hung out with her friends before she became an "American Idol" semi-finalist.

Vaughn wrote on her MySpace page that she doesn't "go a single day without my guitar in my lap... If I'm not singing check my pulse."

Like many of the contestants, the teenager credits her mom, Christine, who is there with her in Los Angeles, for helping her to get where she is today. "It's nice to have somebody always by your side," the teen said.

According to Coloradoan.com , the pop-country singer's guitar teacher, Matt Simms, said "Idol" has captured the real Vaughn: "She's always so modest, but I think she knows she's talented."

On her Twitter page, she let her almost 900 followers know that her rehearsals are going well and she is ready to wow viewers when they get a chance to vote this week.

If everything goes the way she is hoping, Vaughn could be the first mainstream-black-country-pop singer in America.

"American Idol" Season Nine Contestant Profiles:

Didi Benami | Lacey Brown | Crystal Bowersox | Michelle Delamor | Lee DeWyze | Katelyn Epperly | Andrew Garcia | Tyler Grady | Todrick Hall | Casey James | Aaron Kelly | Alex Lambert | Michael Lynche | Siobhan Magnus | Paige Miles | Jose Munoz | John Park | Ashley Rodriguez | Lilly Scott | Jermaine Sellers | Katie Stevens | Tim Urban | Haeley Vaughn | Janell Wheeler