Mangus was only 19 years old when the season began, having recently graduated from Barnstable High School in Hyannis, MA. It was at Barnstable High that she began focusing on music, and her membership in the Barnstable drama club (which included lead roles in several school musicals) was documented in High Drama, a WB reality series about Barnstable’s production of The Wizard of Oz. One year after the show, she traveled to Boston to audition for American Idol, eventually becoming one of the show’s Top Ten contestants. ~ Andrew Leahey