Calgary singer Amber Fleury doesn't mind being known as the "the girl who got kicked off Canadian Idol."

After all, if it wasn't for the talent search program, she wouldn't have met New Brunswick's Casey LeBlanc and B.C.'s Ashley Leitao and formed their new group Braided.

The women's self-titled debut album was released Aug. 1, marking the first time in Idol franchise history, contestants have come together for a project.

Fleury says that is a surprise to her.

"When you do a show like Canadian Idol with nine other people, you practise together a lot and you get a feel for whose voices sound good with whose. So, it's an idea I would think would cross a lot of people's minds," she says.

"So I am surprised, but I'm really happy at the same time that this is a unique idea to any Idol show so far."

Fleury, a local paralegal, was the eighth-place finisher in the third season of Canadian Idol, which aired during the summer of 2005. A year later, she still gets the Idol tag attached to her name, which she says is fine with her.

"With something like Idol, it's pretty much paving your way as long as you use the tools in the right way. If you use your fan base, the exposure you get and the experience of working with the vocal coaches, you can get out there and make something of yourself. That's what Idol is there for -- there is only one winner so you might as well use what you learn."

Still a fan of Idol, Fleury says out of this season's Top 4 -- Eva Avila, Chad Doucette, Tyler Lewis, and Craig Sharpe -- she favours Sharpe and Avila.

But, she adds, it's going to be a tight race.

"It's very different from the Top 10 last year because everybody this year is a really, really good performer. They are so confident with who they are -- it makes me so proud to have been part of the show ..." she says, adding Braided is hoping CTV will invite them to perform on Idol's finale Sept. 12. "It would be really great publicity for the CD and it would be great for our fans out there, too."

Someone who won't be hitting the Idol stage this year is second season runner-up Theresa Sokyrka, who's hoping to strike gold again with her second cd, Something Is Expected, which will be released Tuesday.

The Juno Award nominee says while she's proud of her run on Idol, it's time to move on.

"I want to start songwriting and I want people to take me seriously as an artist, but I'm not going to bite the hand that fed me. I'm so grateful for all the opportunities Idol has given me," she says.

The Saskatoon resident, who's currently planning a fall tour of Canada to promote her new disc, agrees Canadian Idol is a great way to catapult your career, but, she says, you have to be willing to work at it.

"It's all about how you want to use it -- whether or not you want to learn about the business or if you just want to sing gigs every once and a while," she says, adding she hopes to turn her 15 minutes of fame into a career as a songwriter.

"I don't necessarily want to be a singer forever -- I'd like to produce and I'd like to write for other people. It's a long road to get to that point, but that's definitely where I'm headed."