We spent eight hours with the Albemarle native. Coming up Tuesday at 11 p.m. watch Michelle’s one-on-one interview with Pickler and then log on to WCNC.com to watch the entire interview. Below is how our day unfolded:

3:15 p.m. – We depart Quad Cities Airport and head to the arena.

3:25 p.m. – We arrive at the Mark of the Quad Cities Arena to men setting up cones at the entrance. Other than that, the parking lot is empty and quiet.

3:35 p.m. – After parking the car we head to the loading dock entrance where several tour buses are parked.

3:45 p.m. – We walk over to Kellie’s bus. It’s blue and her tour manager Greg said they tried to get a red one, but couldn’t. The blinds are down on all the windows and a white tarp covers the front windshield.

3:50 p.m. – Greg goes inside the bus to see if Kellie’s almost ready. She wants a little more time to get ready. While we wait, Greg tells us about the bus. It’s 45 feet and sleeps nine: tour manager, production manager, six band mates and Kellie. Yes, Kellie’s the only girl. The band has been with Kellie since October and everyone gets along well. Greg has only been with Kellie for three weeks. The tour had performed the night before in Evansville, Indiana and after a 420 mile bus ride, the bus pulled into Moline around 8:30 a.m. Greg said he woke Kellie up around 10:45 a.m. to do newspaper and magazine interviews. Greg later admits he’s never seen ‘American Idol’, the show that helped make Kellie famous.

4:10 p.m. – We step onto the bus and our photographer Kevin starts setting up in the main cabin. On one wall is a Samsung plasma television. It faces two rows of leather seats and a table. Next to the TV on the other side of the aisle is a microwave, sink and cabinets. On the counter sits a few bottles of Fiji water, a must for Kellie, Greg says.

4:20 p.m. – Kellie opens the door to the sleeping quarters and walks out wearing light makeup and sweatpants. Can you believe she does her own hair and makeup? “I don't have much light back there so I just kind of wing it," she says with a smile. She’s very warm and inviting as she gives us a tour of the bus. She shows us her bunk. “These are our coffins as we call them,” she says. Kellie’s bunk consists of a small television on the ceiling, a red Blackberry and a red Mac. “I have a blankie actually, but I didn't bring it because I was so scared I'd lose it,” she says.

Kellie hasn’t been able to watch much of ‘Idol’ this season, so she can’t make a prediction on who will win. “I'm kind if a nerd, I don't really like to watch TV or talking on the phone.”

Kellie takes us back to her room where she shows us her clothes piled in her Louis Vuitton suitcases. What’s she wearing for tonight’s performance? “I don't even know. I never know,” she says. “I'm a little bit of a procrastinator I guess you could say. That's probably my biggest flaw.”

Kellie then admits she’s obsessed with shoes. She recently got together with Bucky Covington and Ace Young, her pals from season 5 of ‘American Idol’. “They wanted to come back and see where I live. We go in and Ace is taking a tour of my house. He walks into my spare bedroom and says, ‘Oh my God Kellie, what is going on?’ He looked and there was nothing but shoes. I have a big spare bedroom. It's nothing but shoes from the front all the way up to the door.”

We take a few steps down the hall to the bathroom. Across from the bathroom, is Kellie’s shower, where bottles of Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioners are lined up. She’s the only one who showers on the bus. The guys shower in the dressing room at the venues.

She goes into the bathroom that’s just large enough for a toilet, sink and mirror. “I always put my make-up on in this little bitty shack,” she says as she sits on the toilet.

“My life has definitely done a 180,” she later says. “It's not every day I get to sit on my toilet and have people watch me with a camera.”

4:35 p.m. – We head back into the main cabin where Kellie sits Indian style and barefoot on the leather bench. She admits her indulgence is pedicures because she loves the foot massage that comes along with it. She said once she got four pedicures in a week!

4:40 p.m. – Greg asks Kellie to sign a few CD covers. Later we learn these sell at the concert for five bucks more than one that’s not autographed.

4:45 p.m. – The television interview begins and lasts for about 45 minutes.

5:30 p.m. – We step off the bus and head into the arena for a quick tour. She takes us backstage where Jack Ingram is doing a sound check. Kellie doesn’t get a sound check. Does that bother her? She says no, she’s just thankful that she gets to perform. She takes us to a room where the production tour and band mates are eating. There’s a buffet set up with two types of salad, chicken, potatoes, green beans and plenty of dessert, including a make your own sundae station.

6 p.m. – We head back outside. As we walk past the buses Kellie points out that most of the busses are blue, including hers. She admits that every once in awhile she mistakenly gets on the wrong bus.

6:05 p.m. - We part ways with Kellie. She heads inside the bus and we go back into the area for dinner. Just as we’re sitting down with our plates, Brad Paisley walks in wearing a Virginia Tech cap. We were told earlier by his tour manager no access, not even one question, so don’t approach him. As we begin to eat Greg joins us. We thank him for the food. He says to thank Brad, he’s the one who always pays for it. Thanks for dinner Brad.

7:15 p.m. – We head to a room just down the hall for a meet and greet. Jack Ingram is inside posing for pictures with fans. As Jack leaves the room, more people start to show up wearing stickers that have a red high heel. Obviously, they’re here to meet Kellie. We ask around the room if anyone is from Charlotte. They’re not, they’re all from Illinois.

7:30 p.m. – Kellie walks into the room wearing her same sweatpants and wedge heels that she had on during our interview. She greets about a dozen fans and poses for pictures. As Kellie meets her fans, Taylor Swift hits the stage. Kellie then heads back to the bus to get ready for the show.

8:00 p.m. – Taylor sings her final song, “Tim McGraw” and the crowd goes wild clapping and singing along.

8:10 p.m. – Jack Ingram takes the stage.

8:30 p.m. – Kellie arrives backstage with her bottle of Fiji water. She’s wearing a sequined spaghetti strap top with jeans and silver high heels that are about four inches high. How can she perform in them? “I don’t know. We’ll find out,” she jokes. Kellie goes on stage and sings for 23 minutes. She opens with “Gotta Keep Moving”. She also sings her Top 25 hit “I Wonder.”

While on stage Kellie says, “For those of you that watched ‘American Idol’ you know they talked a lot about my personal life. A little bit about my mom and dad … My dad was incarcerated pretty much most of my life and my mom left me when I was a little girl.”

“I hope you guys like this song. It’s very personal. It’s a song that I wrote to my mother.” Kellie then sits on the stage and sings “I Wonder.”

During our interview earlier in the day Kellie said, “I always get teared up at the very end of the song (every night) … I think Tennessee is what really kills me.” (The song ends with: Just in case you’re wonderin’ about me, from now on I won’t be in Carolina. Your little girl is off … to Tennessee)

Kellie says doesn’t have contact with her mother and says she doesn’t know where she is. At the end of the song, Kellie tears up and wipes her eyes.

Kellie changes from her silver high heels to her red pair and ends the set with her Top 15 single, “Red High Heels.” “I got my red heels on, so those of you that have your red high heels on, let’s kick somebody to the curb.”

9:00 p.m. – Kellie heads back to the bus as Brad Paisley prepares to hit the stage.

9:30 p.m. – Fans start lining up in the arena concourse where Kellie will sign autographs and pose for pictures after the show.

10:00 p.m. – After sitting back stage on an empty folding table during Brad’s concert, we head to Kellie’s bus and find her band mates sitting around inside. There’s no sign of Kellie. The door to the back room is closed, so I think maybe she’s back there. Then a band mate says she’s in Taylor Swift’s trailer getting ready to pull a prank on Brad. He says they’re going to dress up as ticks and go onstage while Brad performs his song “Ticks.” As we walk out of the trailer I say to our reporter Michelle surely they were kidding. There’s no way Kellie would dress up like a tick.

10:30 p.m. – We’re sitting back on the table inside the back door behind stage when Michelle says, “Oh my gosh. There they are.” Sure enough, Kellie and Taylor walk in wearing tick costumes. Jack walks in behind them wearing an exterminator. Brad is known on tour for his pranks, and this time Kellie, Taylor and Jack were the first to pull a prank, only five shows into the 37 city tour.

As Brad begins his song “Ticks,” Kellie enters from stage left and Taylor enters from stage right. They’re both waving their arms around and Brad smiles when he sees them. Brad continues as if it’s part of the act and no one in the crowd seems to know any different. Meanwhile, everyone back stage is belly laughing at the whole thing.

Jack comes and exterminates the ticks and they fall to the stage. Kellie and Taylor both fall on their backs, cushioned by their huge foam costume, and slowly pretend to die. The funny part, Kellie and Taylor can’t get up. Their costumes are too restricting, making it impossible to get up. Two security guards then pull them to their feet and escort them off the stage. “Don't mess with the Pickler tickler,” Kellie says. All three leave the arena and head back to their buses.

10:45 p.m. – Taylor walks back through the back door of the arena and heads to the concourse area to meet her fans.

10:50 p.m.- Jack walks through the back door and heads to meet his fans.

10:55 p.m. - Kellie appears wearing her red high heels, black Victoria Secret tight leggings and a tight fitting T-shirt type dress. Security and her tour manager Greg weave Kellie through the crowds of people on the concourse. Many scream, “We love you Kellie” and she waves. Kellie reaches her folding table and starts signing autographs. The line is out the door and wraps around the building.

11:10 p.m. – Kellie signs her first forehead. Yes, Denny Ayers, who is old enough to be her father, asks Kellie to sign his forehead.

11:20 p.m. – A teen asks Kellie to his high school prom. Kellie smiles and says, “I’ll be on tour.”

12:15 a.m. – After more than an hour and 15 minutes of signing autographs, security uses a rope to mark the end of the line.

12:30 a.m. – After eight hours with Kellie, we head back to our hotel room and Kellie heads back to her tour bus for the night.