Lexington's Amber Rhodes is an 'American Idol' contender

Amber Rhodes and Josh Rush work on writing a song together at the offices of Sharp Objects, a song plugging agency in Nashville, in January. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Rich Copley.

Lexington's Amber Rhodes is an American Idol finalist. No, Idol addicts, you have not been sleeping through a contestant every week. Rhodes, a SCAPA graduate and budding country artist, is in the running for the American Idol Songwriter competition.

The contest, which is happening online through April 23, is to choose a new tune that will be sung by the winner on the American Idol finale. Rhodes' song is We're Gonna Make It, which she co-wrote with writers Hugh Colocott and Noel Cohen. In a press release, Rhodes says she wrote the song for her boyfriend in New York.

"I spend a lot of time traveling to and from Music City, Nashville and the Big Apple . . .  which leaves a lot of time separated from the one that I love," she said. "This was my personal, musical message to him to tell him that no matter what, 'We're gonna make it.'

"What is a personal message for me may become a powerful message for all of America! How special is that?"

Well, first, she has to beat out 19 other contenders at the competition's website. If you are not already registered with Idol, you'll need to sign up, and then launch a player that will take you through the tunes and let you vote on them.