{Melinda Doolittle with Ken Abraham. Beyond Me: Finding Your Way to Life’s Next Level. Zondervan 2010. 192 pages. $18.99}

Reviewed by Ralph Marston

In any competition, the person who finishes in first place receives pretty much all the glory and attention. Whoever comes in second gets a little bit of acknowledgement as a key participant in the final drama, and then is all too quickly forgotten. But what about third place? Does third place even matter at all? Is there anything positive to carry away from a third place finish?

For Melinda Doolittle, third place is just great, thank you very much. To her mind, there is plenty of value to be gained from finishing third. In fact, for Melinda Doolittle there is plenty of value to be gained from every single moment of life, whatever the outcome. And she’s just as thrilled as can be to tell the world about it in her autobiographical Beyond Me: Finding Your Way to Life’s Next Level.

Doolittle’s most noteworthy competitive drama to date played out on live television before millions of viewers during the sixth season of “American Idol” in the spring of 2007. Coaxed by a friend to try out, she advanced through several initial auditions and then on to the show itself, where she finished in third place for the season, the last person to be eliminated before the finale. That’s not bad for a young lady who as a child had been so tone deaf that her choir director asked her to lip synch in lieu of singing.

Though she includes a satisfying number of mostly humorous behind-the-scenes anecdotes from her “Idol” experience, this book is not a gossipy tell-all. Rather it is a celebration of good old-fashioned positive values. It’s the story of how a girl, raised by a single mother, discovers and follows her passion without ever compromising her integrity. It is sweet, open, honest, filled with gratitude and enthusiasm. “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell, notorious for refusing to tolerate any nonsense, picked up on Melinda’s infectious enthusiasm and authentic talent early on, telling her “it is very, very nice that you are actually enjoying every second you are having on this show.” [Read more...]