Miranda Lambert w/ Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann

In 2003, Miranda Lambert auditioned for the first season of the country-centric “American Idol” knockoff “Nashville Star.” The singer only placed third on the show, but she went on to become its first and only true starher steely bad-girl persona made her an easy sell on the country charts. Though her breakout albums <i>Kerosene</i> and <i>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend</i> were packed with ribald tales of strong women exacting their (sometimes violent) revenge on the men who scorned them, Lambert has matured on recent efforts, taming her image and softening her sound. She takes on slower songs and sings a handful of ballads on her latest album, 2011's <i>Four the Record</i>.