He tried out in Season 2 and "ended up making it through several tryouts ... but I was pretty green and I got cut."

"And with it being on NBC this year, I thought, 'You know what? I might send in a video and see what happens."'

That video got him invited to the auditions and, several rounds later, won him a spot among the 12 finalists. That, of course, made his wife happy.

"To be honest, when she knew I was going to gone for a while, the first thing she said was, 'Good. My house is going to be clean,"' Jenkins said with a laugh.

Actually, Brooke Jenkins was brought to tears.

"She said, 'Charley's dreams are my dreams,"'he said.

After five seasons on USA, "Nashville Star" moves to NBC Monday night (8 p.m., Channel 5) with a two-hour episode that will introduce the finalists. Billy Ray Cyrus is the host; Jewel (who grew up in Payson), producer John Rich and songwriter Jeffery Steele are the judges. The winner gets a recording contract and will perform at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Like "Idol," the "Nashville Star" finalists will be voted off by viewers. But even if he goes after next week's performance, Jenkins still feels as if he's a winner.

"Regardless of what happens, there's 45,000 people that tried out — I'm in the top 12. To me, that's a success," he said. "I'm not basing my career off of this show. This is a huge opportunity for me, and I don't want to blow it, but I've worked so hard for so many years to build even what I have now that if things don't go in my favor, I'll be OK.

"My ultimate dream is to have a successful career. I want to be able to have the opportunity to sing in front of people for many years. I don't want it to be something that comes and goes and that was my shot and I made my millions and whatever it is and now I'm retired. My deal is, I want this to be a real, solid career where I can do this for the rest of my life if I choose."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com