Molly Gets 'A Piece Of Sky'

(CBS)  America appears to have a special affection for Molly Bouchard, the 12-year-old from Caribou, Maine. Both in her first performance and her "semi-final" performance, she went into the commercial with a "tie" vote from the judges. But both times, the Internet vote put her in first place.

Why? "I really don't know," Molly said on The Early Show. "I asked my mom that question, and she just said, 'You're my daughter. I really love you'."

The judges had a hard time deciding which singer delivered the most successful performance. Mollie tied with 10 year-old Ashley Argota from Colton, Calif. with 17 stars. But the home audience made their preference clear.

"All of the seventh graders came in, well, as far as I know, came in on Wednesday night," Molly said, pointing out, "They voted, and they all said that 'I know she wasn't really bad' but they gave the other person one star and me five stars."

Though Molly said she was surprised with the vote, she said she had no problem with "nerves" either this performance or her last. "I never get nervous for some reason. I don't know why. But I just don't. And that's really helpful."

Molly's first performance was when she was 2 years old at a church celebrating Christmas and started taking singing lessons when she was 9. Besides singing, she has had a share of experience modeling.

In 2000, she won her hometown's Little Miss Potato Blossom pageant. "It's a week-long festival, and all of the towns come together, and they have a big pageant, and it's just a big celebration we have to celebrate our biggest crop of potatoes," she said.

Besides her affinity for music, Molly loves to play baseball. She has played Little League on an all-boys team since she was 10. "My brother kind of dared me into this, and then I kind of wanted to play," she said.

Now she is one step closer to the grand prize of $100,000, Molly said her school and teammates are very excited about her being in "Star Search."

Molly will sing again in the "Star Search" finals next Wednesday, March 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, joining David Archuleta.