One of the USA's top snowboarders in parallel giant slalom, Gorgone has twice attempted to qualify for American Idol.

"I sing all the time, anywhere," she says. "I'll be singing in the shower, while I'm driving in my car, when I'm walking down the street.

"Even if I'm not by myself — if I'm walking down the street with my teammates, I'll be singing. It just comes out. They're like: 'OK, you can stop now.' "

Gorgone, 26, grew up in Sudbury, Mass., lives in Boston, roots for the Red Sox and honed her snowboarding skills at Waterville Valley (N.H.) Ski Academy.

"My cousin (Loryn) taught me the sport, and I kind of fell in love with it," she says.

Both her failed American Idol attempts came in tryouts in Foxborough, Mass. Gorgone knows she can sing — at least a little bit.

"I was a finalist in a Cape Cod karaoke contest once," she laughs. "But I guess they (American Idol) don't like me."

At 5-2½, 150 pounds, Gorgone displays a powerful, all-out approach to snowboarding.

Her nickname is "Pirelli" — as in the Italian racing tires.

She takes the same approach onstage.

"I like strong female voices," she says. "I sing Tina Turner's version of Proud Mary. Also Ain't Too Proud to Beg and Chain of Fools. I've got some soul."

On the mountain, Gorgone believes she's more consistent than the performer who fell and finished 22nd in the Torino Games.

A giant slalom specialist, she has been on the U.S. team since 2003 and placed eighth in last year's World Cup standings.

She began this season with a victory at Colorado's Copper Mountain in early December, edging Tomoka Takeuchi of Japan and Kimiko Zakreski of Canada.

"One of the hardest things in my first Olympics was competing on the second-to-last day," she says. (The women's parallel giant slalom competition at the Vancouver Games is Feb. 26, two days before the closing ceremony.) "You were sitting there, waiting for everyone else to go, and you're nervous for a week, which was kind of brutal."

Since then, she has become a more consistent finisher on the world tour. One of her 2009 World Cup podium finishes came in La Molina, Spain, where she received a ham for finishing third.

"I brought home the bacon, so it was great," she says.

Enlarge By Todd Bissonette, AP Michelle Gorgone has been on the U.S. snowboarding team since 2003. She placed eighth in last year's World Cup standings.