Though there’s only one “Golden Ticket” to the “American Idol” stage, Eden Prairie’s own Casey Carlson is looking to write her own ticket back to Hollywood.

Since her stint on Idol ended, Carlson has been working as a host as part of the CW Twin Cities Crew. If you happen to catch CW segments that have been airing this summer, you’d spot Carlson in a variety of hosting gigs – chatting up contestants at an “America’s Next Top Model” casting call and interviewing musician Kate Voegele at the Taste of Minnesota. Carlson scored the CW job last year before even making it onto Idol.

She’s been heading into the studio two to three times a week, to work on filming segments for the CW or just blogging about events around town.

“I’m learning a lot about being on camera,” she said.

Carlson appears perfectly at ease as a host, but isn’t just looking to pursue a career in entertainment journalism – she still has her sights set on a singing career.

“Singing is definitely my No. 1 strength,” Carlson said.

This August she heads out to Los Angeles for meetings with a producer and agents.

“I’m going to put some feelers out there and see what opportunities are out there,” she said.

Depending on how that goes, she may or may not return to finish her senior year at the University of Minnesota.

Carlson, a mass communications major at the U, is a 2006 graduate of Eden Prairie High School. Before she hit the national stage, she shined in EPHS performances like “Singin’ in the Rain.” Though there’s always a place in her heart for musical theater, Carlson also has a very pragmatic view of Broadway dreams. To make it on Broadway nowadays, you need to be a Hollywood star, so Carlson has her sights set on LA.

Fellow EPHS alumna and high school friend Angie Voreis might very well be joining Carlson in LA after wrapping up her senior year at the U. Voreis, a film major, was with Carlson during the Kansas City audition and kept in touch throughout the “American Idol” process.

She noted that one of Carlson’s strengths is that, “She never strays away from who she really is.”

That down-to-earth, “girl next door” appeal is in keeping with another career Carlson would like to emulate. She sees actress Zooey Deschanel as a role model, a person who has one foot in movies and another in the indie-rock music scene (Deschanel is starring in “500 Days of Summer,” but has also performed with M. Ward in the band “She & Him.”)

Right now, though Carlson loves indie-rock music, she sees herself offering a Taylor Swift meets Colbie Caillat sound – “A folky-pop direction.”

Carlson recorded a CD where she performs two songs (which can be heard on her Myspace page) including the one that was featured on her first audition with Idol, a cover of “A Thousand Miles.” She also recently performed in front of a crowd of 18,000 at the country music festival “Winstock.”

In terms of her experience on “American Idol,” Carlson noted that everyone involved in the show “was really genuine about wanting to help us make the best decisions.”

When it comes down to it, she noted, the show doesn’t make 20 stars every season, it makes about two stars. She also noted that she’ll be having meetings with agents and producers in August, meetings that wouldn’t have happened without the show.

“Definitely for me, a lot of doors have opened.”

-Leah Shaffer, correspondent

Mollee Francisco contributed to this story.