When Krystal's Me & My Piano album is released on July 10, the Indiana singer-songwriter faces a battle in terms of making her voice heard amid the din of teen pop.

Never mind mega-stars 'N Sync and her Backstreet Boys mentors.

Think Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Eden's Crush, Dream, Samantha Mumba, Nikka Costa, Willa Ford, Stella Soleil, Hoku and Pink.

"There's a lot of 'female pop' traffic out there right now," says Scott Sands, program director for WZPL-FM (99.5).

"I personally think Krystal is getting lost in the national picture -- which is a shame, because her voice really cuts through and sounds dynamically different."

WZPL has been Krystal's top booster at local radio, spinning her Supergirl single more than 130 times since April 4. The song won the station's "Survivor" new music challenge for 13 consecutive nights.

"Our listeners have shown that they like it," Sands says.

A Backstreet boost

David Edgar, program director for WZPL's arch-rival, WNOU-FM (93.1), says it can't hurt for Krystal to tour the world with the Backstreet Boys.

"That will put her in front of people that may not have ever heard of her or may not be in a market where she's being played on the radio," he says. "A lot of times, that's how new artists get exposure."

Edgar, with WNOU since September, has no doubt that a commercial breakthrough is possible.

Remembers Christina

He worked at a Pittsburgh radio station when Wexford, Pa., native Christina Aguilera was still a small-town girl.

"She came through town and sang at the second stage of Lilith Fair six to eight months before Genie in a Bottle came out," Edgar says. "We interviewed her on the air. She was dying to make it big-time, and you know what happened after that."

Krystal, who's made in-studio appearances at both WZPL and WNOU, says she doesn't view her career as a competition:

"My philosophy is to be myself," she says. "To be everything I can be and do everything I can do. And then stand. I hope everybody has success."

-- David Lindquist