Jordin Sparks

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This article is about the singer. For the singer's self-titled album, see Jordin Sparks (album).
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks performing at the American Idols Live Tour 2007 in Sunrise, Florida.
Jordin Sparks performing at the American Idols Live Tour 2007 in Sunrise, Florida.
Background information
Birth name Jordin Brianna Sparks
Born December 22, 1989 (1989-12-22) (age 18)
Phoenix, Arizona[1]
Origin Glendale, Arizona, USA
Genre(s) Pop
R&B
Contemporary Christian
Occupation(s) Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar
Years active 2005 — present
Label(s) Jive Records
Associated acts Michael W. Smith, Gary Leach, Alice Cooper, Chris Brown
Influences Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Donna Summer, Chris Brown
Website www.jordinsparks.com

www.jordinsparksbrasil.com

Jordin Brianna Sparks (born December 22, 1989)[1] is an American pop/R&B singer. On May 23, 2007, she was declared the winner of the sixth season of the reality television show American Idol. Sparks won at the age of 17, making her the youngest winner of American Idol. Sparks was recently featured in the seventh season of American Idol.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Sparks was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Jodi Weidman and Phillippi Sparks. She has a younger brother PJ (Phillippi Sparks, Jr). She lived briefly in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and attended Orchard Elementary School. After living in New Jersey, Jordin attended Northwest Community Christian School in Phoenix, Arizona through the eighth grade. Sparks attended Sandra Day O'Connor High School until 2006, then she was homeschooled to better concentrate on her singing. [2]

Sparks is a committed Christian and attends Calvary Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona. On her "American Idol" biography, she thanks her parents and God for her win.[3] She also appeared on the cover of World, an Evangelical Christian news magazine. She won an award for best young artist of the year in Arizona for three years. On her MySpace page, she displayed a picture of herself posing next to a man that said "Stop Abortion Now", creating some controversy.[4]

[edit] Before-Idol

In 2006, Jordin Sparks won second place in the 2006 Drug Free AZ Superstar Search.

Sparks appeared on the January 17, 2007 broadcast of American Idol, earning a "gold ticket" and the right to appear in the Hollywood Round. American Idol judge Randy Jackson made the offhand prediction that "Curly hair will win this year,"[5] which he admitted wasn't Sparks. Before going on to American Idol, she had won Arizona Idol. In 2006, Sparks was one of six winners who won the Phoenix Torrid search for the "Next Plus Size Model." She was flown to California, where she was used in a number of Torrid ads and promotional pieces.[6] A full-page ad for Torrid featuring Sparks ran in the December 2006 issue of Seventeen magazine"

[edit] American Idol 2007

[edit] Audition

Week # Theme Song Choice Original Artist Order # Result
Top 24 (12 Women) N/A "Give Me One Reason" Tracy Chapman 6 Safe
Top 20 (10 Women) N/A "Reflection" Christina Aguilera 6 Safe
Top 16 (8 Women) N/A "HeartBreaker" Pat Benatar 1 Safe
Top 12 Diana Ross "If We Hold On Together" Diana Ross 12 Safe
Top 11 British Invasion "I (Who Have Nothing)" Shirley Bassey 7 Safe
Top 10 No Doubt/Artists who inspire Gwen Stefani "Hey Baby" No Doubt 9 Safe
Top 9 American Classics "On a Clear Day" Tony Bennett 5 Safe
Top 3
Top 8 Latin "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" Gloria Estefan 6 Safe
Top 7 Country "A Broken Wing" Martina McBride 2 Safe
Top 6 Inspirational "You'll Never Walk Alone" Rodgers and Hammerstein 6 Safe
Non-Elimination Week
Top 6 Bon Jovi "Livin' on a Prayer" Bon Jovi 2 Safe
Top 4 Barry Gibb "To Love Somebody"
"Woman in Love"		 Bee Gees
Barbra Streisand		 4
8		 Safe
Top 3 Judge's Choice (Simon Cowell)
Producers' Choice
Contestant's Choice		 "Wishing on a Star"
"She Works Hard for the Money"
"I (Who Have Nothing)"		 Rose Royce
Donna Summer
Shirley Bassey		 1
4
7		 Safe
Finale New Song
Previous Song
Coronation Song		 "Fighter"
"A Broken Wing"
"This Is My Now"		 Christina Aguilera
Martina McBride
Jordin Sparks		 2
4
6		 Winner


[edit] Semi-finals/Finals notes

Sparks was never in danger of elimination. Sparks is the fourth contestant to have won without ever being in the bottom 2 or 3, along with Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, and most recently, David Cook. (Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard was in the bottom 2 once, and season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino landed there twice).[7]

[edit] Post-Idol career

Sparks' songs from the American Idol have been on sale at the iTunes Store and the American Idol official website as Jordin Sparks - EP (called a "bundle" on Idol official website) shortly after the finale of Idol, along with other songs that did not make the EP's cut that are being sold as individual singles. According to SoundScan figures posted in USA Today, Blake Lewis sold more digital singles than Sparks, but her mini album sold more than Lewis'.[8]

After the finale of Idol, Sparks has made several appearances on television shows. She performed the finale song, "This Is My Now"on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Early Show and The View. Sparks had also appeared on Total Request Live, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet with the runner-up of Idol, Blake Lewis, Larry King Live with contestants who made into the top ten of American Idol.[9][10] and 106 & Park. On July 4, 2007, Sparks performed "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" on Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular with Lewis and Melinda Doolittle.[11][12]

Along with television and radio appearances,Sparks has been on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and World and featured in VIBE, TV Guide, Glamour and other publications.

Sparks took part in the "American Idols LIVE! Tour 2007" from July 6 to September 23, 2007, along with other contestants in the top ten. She revealed in an AOL interview that the concert will be more group collaborations and duets as well as bringing along her acoustic guitar.[13]

Sparks sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLII[14] (the song was then made available on iTunes the next day) as well as performed for Diana Ross for the 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. She performed on New Years Eve Live on FOX alongside Blake Lewis.[15] She also performed "Tattoo" at the NBA Rookie game during NBA All-Star Weekend.

Jordin will be the opening act for Alicia Keys on the US leg of her As I Am tour. Before going on tour, she performed "No Air" with Chris Brown on the April 10 results show as part of Idol Gives Back. She was also to appear on the GMA Dove Awards as part of a tribute to Michael W. Smith.

Jordin will team up with cosmetics company, Avon, to become a spokesperson for the teen-focused line Mark.[citation needed]




[edit] 2007-present: Jordin Sparks

Main article: Jordin Sparks (album)

On August 17, 2007, it was announced Sparks had signed to 19 Recordings/Jive Records/Zomba Label Group, becoming the first Idol winner to join the label group. All past Idol winners and runner-ups have signed with the RCA Label Group’s J (Fantasia, Ruben Studdard), Arista (Taylor Hicks) or RCA (Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Katharine McPhee, and successor David Cook) labels, with the exception of Carrie Underwood signed to Arista Nashville. Sparks has stated that she recorded some songs for the album but the bulk of the recording would be done in Los Angeles after the tour is over.[16] She said the album would be "Top 40, radio-friendly, uplifting stuff" hopefully mixing "the pop rock sound of inaugural Idol Kelly Clarkson with the R&B edge of Beyonce".[17][13] Her debut album came out on November 20 and November 27, 2007.

The album came out to generally favorable reviews. Some critics felt Sparks' vocals were not suited for modern pop music while others thought the album's atypical American Idol material helped Jordin to find a secure future in today's ever-changing music landscape.[18]

Along with the label announcement, the first single was revealed to be "Tattoo", which was released to U.S. radio on August 27, 2007.[19] The song became the album's first top ten single. Later, on March 11, 2008, "Tattoo" was released on 'Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 27' as the sixth track on the album, along with 19 other chart-topping hits of early 2008.

After the release of Tattoo, Jordin's official website ran a poll asking fans to vote for what her next single should be, the choices being "No Air", "Freeze", "One Step at a Time," or "Shy Boy". On Sunday February 3rd, it was announced that "No Air" had won the vote, and was being added to radio stations. The song became a huge hit before it was officially released as a single, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four consecutive weeks.

A potentially career-threatening throat injury forced Sparks to cancel a few weeks of shows. Officials said that she was suffering an acute vocal cord hemorrhage, and was ordered to strict vocal rest until the condition improved. If it had not improved, it may have required laser microsurgery. She is now back on the road with Alicia Keys. Her first concert originally was scheduled as an opener for Alicia Keys on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.[20][21][22]

On June 3, 2008, "No Air" was released on 'Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 28' as the ninth track on the album, along with 19 other chart-topping hits of 2008.

"One Step at a Time" is the third single from the album and was officially released in the U.S. on June 10, 2008. [23]

[edit] Tours

  • 2008: As I Am Tour (Supporting Act) - She is currently taking part as of April 30th 2008. She was previously sidelined because of a vocal cord injury.

[edit] Discography

Jordin Sparks discography
Releases
↙Studio albums 1
↙Singles 4
↙Music videos 3
↙EPs 2
↙Collaborations 1
↙Tours 2

The following article is a complete discography of every album and single released by American pop/R&B music artist Jordin Sparks.

[edit] Albums

Year Information US CAN NZ AUS WW Sales and Certifications
2007 Jordin Sparks 10 12 10 39 14 U.S sales: 793,000

RIAA: Gold

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions[24][25][26] Certification Album
U.S. Hot U.S. Pop U.S. R&B CAN NZ AUS UK UWC BRA
2007 "This Is My Now" 15 16 — 25 — — — — — — Jordin Sparks
"Tattoo" 8 6 — 3 12 5 50 14 26 Platinum[27]
2008 "No Air" (featuring Chris Brown) 3 2 4 3 1 2 58 7 36 Platinum[27]
"One Step at a Time" 102 61 — 67 — — — — — —

[edit] Other charted songs

Year Title Chart positions[24][28][29] Album
U.S. Hot U.S. Pop
2007 "A Broken Wing" 66 64 Jordin Sparks (EP)
"I (Who Have Nothing)" 80 —

[edit] EPs

Album information
For Now
Jordin Sparks - EP
  • Released: May 24, 2007 (U.S)
  • Chart Performance: (U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums): 2

[edit] Featured-on albums

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] Unreleased songs

Before appearing on Idol, on Sparks' old website, new songs were released on it. The first three were co-written with Gary Leach. However, none of these songs were added to Sparks' debut album.

  • "The Inside"
  • "When The Pain Goes Away"
  • "Just Me"
  • "Crazy"
  • "Give Me One Reason"

[edit] Accomplishments

[edit] Honors

  • Sprite Rising Star 2002
  • Family Night Talent Show Five-time 1st Place Finals Winner at Mr. Lucky's in Glendale, Arizona, 2003
  • Glendale Youth Fest 2003: Teen Talent Show, 1st Place
  • GMA (Gospel Music Association) Academy, Washington, D.C., Overall Spotlight Winner & Country/Southern Gospel First Place Winner, 2004
  • Country Thunder Young Guns Second Place Winner, 2004
  • The Proof Is In The Pudding Talent Winner, Phoenix, Arizona, 2004
  • NBC/PAX America's Most Talented Kids, 2005
  • Colgate Country Showdown, Arizona state title, 2006.
  • Runner-up in the 2007 Drug Free AZ Superstar Search, Tempe, Arizona[30]
  • Plus-size model search winner for Torrid[6]
  • Winner of KSAZ Fox 10's "Arizona Idol" contest, giving her a guaranteed chance to audition in front of the judges.
  • American Idol Winner, May 2007

[edit] Awards

Year Award/Nomination
2007 Teen Choice Awards nomination for Choice Female Reality/Variety Star
2008 NAACP Image Award won for Best New Artist
2008 BET Awards nomination for Viewer's Choice Award for "No Air"

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Staten Island Advance "Contrary to popular belief, this 'American Idol' is not from Island" June 17, 2007
  2. ^ Jordin Sparks American Idol - Jordan Sparks American Idol
  3. ^ WORLD Magazine | Today's News, Christian Views
  4. ^ WORLD Magazine | Today's News, Christian Views
  5. ^ NYPost.com
  6. ^ a b Torrid Model Search winner[dead link]
  7. ^ Clay Aiken - Biography Also during Sparks' season of 'Idol', 3rd place contestant Melinda Doolittle didn't appear in the Bottom 3 until her elimination.
  8. ^ Barnes, Ken (July 18, 2007). "Monitoring the 'Idol' Buzz: Who's Selling the Most Downloads?". USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  9. ^ "The Winner of American Idol!" (video). The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet (May 25, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  10. ^ "'American Idol' Finalists" (transcripts). Larry King Live (May 25, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
  11. ^ Weinstein, Farrah (July 5, 2007). "Starry, Starry Night". New York Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
  12. ^ "TV's Top 5! Macy's Fireworks Spectacular - 'Idol' Top 3 Perform" (video). AOL.com (July 4, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  13. ^ a b Jordin Sparks AIM Interview
  14. ^ 'Idol' Jordin Sparks to sing anthem at Super Bowl XLII
  15. ^ Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis to Perform on "New Years Eve Live" on FOX
  16. ^ Graff, Gary (August 13, 2007). Season Six Idol Stars Prepping Debut Albums. Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
  17. ^ Graff, Gary (July 2, 2007). Idol Sparks Juggling Touring, Recording. Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
  18. ^ Jordin Sparks: Jordin Sparks (2007): Reviews
  19. ^ Jordin Sparks signs with Jive Records group - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com
  20. ^ WILL 'IDOL' EVER SING AGAIN?
  21. ^ News - Articles
  22. ^ Keys no 'It' girl in an arena - unless she's at the piano
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ a b "Jordin Sparks worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  25. ^ All Billboard Charts
  26. ^ Top 50 Singles Chart - Australian Record Industry Association
  27. ^ a b RIAA search for Jordin Sparks. RIAA Gold & Platinum. Accessed April 22, 2008.
  28. ^ All Billboard Charts
  29. ^ Top 50 Singles Chart - Australian Record Industry Association
  30. ^ DrugFreeAZ.com

[edit] External links

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