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Jordin Brianna Sparks (born on December 22, 1989 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American singer. On May 23, 2007, she was declared the winner of the sixth season of the reality television show American Idol. At 17, this makes her the youngest winner in American Idol history. In addition, she is the only winner who is from the Southwestern United States, rather than the Southern United States.

Biography

Early life

Jordin Sparks was born in New York City , NY to Jodi Wiedmann, a white woman, and Phillippi Sparks, black and a former NFL football player for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. She has a younger brother PJ (Phillippi Sparks, Jr). She lived briefly in the town of Ridgewood, NJ on Orchard Place, and attended Orchard school. Sparks attended Sandra Day O'Connor High School until 2006, then she was homeschooled to better concentrate on her singing. and is a resident of Glendale, Arizona.

Career

Jordin 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," which he admitted was Sparks. Before going on to American Idol, she won Arizona Idol. In 2006, Sparks was one of two 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. A full-page ad for Torrid featuring Jordin ran in the December 2006 issue of Seventeen magazine. Sparks finished second overall in 2004 at the Music in the Rockies national competition for aspiring Contemporary Christian Music artists, and won the talent portion of the event. In 2004, Sparks appeared in America's Most Talented Kids twice, winning in her first appearance. She was one of seven to appear in a special championship edition of the show. This appearance followed two noted auditions in 2003, one with American Juniors and the other, Star Search. Sparks has performed the national anthem at various sporting events, notably for the Phoenix Suns, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. She has also sung in such events as Country Thunder, a country music venue. She has appeared with Alice Cooper (in his 2004 Christmas show) and has twice toured with Christian contemporary singer Michael W. Smith. Smith has shown support of Sparks by encouraging Idol viewers to vote for her on his website. In 2003, at the age of thirteen, Sparks recorded a five-song album which is titled For Now, working with Matthew Ward, a legendary Christian music artist, and Gary Leach, an engineer who has worked on several of Leann Rimes' albums. She appeared in a compilation album titled Live at Mr. Lucky's in 2004. As an actress, Sparks has appeared in several plays, recently starring in a dual role as characters Deborah and Bea in Magdalene at the Plumbline Theater in Franklin, Tennessee. She's also performed several times with Vaudeville Youth Theatre Company and Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix. Her first appearance was in March 2002 as an Emerald City dancer and as a poppy in The Wiz. She also appeared in Viet's production of Cinderella in June 2002 and another production of The Wiz in August 2002.

Weight controversy

MeMe Roth, of the National Action Against Obesity group in the U.S., said of Sparks, "When I look at Jordin I see diabetes, I see heart disease, I see high cholesterol. That's what's so sad about this - she is not the vision of health - she is the vision of 'unhealth'. Her extra weight is a reflection of today's society and a culture where many of our children have compromised health due to unhealthful food choices and inactivity ... We have to stop with the 'baby fat,' 'curvy,' 'goddess' euphemisms and own this child health crisis."

As a result of these and other statements (some allegedly including the word "obese" although Roth has denied using that term), Roth has been the victim of hate-mail and death threats. Criticism notwithstanding, Roth continues to stand by her statements (although her statements are based on the media and not concrete science of any kind).

Religious faith

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. She also appeared on the cover of World, An Evangelical Christian news magazine.

American Idol

Audition

Sparks first auditioned in Los Angeles, California. She was not invited to Hollywood. She returned home to compete in the Fox affiliate-sponsored Arizona Idol, which she won. The winner of Arizona Idol was guaranteed an audition with the producers of American Idol at the Seattle, Washington auditions. Sparks was featured in the audition episode that aired on January 17, 2007. She sang "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. The judges were overall impressed with her vocals, though Simon criticized her for "being too cute", but Sparks was sent on to the Hollywood rounds of the show.

Semi-finals/Finals notes

Sparks, along with Melinda was one of the two contestant in season 6 who was never in the bottom 2 or 3. The only times she appeared to be in the bottom 2 or 3 were in the 2nd round of the semi-finals and also in the "Idol Gives Back" special, though she was not in the bottom 2 on the semi-finals week because the pairings were random. In the "Idol Gives Back" case, Seacrest made it appear that Sparks would be eliminated but then stated that everyone was safe due to the charity nature of the program. Sparks is one of only 4 contestants to have won and never been in the bottom 2 or 3, joining Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Hicks.

Debut Release

Jordin has signed to 19 Recordings/Jive Records, becoming the first “Idol” winner to join the label group. Her first single, “Tattoo,” will be released to U.S. radio on Aug. 27, 2007. Her debut album is due out in November, 2007. “Tattoo” was produced by the hit-making duo Stargate (Who wrote songs for Béyonce, Ne-Yo, and Elliott Yamin) and co-written with Amanda Ghost, whose impressive credits include James Blunt’s “Beautiful” and “Beautiful Liar” with Beyonce and Shakira.

Jordin is the first artist to sign with the Zomba Label Group — all past “Idol” winners and runners-up have signed with the RCA Label Group’s J (Fantasia, Ruben Studdard), Arista (Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks) or RCA (Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Katherine McPhee) labels.

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

• Live at Mr. Lucky's (2004) "He Thinks I Still Care"

EPs

Songs

Before appearing on Idol, on Sparks' old website, new songs were released. The first three co-written with Gary Leach. However, it is unknown whether or not these songs will be added to Sparks' upcoming debut album.

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

Singles

Awards

A list of awards and honors that Sparks has received in the course of her career.

• Coca Cola 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 www.drugfreeaz.com
• Plus-size model search winner for Torrid
• 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

Footnotes

1. Staten Island Advance "Contrary to popular belief, this 'American Idol' is not from Island" June 17, 2007
2. Staten Island Advance "Contrary to popular belief, this 'American Idol' is not from Island" June 17, 2007
3. Staten Island Advance "Contrary to popular belief, this 'American Idol' is not from Island" June 17, 2007
4. http://phoenix.about.com/od/actors/a/jordinsparks.htm
5. NYPost.com
6. http://www.torrid.com/community/model_search_winners_phoenix.asp
7. GMA Music in the Rockies winner takes a shot at Idol, cmcentral.com, Retrieved March 14 2007
8. http://www.michaelwsmith.com/aboutmichael/blog4/smittysblog/voteforjordinsparks.htm
9. http://www.michaelwsmith.com/news-detail.php?pageid=2685&newsid=806
10. http://www.vyt.com/Alumni.php
11. NBC 11 Obesity Expert Takes Heat From Sparks Fans
12. [http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13002
13. http://www.worldmag.com/archives/2007-06-02
14. http://www.azreporter.com/?itemid=466&catid=44
15. http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2007/01/jordin_sparks_d.html
16. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1341750/bio
17. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20320480/
18. Torrid Model Search winner
19. http://www.torrid.com/community/model_search_winners_phoenix.asp

External links

• Official Jordin Sparks Website
• Biography on American Idol.com
• Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.

• 1989 births
• African-American singers
• American actor-singers
• American child actors
• American child singers
• American Christians
• American country singers
• American female guitarists
• American female singers
• American gospel singers
• American Idol participants
• American models
• American rhythm and blues singers
• Arizona actors
• Arizona musicians
• Idol series winners
• Living people
• People from Glendale, Arizona
• People from Phoenix, Arizona
• Performers of Christian music
• Plus-size models
• Reality show winners