Jordin Sparks may have been the youngest American Idol when she won the title on the reality show's sixth season, but the Glendale, Arizona, resident had already packed plenty of accomplishments into 17 years.
Sparks had no formal vocal training, but showed a flair for singing while still a toddler and was drawn to performing of all kinds at an early age. By her early teens, Sparks was singing, acting in plays and modeling, and already winning acclaim for her talents. Along with performing with Alice Cooper and Michael W. Smith, she was Coca Cola's Rising Star in 2002 and made her recording debut with 2003's For Now EP with CCM artist Matthew Ward and engineer Gary Leach. The following year, she won two awards at the 2004 Gospel Music Association Academy, placed second overall in that year's Music in the Rockies competition, and appeared on America's Most Talented Kids twice.
In 2006, Sparks also auditioned for American Idol, performing in the Los Angeles tryouts; while she didn't make the cut, she later won the American Idol-affiliated contest Arizona Idol, which allowed her to audition again for the show in Seattle. She made it through to Hollywood on the strength of her rendition of Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" and found a place among the 12 American Idol finalists early in 2007. Ultimately, Sparks became the sixth American Idol on May 23, 2007. Her debut single, "This Is My Now," was released soon after the show's May finale, and Sparks spent that summer appearing on the American Idol tour. She also began working on material for her album, reteaming with Leach on songs that were previewed on her website.
Her first album was done through 19 Recordings/Jive Records/Zomba Label Group with her first single “Tatoo" hitting the Top10 hit in the US. Her latest single is a duet with Chris Brown called “No Air" which climbed all the way to number 3 on the Billboard Top100 presently sitting on our World Chart Express and Euro Top20. She's young and talented and continues to expand her horizons with success. What more will be, no one knows, however she prominently sits as our Artist of the Week for Mtv.tv.
