b. 22 December 1989, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Sparks made her name as the winner of the sixth season of the popular Fox TV reality show American Idol, in the process becoming the youngest artist to succeed in the series. She was raised in a deeply Christian household and the fact that she made no secret of her beliefs led to some criticism from liberal American Idol viewers.
Sparks was singing and playing guitar from an early age, and began performing in public in her early teens. In 2003, she recorded a five-track EP with CCM artist Matthew Ward, and the following year won an edition of NBC’s talent show America’s Most Talented Kid. She also appeared on stage with several Phoenix-based theatre groups. Despite misgivings from some of the judges on American Idol that she was too clean-cut to succeed, Sparks battled through several pre-qualification rounds to reach the final of the show on 23 May 2007, where she triumphed over beat-boxer Blake Lewis.
Following her success on American Idol, the singer signed a recording contract with the Jive Records subsidiary label 19 Recordings. Her debut single ‘Tattoo’, released in August, was co-written by Amanda Ghost and hip Norwegian songwriting/production team Stargate, but this rather forced attempt to tap into the Rihanna / Beyoncé market stalled in the US Top 10 despite massive media attention. The follow-up ‘No Air’ (featuring Chris Brown) was a more enduring success. Her self-titled debut album was a collection of bland R&B-styled pop that displayed little of the enthusiasm the singer had shown during her American Idol performances.
