May 23rd, 2007 was the day that Jordin Sparks’ life would forever change. That was the day she became the season six winner of American Idol. Just seventeen years old at the time she was and still is the youngest person ever to win. And with apologies to Crystal Bowersox, she is still the last woman to win. As with all American Idol winners there is usually that signature moment which separates the eventual winner from the rest of the contestants. For Jordin Sparks it was undoubtedly her powerful rendition of Shirley Bassey’s “I (Who Have Nothing).” Jordin went on to win over such notables as Melinda Doolittle, Lakisha Jones, Blake Lewis, and the unforgettable Sanjaya Malakar.
Since that day Jordin has been living the dream. She would record and released her debut self-titled CD later in the year on the 19 Recordings/Jive Record label. The record, which has a very contemporary pop sound with a rhythm and blues edge to it, has gone on to sell over two million copies and featured such hits as “Tattoo,” “One Step at a Time,” and “No Air” which Jordin sang with Chris Brown.
The whirlwind continued for Jordin in 2008. She sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XLII between the Giants and the Patriots. It was nice that Jordin was given this honor because her dad Phillippi Sparks played cornerback for the Giants throughout the nineties. She certainly brought the Giants some positive vibes that day as they went on to win in a monumental upset! As the year continued Jordin went on two high profile tours. She teamed up with Alicia Keys in the springtime and hit the road with Jesse McCartney during the summer months.
In 2009 Jordin was back in the studio working on her second album. “Battlefield” was released that summer to rave reviews. The record showed Jordin’s continued growth as an artist and as a songwriter. In fact one of the songs, an original called “Faith,” was debuted by Jordin at the Inaugural Ball for President Obama on January 20, 2009. Both the title song and “S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)” have received extensive airplay and the “Battlefield” video has certainly been a youtube sensation. Jordin went on to tour in 2009 with both Britney Spears and the Jonas Brothers.
The big news for Jordin this year is that she has just landed a major part in the Tony award winning Broadway musical called “In the Heights.” Her first performance will be on August 19th at the Richard Rodgers Theater on 226 West 46th Street. However, before she gets there she still has one more tour in support of her “Battlefield” CD. Jordin and her band will be at the Webster Theater in Hartford on Saturday June 12th. This phone interview took place in the afternoon of Tuesday May 11th.
BH – Jordin, let me start by congratulating you on landing a part in a Broadway play, especially one as successful as “In the Heights.” Could you tell me a little bit about the play, your character and how it all came about?
JS - "My character is Nina Rosario and she's one of the main characters in the play. Basically she represents the neighborhood from where she comes from but she’s one of the few that got out and went to college and got to experience all that. She actually has a really hard time while she’s at college for the first year and she’s trying to work and she’s can’t pay for it and her grades suffer. So the play starts with her coming back home and feeling that anxiety of having to tell her parents that she couldn’t handle it. She feels like she’s letting everybody down because she was representing her neighborhood and she was representing her parents as well. So by the end of the play she realizes that it’s ok to struggle and that not everybody is going to be perfect and all those different things. So that’s basically her story and she falls in love too in the play which is really cool.
It kind of came about when I went out to New York for a meeting with the writer of ‘In the Heights.’ He just wanted to meet me and talk to me about a few things and a couple of other things involving the play. I think they want to make it into a movie as well but I’m not sure. They were talking to me just about a whole bunch of different things. And they said if you get a chance you should see the show. So I went later that night and I fell in love with it. I loved the show and they also gave me the soundtrack for the play and I literally haven’t stopped listening to it since I got it and that was back in February. But I had no idea that they were thinking of using me and placing me into the play. I guess about a month later I was doing a show in Texas and on our way there and I got the email that said they had an offer for me and I was so taken aback because I didn’t really expect it. But I was like ‘Yes I want to do it. Please!’”
BH – Are you familiar with the Washington Heights area of Manhattan which is the setting for “In the Heights?”
JS - “I did live in New Jersey for a little while just because when my dad played football we moved back and forth so I’m familiar with some areas and I’m sure we’ve driven through there but I’ve never liked stayed there or anything like that. But yeah I’m learning more and more about it as I talk to the director and the writer and ask him about where he came up with the concept and all those different things. So I’m learning about it each day.”
BH – Before you get to Broadway you’re still touring in support of your “Battlefield” record. I thought this CD showed more confidence and maturity than your self titled debut record. Do you agree?
JS - “Definitely, the Battlefield record was two years later. I grew up a little bit. I got a little bit older and was in a different place. I got to write a lot more on this record as well so I was saying a lot of things that I was thinking about. With the first record we had to get it done so fast that it was very crazy but I’m still so proud of the first one and I’m definitely proud of the second one. But I want to keep growing and evolving with any of my music. It’s definitely still the ‘Jordin’ sound but it’s going to be a little bit different.”
BH – I really liked the last four songs on the record which are the ones that you wrote. I would imagine that writing your own material is something that you would like to continue to do.
JS - “Definitely, I want to keep writing and I want to keep honing my skills in that area and maybe potentially writing for other artists one day. But I’ve always loved writing and language arts was my favorite subject in school. I love poetry and I love reading. I just love words I guess.”
BH – I thought your song “Faith” sounded a lot like Mariah Carey. Have people told you that?
JS - “That’s a huge compliment. Thank you very much! I haven’t gotten that all the time so that’s why I’m kind of freaking out. The first time somebody said it I was like ‘what are you talking about?’ But then I re-listened to it and I was like ‘oh my gosh it is kind of reminiscent of early Mariah.’ But I wasn’t really going for that. We just kind of wrote the song and I sang it. I love Mariah. I grew up listening to her so I guess somewhere in the back of my head I was channeling her.”
BH – You’ve recently toured with the Jonas Brothers and with Britney Spears. What were those experiences like and how is it different now that you’re the headliner?
JS - “Well first of all touring with the Jonas Brothers and Britney was definitely a crazy experience. For both of the tours it was just non stop screaming. Everybody walks in and they start screaming! I’d go out and they would scream and then I would leave and the boys would go out or Britney would go out and then it was just like deafening. It was so crazy. But I had a blast. The ‘In the Round’ stages were something that I never been on before so I got used to really having to move around and make sure that I hit everybody that was in the audience to make sure that they could see me and that I faced them. So that was definitely a learning process. Touring with Britney Spears was something that I never thought that I would ever do. I got a call asking if I wanted to do this but we need to know right away. I said ‘YES I want to go!’ And touring with the boys they’re such great people I’m actually under the same management as they are and it’s been really fun to get to know them over the past year. I had a really, really good time on that tour. But now that I’m headlining I’m getting used to it because now there’s somebody opening for me. So it’s definitely a little strange and instead of singing five songs I’m singing like fifteen to seventeen depending on how my voice feels.
It’s just been quite a leap but I’m very excited about it.”
BH – On your debut CD you list as influences women such as Pat Benatar, Patsy Cline, Etta James, Martina McBride, Annie Lennox, Celine Dion, and Christina Aguilera. That’s a very diverse group!
JS - “You know in my family we all love music and in some ways I think everybody kind of touched on it. My mom played piano and my nana played piano. I think my dad was in choir when he was really little. But we all love music and there are so many different types of music that get played. My mom loves the eighties rock music so that’s where Pat Benatar comes in. Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Boyz to Men and all that is from my dad’s side. And then with my nana and papa, that’s where I learned about Patsy Cline, Etta James, and Nat King Cole. I love everything. I mean good music is good music. It doesn’t matter what genre it is. I had a really fun time growing up. My nana would say ‘hey listen to this and tell me what you think of this.’ And my mom too would just be playing her stuff in the car and I learned to love it all.”
BH – Jordin, there are a lot of Giant football fans here in Connecticut and we all remember when Phillippi Sparks was the cornerback for them. I’m sure there were many times you saw fans approach your dad to ask for an autograph or a picture. Did watching your famous father deal with the public help you today now that you’re the being asked for autographs and pictures?
JS - “Definitely that is such a good question thank you for asking. We were kind of in the spotlight and when he signed autographs or did interviews it was all about him. I would stand in the background and just watch how he responded, how he handled questions and how he interacted with his fans whether it was a meet and greet or whether it was just somebody he met on the street. My dad is a great people person and I definitely learned a lot from that. Also, with him being in the spotlight we kind of were too. So it was like ‘ok Jordin no temper tantrums today!’ ‘Ok mom!’ So I really learned a lot from my dad and it definitely helped me with what I’m doing now.
BH – Changing the subject, I understand that you’re involved in a program that discourages texting while driving. Could you talk about that please?
JS - “Sure, I’m involved with Allstate’s new campaign and it’s called the X the TXT campaign. Basically it is getting the word out there that texting and driving is super dangerous. I mean there are laws against not being able to speak on your phone unless it is hands free. And yet there aren’t any laws against texting where you have to hold the phone and not only do you hold it but you’re looking at it and not looking at the road. So I was really excited about being a part of it because texting is such a huge thing with my generation and we want to respond as quickly as possible. Texting has become a kind of automatic reaction and you don’t really think about it when you’re in the car. So it’s a habit and it’s going to take a conscience effort to break that. If somebody does text in a car they’re not only endangering their own lives but potentially endangering the people that they have in the car with them or the car that’s driving next to them so it’s a big thing. We were recently in Washington DC and I met Ray LaHood the Secretary of Transportation and he is all for it as well. We’re just trying to get the word out there and influence kids my age to see if they can take the pledge not to text and drive. They can do this by going to facebook.com/thumbsuppledge. They can go and take that pledge and do it with their family. The whole thing is just to see if one person does it and sets an example another person may see it and go ‘you know I can do that too’ and sets another example and then another person and by the time we know it we’ve reached a thousand people. So we’ll see how it goes but it’s going really well right now.”
BH – Are you planning on going to the American Idol finale?
JS - “You know what I’m not going to be at the finale. I have to be back home because it’s my brother’s birthday. Actually I think his birthday falls on the finale this year. But I will be there to do this huge radio thing before the finale. So I’ll be there doing that and then I’ll fly home and celebrate my brother’s 18th birthday with him!”
BH – Finally Jordin the handful of people who have won American Idol is a very exclusive club. You still must be blown away the whole thing.
JS - “It definitely is and that’s so funny. I’ve never heard anybody else refer to it as that because that’s what I say. It’s almost like it’s an exclusive club because we’re the only ones who know what we went through. The American Idol experience opened up in Disney World a year ago February and all the winners so far came. And it was the first time we were all under one roof together. It was David Cook and it was me and Taylor and Ruben, Carrie, Fantasia, Kelly and it was so crazy to be there standing with them because I watched all of the winners and I’m standing here with them. It’s so crazy and I will always be so proud to have American Idol attached to my name because it’s definitely a phenomenon.”
As it turned out Jordin Sparks was at the American Idol finale along with nearly all of the other past winners and runner-ups. It was an appropriate tribute for Simon Cowell whose role as the lead judge played such a significant part in the show’s overwhelming success. When Simon spoke to the audience that evening he correctly pointed out that we the viewing public were the real judges, not him. 2007 was one year when we definitely got it right.