Diana Nicole DeGarmo
(born June 16, 1987 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American singer and Broadway actress. She finished as the runner-up on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series American Idol
, narrowly missing the win by about 2% (approximately 1.3 million votes) out of over 65 million votes. [1] At 16, DeGarmo was the second youngest contestant among the set of finalists in the third season after John Stevens; she was a junior at Shiloh High School in Snellville, Georgia.
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DIANA DEGARMO TICKETS
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Biography
Born in
Birmingham, Alabama, DeGarmo has been singing publicly from a young age, including at the 1997 Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards and in stage productions of
Annie
and
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
in
Atlanta. As a third grade student, she was a Coca-Cola Kid during the
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta. The next year, she sang at
Opryland USA during the
Christmas holiday season. In 2002, she was named Miss Teen Georgia and was a finalist on the
NBC talent search program
America's Most Talented Kid
. At ten years of age, DeGarmo was one of the "
Cartoon Network Kids". She has also appeared in various telefilms during her childhood. DeGarmo is niece to
Eddie DeGarmo of
DeGarmo & Key.
[2]
American Idol
DeGarmo took part in the third season of
American Idol
in 2004, finishing second after a close race with winner
Fantasia Barrino. DeGarmo was known for her ability to perform songs with ease at such a young age.
She started off as the first contestant to perform in the top 32, and was the second voted into the finals, after eventual winner Fantasia Barrino. However, she ended up in the bottom 3 in three of the first five weeks. Surprisingly, starting from the top 7, she was never in the bottom 3 or 2, gradually becoming one of the front runners in the competition.
Performances
The songs DeGarmo sang on the show follow:
Week #
| Song Choice
| Original Artist
| Result
|
Top 32
| "I've Got the Music in Me"
| Kiki Dee
| Safe
|
Top 12
| "Think"
| Aretha Franklin
| Safe
|
Top 11
| "A Broken Wing"
| Martina McBride
| Bottom 3
|
Top 10
| "Do You Love Me"
| The Contours
| Safe
|
Top 9
| "I'm Still Standing"
| Elton John
| Bottom 3
|
Top 8
| "My Heart Will Go On"
| Celine Dion
| Bottom 3
|
Top 7
| "One Voice"
| Barry Manilow
| Safe
|
Top 6
| "Turn the Beat Around"
| Gloria Estefan / Vicki Sue Robinson
| Safe
|
Top 5
| "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Get Happy"
| Ella Fitzgerald Judy Garland
| Safe
|
Top 4
| "This Is It" "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"
| Melba Moore Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand
| Safe
|
Top 3
| "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" "Because You Loved Me" "Don't Cry Out Loud"
| Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell Celine Dion Melissa Manchester
| Safe
|
Finale
| "I Believe" "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" "Don't Cry Out Loud" (Encore)
| Fantasia Barrino/Diana DeGarmo Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand Melissa Manchester
| Runner-Up
|
Post-Idol
music career
She performed on the "American Idols Live" tour with the other season three finalists.
DeGarmo released a single, "
Dreams," on June 29, 2004. The song was co-written by songwriter
Chris Braide, who also co-wrote "
This Is the Night" for
Clay Aiken. It includes two other songs: her version of "
I Believe", co-written by former
Idol
contestant
Tamyra Gray, and a remake of
Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud".
DeGarmo's debut album, titled
Blue Skies
, was released on December 7, 2004, to opening week sales of 47,000. The album came in at #52 in the
Billboard chart. As of October 2008, sales are at 168,000 copies.
[3] Her single "Emotional"--again co-written by Chris Braide, Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson--peaked at #54 on the
Mediabase Pop Chart.
Idol
finalists during the summer of 2004, which included a show in
Singapore in October 2004. She toured independently in 2005 in support of
Blue Skies
.
In December 2005, DeGarmo entertained troops in Southwest Asia on a USO tour hosted by General Peter Pace.
[4] Also in 2005, DeGarmo appeared on the soundtrack for
Disney movie
Ice Princess
, singing "Reaching for Heaven", written by Desmond Child.
DeGarmo began recording a pop/R&B album in 2007,
[5] however she backed out of the project after it took a detour she did not want to take.
[6] After filming
CMT's
Gone Country
in late 2007, DeGarmo decided to return to her country roots and relocated to Nashville. She is now signed to John Rich's production company and currently recording a country-pop album in Nashville.
[7] DeGarmo now continues to co-write and performs new songs at live shows in and around the Nashville area. In early 2009, DeGarmo released an acoustic EP entitled "Unplugged in Nashville". The EP contains 4 songs co-written by DeGarmo and is currently available at her live shows and on at online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, etc. One of the songs, "Thank You", can be streamed from DeGarmo's MySpace page.
Musical theatre
As a child, DeGarmo performed in productions of
Annie
and
Joseph and the Amazing Techicolor Dreamcoat
in Atlanta, Georgia. She made her stage debut in a lead role as Maria in an production of
West Side Story
in November 2005. Auditions for
Hairspray
and
Brooklyn: The Musical
followed shortly thereafter. DeGarmo made her Broadway debut in a four-month run in
Hairspray
as nerdy character Penny Pingleton in February 2006, impressing audiences with her comedic prowess. She also performed the lead role of Brooklyn in the 2006 national tour of
Brooklyn: The Musical
alongside one of her idols,
Melba Moore. DeGarmo returned to Broadway's
Hairspray
for a second engagement from September 2006 to February 2007. She made her
Carnegie Hall debut in April 2007.
DeGarmo also performed in a musical concert,
In Your Dreams
, in early October 2006 for a new musical said to have a similar plot to
High School Musical
.
DeGarmo was set to star alongside
Tony Award nominee
Gavin Creel in the Broadway revival of
Godspell
at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but on August 19, 2008, it was announced that the show was postponed indefinitely due to the loss of an investor.
[8]
In early 2009 she starred as Dorothy in a tour of
Oz the Musical
, a contemporary version of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
DeGarmo starred in the musical revue
Back to Bacharach and David
featuring the songs of
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David in Los Angeles from April 15 to May 17, 2009 at the Music Box at Fonda on
Hollywood Blvd.
[9]
She most recently starred as the narrator in the Oklahoma Lyric's Theatre production of
Joseph and the Amazing Techicolor Dreamcoat
alongside Idol alum
Anthony Federov which ran from July 21 through July 25, 2009.
[10]
Debuting August 14, 2009, DeGarmo currently plays the role of Sarah, the sexy, blind librarian and love interest of "Toxie" in the
Off-Broadway musical,
The Toxic Avenger
[11]
Other activities
In late 2007/early 2008, DeGarmo participated as a Southern celebrity in
television ads for the
Zaxby's restaurant chain. She also appeared as a guest voice on
The Fairly OddParents "
Fairy Idol" episode as Cosmo after Cosmo watches "How to Sing Like Diana DeGarmo".
DeGarmo has also gained attention on
The Howard Stern Show
, where Wack Packer and frequent caller
Eric the Midget has discussed his crush on her, going so far as to call her mother several times and write a thus-far unpublished childrens' book in which he marries her. During Eric the Midget's first in-studio appearance on November 3, 2008, Degarmo made an unannounced visit to meet him. She said that fans would approach her during live appearances to tell her of the mentions on the show. During the visit, DeGarmo laughed at a few jokes at her own expense and turned down a dinner date request from Eric, saying her boyfriend would not like it.
[12]
Awards and charts
DeGarmo's first single, "
Dreams", debuted at #2 in record sales and went #1 on the
Billboard US Singles Sales Chart.
On September 17, 2005, DeGarmo received the Horizon Award at the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame Awards ceremony. The award recognizes Georgia artists on the path to successful and lengthy careers.
Discography
The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by American music artist Diana DeGarmo.
Albums
Album information
| Singles
|
Blue Skies
- Released: :: , {{#ifeq: ({{#ifeq: ( 2004 - -{{padleft:7 T : : )
- Peak chart positions:
- * #52 U.S.
- U.S. sales: 168,000
- RIAA certification: n/a
- Label: RCA Records
|
|
Unplugged in Nashville
- Released: :: , {{#ifeq: ({{#ifeq: ( 2009 - -{{padleft:27 T : : )
- Digital distibution through iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody
|
|
Album singles
Year
| Title
| Chart positions
| Album
|
U.S Billboard Hot 100
| U.S Single Sales
| Mediabase Pop
| Canada
|
2004
| "Dreams"
| 14
| 1
| —
| 2
| Blue Skies
|
"Emotional"
| —
| —
| 54
| —
|
References
- 31.4 million tune in to ''American Idol''
- American Idol Contestants Ties to the Christian Church
- [1]
- Title Unavailable
- All Grown Up and Finding Her Way, Mary Colurso, April 27, 2007, accessed 7/10/2007
- Diana DeGarmo Moves to Nashville, Craig Shelburne, February 15, 2008, accessed 3/26/08
- Catching Up With Past American Idol Finalists, Fred Bronson, March 14, 2008, accessed 3/26/08
- http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120416.html ''Playbill.com''
- Birdsong, DeGarmo, Lowe and Thomas to Star in Back to Bacharach and Davidplaybill.com
- Anthony Fedorov and Diana DeGarmo Star in "Joseph"
- DeGarmo to Join Cast of Off-Broadway's Toxic Avenger
- http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?month=November&day=3&year=2008&x=37&y=17