For those who are tired of hearing teen music stars tackling projects with adult and sometimes inappropriate content, Jordin Sparks’ self-titled debut CD may prove to be a good buy, as the 17-year-old latest American Idol winner claims that in choosing the songs for her album, she made sure to pick ones with subject-matters that she’s actually familiar with.
“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to sing about,” Sparks told the Associated Press, “but I knew what I didn’t want to sing about… I wanted to stay away from ‘Oh, put your hands all over me’-type thing, because I haven’t experienced that yet so the fact that I would sing it would be really dumb — plus I don’t feel comfortable singing stuff like that.”
Helping her to pick out songs for the album was Jive A&R executive Jeff Fenster. The record executives said that he, his colleagues and Sparks wanted to retain the teen’s wholesome image because they wanted the album to be representative of the artist.
“She’s one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met on this planet… You immediately get a sense of who she is and her values,” Fenster said. “I said to her from the beginning, a big part of my goal was to help her make a record that she was proud of and represented who she is, and I think she felt that way at the end of the day.”
Aside from keeping the album wholesome, Jordin Sparks said that she also wanted it to be appealing not only to her young fan base, who have followed her since her American Idol days, but to adults as well.
“I never really thought of targeting a specific audience. I just want to make music and whoever likes it likes it,” she told the Associated Press. “I’m kind of just making good music, so hopefully there’s sort of a balance there to where adults will like it but it’s not so adult that little kids won’t be able to listen to it.”
Next up on Jordin Sparks’ itinerary is promoting her debut album, which was released on Tuesday, November 20. This point in her career is crucial as it may very well determine if she’ll follow in the footsteps of other American Idol winners such as Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, or quickly fade into the background like the reality competition’s other finalists.
Sparks acknowledges the daunting tasks ahead, but is optimistic that her youth will work to her advantage.
“That’s the point of this career for me. I’m excited because of my age — I can grow,” she said.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Associated Press
(Image Courtesy of 19 Entertainment/Jive Records)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
