After 'American Idol' Jordin Sparks

Jet, July 7, 2008 by Marti Parham

Jordin Sparks speaks in a raspy voice the morning after her final performance as the opening act on the Alicia Keys As I Am tour in New York City.

"This is completely normal," the season six "American Idol" winner insists. "It's nowhere near where it was before."

According to Sparks, she is in good health and fully recovered from an acute vocal cord hemorrhage that forced her to miss the initial dates of the tour (JET, May 12). She says the hemorrhage happened during a rehearsal for a corporate event in The Big Apple.

"I was sitting there singing and all of a sudden my voice just would not work," Sparks recalls. "That was one of the scariest feelings I've ever felt. It wouldn't go where I wanted it to go. I was pushing and nothing was happening.

"I just knew something was wrong. I cried so hard."

Doctors told Sparks the cause of the career-threatening health scare was a "mix of not sleeping, being tired, singing too much and talking too much." After three weeks of strict vocal rest, Sparks joined Keys and singer/songwriter Ne-Yo for the remainder of the tour any newcomer would jump to be a part of.

"Jordin is such a sweetheart," says Keys of the 18-year-old singer. "People gave me a shot when I was just starting, so I'm happy to do the same for her."

Sparks calls the experience amazing.

"Alicia is so inspirational. She is such a strong woman and the epitome of what girls want to become," says Sparks. "When I'd watch her from the side of the stage, I was like, 'That's what I want to do.'

"I just loved working with her. I miss her already."

After observing a pro like Keys, Sparks made some mental notes on improving her own stage performance.

"I'm definitely going to need a lot more stamina," she explains. "Alicia's out there for two hours straight. I'm like, 'Jordin you're out there for 25 minutes. You gotta get this thing rolling.'"

Sparks loved when the audience members knew the lyrics to her material.

"I would go out there and sing some of my songs and I could hear them singing back to me!

"Last year I was singing songs of my favorite artists. To go out there and have it turned around--That's like one of the most amazing feelings ever!"

A couple of those crowd-pleasers include her hits Tattoo and the duet No Air with singer Chris Brown from her self-titled CD.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Sparks earned two Teen Choice Award nominations for No Air as well as a nomination for Breakout New Artist. The CD, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, also earned her the Outstanding New Artist honor at this year's NAACP Image Awards.

Since becoming the youngest person--at age 17--to win "Idol" last May, Sparks has gotten a hearty taste of what the celebrity life is actually like.

"It's a lot more work than I thought it would be," she says. "I mean I knew you'd have to work for it, but it's so crazy how every minute is taken up by something. It's really a lot more crazy than I thought it would be."

One thing that she considers "hard" about her new lifestyle is not being able to see her family as much as she would like. Even though she may be far away from her home in Glendale, AZ, she stays grounded by watching church services on the Internet and by talking to friends and family regularly.

"We always remind Jordin to remember why she has been given the platform that she has," notes the singer's father, former NFL player Phillippi Sparks. "She has been given a gift to make a difference in the world."

Sparks admits that since the big win on "Idol," there have been no cars, houses or any other extravagant splurges for herself or her family.

She did, however, treat herself to a Coach handbag and matching wallet (worth about $600).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I've been carrying it around every day," she says. "I love it."

Serious shopping may be one luxury of fame, but it also has a down side, such as slanted reviews, gossip and rumors.

"I try and stay away from the blogs and all that stuff," states Sparks. "Even if there is a ton of positive stuff out there, it's the negative stuff that stays with you."

A piece of Internet news that she couldn't ignore was that she had gotten married to her "alleged" boyfriend, singer/model Steph Jones.

According to Media Take Out's Web page, Sparks never had a throat ailment back in April. The site reported that her time off was somehow linked to the couple's recent wedding.

Sparks denies the story.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"There is no truth to that at all. I'm not married," she insists. "I'm only 18-years-old. I'm not getting married for a while."

She adds that the boyfriend rumors aren't true either.

"I wish I could tell you that there was this amazing guy doing all this stuff for me but I can't. I wish I could though."

Now that the As I Am tour has come to an end, Sparks plans on taking two weeks to do what many teens across the country are doing-going to camp.

"I'm excited because I get to unplug," she says. "You're not allowed to have cell phones, computers, magazines or anything. I can't wait to go!"

During the summer, she'll be back at work trying to boost the sales of her current CD with radio promotions, an international promotion and another tour.