Connie Talbot

Britain's Got Talent and Sony BMG

Talbot initially auditioned for the first series of television reality show Britain's Got Talent for fun, but her confidence increased when Simon Cowell, whom she is said to have idolised, described her as "pure magic" and said that he would make her earn "£1 million-plus this year". The judges had expected a "joke" performance as she had never taken singing lessons, but Talbot's initial performance received international press coverage. She reached the final round after winning her semi-final with a live performance of "Ben" by Michael Jackson. On the night of the final, she sang The Wizard of Oz's "Over the Rainbow", but lost to Paul Potts as a result of the call-in vote. Talbot and Potts had been joint favourites to win the series.

According to journalist and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan, Talbot's performances resulted in many children, including Faryl Smith, auditioning for the second series of the show. After his victory, series 2 winner George Sampson spoke of his participation in the first series, where he was knocked out before the live shows, saying "I don't think I had any shot of winning last year ... When you look at the standard of Paul Potts and Connie Talbot. Paul Potts is out of this league, and Connie is out of this league – I wasn't good enough." Talbot voted for Sampson, saying "I liked his dancing – he was good on the lamppost".

Cowell had preliminarily agreed to sign Talbot with his own record label, Sony BMG. After recording two songs in London with Talbot ("Over the Rainbow" and "Smile"), the label pulled out of the deal. Talbot's mother, Sharon, said she was told that her daughter "...was too young to be their sort of artist", adding "We have been told to look for a company which looks after children." In a statement, the label said "there was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie ... However, the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time." Cowell himself said that "when the time is right, [he would] be delighted to see if [they could] make it work". The Talbot family decided to search for another label, saying "while [Talbot] loves what she's doing it would be cruel to stop her. Fame and money will never matter."

Over the Rainbow

In October 2007 Talbot signed with the Rainbow Recording Company for a six-figure deal. Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of record label Rhythm Riders made specifically for Talbot, was due to release Talbot's first album on 26 November 2007. It was later reported that the album was named Over the Rainbow, and the first single, "Over the Rainbow"/"White Christmas", would be released on 3 December 2007. Experts predicted that she had a good chance of getting the Christmas number one, but the single was cancelled in favour of an album-first release. Before the album was released, there was much speculation about Talbot and the album, with music experts describing her as potentially being "the next Charlotte Church".

The team behind the album consisted of John Arnison, who also managed Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records. It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May. Arnison revealed that he and his team "are not going to give [Talbot] singing lessons – we don't need to", and said that when he met Talbot, he was "blown away". A schedule was worked out allowing Talbot to continue with her normal school activities while recording the album in her aunt Vicky's spare bedroom, which her mother described as "a better solution [than Sony BMG offered] which has not robbed her of her childhood". Although Arnison claimed he did not "want to put her through the promotional grind which most artists go through because she is too young", plans were made for an appearance on daytime television programme This Morning, as well as an appearance on Children in Need on 16 November 2007. The album was released on 26 November 2007 and Talbot's mother said that "All the family is really excited, but Connie is quite blasé about it." The album was certified gold in early December, with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on This Morning. Initially, 50,000 copies of the album were pressed, but an additional 120,000 had to be made after the album sold out in days.

In late 2007, public appearances by Talbot included headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control. At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot said "I love it here, it's brilliant, really fun", but had to be ushered off-stage by the police. Talbot performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square. TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on 26 November 2007. According to her mother, Talbot has received offers for film roles. Sharon said "[Talbot]'s been sent a script, I haven't had a good look at it yet but it's really exciting ... Connie's a singer, not an actress, so we'll see what happens. It's completely up to her whether or not she wants to do it. I can't believe it, though."

Sharon Mawer of Allmusic praised Over the Rainbow by saying "She can sing, for a seven-year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too". However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realisation of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5. Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance". However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5.

The album was re-released on 16 June 2008, but was available for pre-order in May, with three new tracks to replace its Christmas-themed songs. The first single from the album, "Three Little Birds", was released in June 2008, and a video for the song was shot in Jamaica. In April and May 2008, Talbot toured Asia to promote Over the Rainbow. Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the Sun.Star mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times, and The Straits Times saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 30 million times. The tour made stops in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Talbot and her family returned to England in late May. Following the tour, it was reported that the album had reached number one on the charts in Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, as well as reaching number three in Singapore. After the tour, Talbot travelled to Poland, where she performed on television.

It was also revealed that Over the Rainbow was due for release in the United States in September, resulting in attention from American press sources including Fox Business Network and MarketWatch. The US version was eventually released on 14 October, with Talbot appearing on American television shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show to publicise the release.

In August 2008, it was announced that Talbot had signed a contract with Data Design Interactive for production of a video game on the Wii console. The game was to feature 15 songs from Over the Rainbow, allowing players to sing along with a computer-generated image of Talbot or against other players in a karaoke mode. Talbot re-recorded the album for the game. The game was scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009, and is called Connie Talbot: Over the Rainbow. The game has never been released, citing copyright issues on the songs used for it.

Christmas Album and Holiday Magic

In November 2008, it was announced that Talbot had produced a series of new songs for an album. Recorded in her bedroom studio, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album was released on 24 November. It is a Christmas themed album, featuring, according to Talbot's official website, "a mix of classics and modern Christmas tunes". News was also released of a one-off Christmas special to be shown on ITV1 in the days leading up to Christmas, featuring footage of Talbot's journey to America and a "secret concert" at her primary school. The documentary, Christmas with Connie, was shown on ITV Central on 18 December. Talbot appeared at Walsall's HMV branch shortly after the release of her Christmas Album to sign copies and meet fans. She then embarked on a promotional tour making stops around the world, which included a performance at Ewha Womans University in Korea, and a performance on the "A Heart for Children" television charity gala in Berlin, Germany. She returned home in mid December, to have "a quiet family Christmas".

Connie Talbot's Christmas Album was difficult to obtain in Britain after the distributor, Pinnacle Entertainment, went into administration. Talbot's mother, Sharon, was quoted as saying "We don't really know what's going to happen at the moment ... We think they'll probably wait and promote the album later this year. It's a shame, but they can still get the album in Asia and the US." Reviewing the album for FemaleFirst magazine, Ruth Harrison gave it 4/5, saying that Talbot has "a great voice when it comes to swing, but lets us down in parts".

In April 2009, Talbot again travelled to the US to publicise her new single, a cover of "I Will Always Love You". The single was released in the US on 7 April, along with a newly recorded "You Raise Me Up". Talbot then traveled to the US on 30 April, and returned on 2 May. Appearances included a performance on Good Day New York on Fox Broadcasting Company's WNYW.

Talbot's third album, Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic, was released on 20 October 2009 in the United States and on 30 November 2009 in the United Kingdom. The United States album is dedicated to the Toys for Tots campaign, of which Talbot has been named the child ambassador. In a statement, Bill Grein, Vice-President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, said:

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is extremely proud and excited to have Connie as our youngest ambassador ever ... She is the perfect person to inform the public of the millions of less fortunate children who may be overlooked this Christmas holiday season, unless people step up to donate a toy or make a cash contribution. Her angelic looks and voice will remind everyone of the innocence of children. And they all deserve to experience the magic of the holiday season! I hope she sells lots of CDs and raises a lot of money and awareness for our children.

Along with Talbot's third album, a television special, entitled Holiday Magic, was produced by WVIA. Holiday Magic featured performances of all of the songs from Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic, and was available to all PBS stations shown in November and December 2009. A 17-track DVD of the special, including two additional songs, "What a Wonderful World" and "Over the Rainbow", was released for sale.

2010–2015

Talbot opened a special concert celebrating South Korea's hosting of the G20 summit of world leaders in 2010. Talbot performed for her largest ever audience when she performed on Chinese state television during the Chinese new-year in 2011. Reporting the event, the Daily Mail's Kathryn Knight observed that Talbot has "had more than 300 million hits on YouTube and in the Far East, in particular, she's something of an icon. Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. — you name it, Connie's a star there. In fact Connie is in huge demand across the globe – everywhere, that is, apart from her native Britain." Viewing figures for the event were estimated to be around 400 million.

During this time, Talbot continued to upload videos of her performances onto YouTube. Maggie Coughlan, of PopEater.com, praised her covers of Katy Perry's "Firework" and Bruno Mars's "Grenade", but was most impressed by her cover of Adele's "Someone Like You", which she said was performed "with such grace that she makes the entire performance look effortless". The video was also picked up by PerezHilton.com. After the death of Whitney Houston, Talbot posted a cover version of "Run to You" as a tribute to Houston. The video received attention from around the world.

On 28 November 2011, Talbot released "Beautiful World" as a single on iTunes. The song was written by Talbot when she was seven. A demo of the track was placed on YouTube, and became the 39th most watched video in the world on the day it was uploaded.

In March 2012, Talbot performed with and led Young Voices, a choir made up of around 7000 primary school children, at the O2 Arena for four nights. The choir broke the world-record for being the largest backing choir for a lead vocalist. This Guinness World Record follows her accolades as the youngest artist to make the UK album charts and the youngest to release a gold-selling record. Others involved in the event included Randolph Matthews and The High Kings. Performances took place elsewhere in the United Kingdom, including Manchester and Birmingham. and were in aid of CLIC Sargent, a children's cancer charity.

Talbot's single, "Sail Away", was written and produced by Robbie Nevil and released independently by Group 3 Management, Inc in May 2012.

In June 2012, she performed three private concerts in Hong Kong and then it was back in L.A. to begin recording demos with the multi-platinum songwriter/producer and Grammy winner, Toby Gad. Talbot wrote a song called "Building Bridges", which she has performed live a number of times but is yet to be released commercially.

In September 2012, Talbot signed a recording agreement with Hong Kong-based Evolution Limited and went into the studio with Grammy-winning producer Kipper together with Phil Taylor, to record her next album. Her fourth album, Beautiful World, containing 13 tracks, was released in Asia on 26 November 2012 on Evolution's Evosound label, the title track being a re-recorded version of her self-penned track "Beautiful World".

Talbot performed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia for her Beautiful World tour in December 2012. Her debut headline concert appearance was on 21 December at the Taiwan International Convention Centre (TICC) in front of an audience of 1800. This was followed by two headline concerts at KITEC, Hong Kong. She also made guest appearances in several TV shows, namely Eat Bulaga!.

Talbot toured with the Young Voices choir for a second year in early 2013, performing at venues across the UK. The African Children's Choir also took part in these events.

Talbot's song "Let's Get Along", written by Kipper, was featured on ONE Campaign's agit8 Spotify album in July 2013. Talbot is also featured in the song "Building Bridges", which also made the agit8 album, together with Jordan Jansen.

Talbot's vocals are featured in the theme song of the video game Rain, released during the beginning of October 2013.

In October 2013, Talbot appeared as a special guest at the African Children's Choir concert in Walsall, UK. It was announced that Talbot would be an ambassador for the African Children's Choir and have a school named after her.

In late April 2014, Connie performed a couple of concerts in South Korea (Osan and Seoul). These concerts, performed shortly after the horrendous Sewol ferry tragedy, were delivered with much personal consideration by Connie to make sure that all song choices were appropriate. Connie performed with yellow ribbons to show her respect for the families of the victims. The proceeds from at least one of the concerts were donated to the fundraising efforts in support of the families of the victims.

On 28 July 2014, a DVD and Blu-ray was released of Talbot's concerts in Hong Kong and Taiwan during her Beautiful World tour in 2012. It features live performances of the songs from the Beautiful World album, and two additional songs, "I Will Always Love You" and "Over the Rainbow".

On 7 November 2014, Talbot released an EP called "Gravity". She has released three of the five songs from the album, Mr. Blue Sky (from album Out of the Blue 1977 - Electric Light Orchestra writted by Jeff Lynne), Gravity and Inner Beauty from late 2014 to early 2015.

Matters To Me (2016)

February 19, 2016, the release of digital single Shut Up (Move On) was announced. The single is taken from Connie Talbot's new studio album Matters To Me, a 13-track album with a bonus track available only on iTunes. The album was released on March 25, 2016.

Personal life

Connie lives in Streetly, in the West Midlands with her mother, Sharon, her father Gavin, her older brother Josh, and her older sister Mollie. When Connie was little, she spent much time with her grandmother Violet, watching The Wizard of Oz. It was with Violet that Connie first sang. Violet died in 2006, before Connie became internationally known, and Connie sang at her funeral.