Jackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho (/iːˈveɪŋkoʊ/ ee-VAYNG-koh; born April 9, 2000) is an American classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age and, since 2009, has issued an EP and five albums, including a platinum and gold album and three Billboard 200 top 10 debuts. Between 2008 and 2010, Evancho entered several talent competitions; made singing appearances, mostly in Pennsylvania (including singing the U.S. national anthem at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game); issued an independent album, Prelude to a Dream; and attracted interest on YouTube. Evancho impressed composers Tim Janis and David Foster, each of whom included her in his concerts beginning in 2009. Later in 2010, at the age of ten, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the fifth season of the America's Got Talent competition, finishing in second place. With the 2010 holiday release of her O Holy Night EP, Evancho became the best-selling debut artist of 2010, the youngest top-10 debut artist in U.S. history and the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum. She first performed in front of U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2010 National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C. In June 2011, her first full-length major-label album, Dream With Me, produced by David Foster, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, and she became the youngest top-5 debut artist in UK history. Billboard ranked Evancho the top Classical Albums Artist for 2011. Evancho released another studio album, Heavenly Christmas, in November 2011. The same month, she became the youngest person ever to give a solo concert at Lincoln Center in New York City as part of her Dream With Me Tour. She has made three solo Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) specials, the third of which began broadcasts beginning on November 29, 2014. Evancho is the ambassador for Mission: Humane, a U.S. Humane Society program that encourages children to help protect animals. A national cotillion organization listed her as one of the "ten best-mannered people of 2011". From late 2012 to 2014, she toured the U.S., performing songs from her fourth full-length album, Songs from the Silver Screen, released in October 2012, which was Evancho's third top-ten album debut. In 2013 she also headlined benefit concerts at Carnegie Hall and the LDS Conference Center. She appeared in the 2013 Robert Redford film The Company You Keep, modelled for Guess Kids clothing, among others, and has appeared on behalf of such charities as One Drop Foundation. Evancho released her fifth full-length album, Awakening, in September 2014, which was her fifth consecutive No. 1 release on the Billboard Classical Albums chart.