SANTA MONICA, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Recording Academy) - Online and text votes are in from hundreds of thousands of music fans and
Robyn Troup, 18, from Houston, Tex., was chosen as the "My GRAMMY Moment" winner, it was announced tonight on the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Troup surpassed thousands of hopefuls to land in the Top 3 in "My GRAMMY Moment," a Recording Academy program that continues the organization's mission of discovering and nurturing music makers.
Music fans were empowered to give one lucky unsigned artist the opportunity to perform live on Music's Biggest Night™ with multi-GRAMMY nominee Justin Timberlake. After award-winning singer/actress
Jennifer Hudson announced the winner of "My GRAMMY Moment" live on national television during the GRAMMY Awards telecast, Troup joined Timberlake and current nominee T.I. on stage and performed a show-stopping medley of Bill Withers' "
Ain't No Sunshine" and Timberlake's "My Love." Troup also will be signed officially to Timberlake's new record label Tennman Records after the telecast.
"The anticipation and excitement that has been building throughout GRAMMY Week for these three talented women is gratifying and well-deserved," said Neil Portnow, President of The Recording Academy. "With hundreds of thousands of fans involved throughout this process, we warmly congratulate our 'My GRAMMY Moment' winner Robyn Troup. All who made it into the final phase were extremely talented, and we expect that they will also benefit from The Academy's 'ultimate' career development experience. And special thanks to our partners CBS, Yahoo! Music, and especially Justin Timberlake for being such an enthusiastic and passionate participant in this program from the very beginning."
"My GRAMMY Moment" Winner 2007
Robyn Troup, 18, was born and raised in Houston, Tex. She has been singing ever since she could talk and has notebooks filled with songs she has written. Robyn is multitalented, having studied ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance along with taking both piano and voice lessons. While she describes her musical style as a blend of R&B, pop and hip-hop, Robyn cites artists including Stevie Wonder, Aaliyah and Destiny's Child as her muses.
In addition to a memorable "GRAMMY Moment" performance, Troup will be driving in style thanks to Chevrolet. She was awarded a distinctively cool, sunburst orange 2007 Chevy HHR that comes fully loaded for the ultimate music fan, with an in-dash six-disc CD changer, an audio input jack for an MP3 player and Pioneer premium seven-speaker sound system. A special thank you to participants of GRAMMY Style Studio 2007 for providing wardrobe and accessories for all three finalists.
Top 3 Finalists Were (in alphabetical order)
" Africa Miranda (age 30), Montgomery, Ala.
" Brenda Radney (age 22), Staten Island, N.Y.
" Robyn Troup (age 18), Houston, Tex.
Fan Voting
Fans voted online for their favorite finalist from Feb. 4 until 9:59 p.m. ET (8:59 p.m. CT/7:59 p.m. MT/6:59 p.m. PT), this evening. Viewers also could cast up to 10 votes through their text message capable mobile phones within a two-hour window during the live airing of the GRAMMY Awards from 8 p.m. to 9:59 p.m. ET/7 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. CT. Voters not watching the tape-delayed broadcast could text their vote from 5 p.m. to 6:59 p.m. PT/6 p.m. to 7:59 p.m. MT. The interactive mobile voting technology was enabled by VeriSign.
Submission/Selection Process
" Unsigned artists in the United States - 18 years of age and older - uploaded a 60-second video clip to Yahoo! Music of an a cappella performance of one of nine GRAMMY Award-winning songs:
o "If I Ain't Got You" (originally performed by Alicia Keys), "Breathe" (originally performed by Faith Hill), "Come To My Window" (originally performed by Melissa Etheridge), "What's Love Got To Do With It" (originally performed by Tina Turner), "Dance With My Father" (originally performed by Luther Vandross), "Cry Me A River" (originally performed by Justin Timberlake), "Respect" (originally performed by Aretha Franklin), "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (originally performed by Whitney Houston), or "Vision Of Love" (originally performed by Mariah Carey).
" The selection process of the Top 12 was rigorous and thorough. Thousands of video submissions were judged and whittled down to 12 by a VIP Blue Ribbon Committee made up of singers, songwriters, producers, music industry executives, as well as key executives from The Recording Academy.
" Fans helped to determine the Top 5, Top 3 and the winner by voting at Yahoo! Music.
