ALBANY, NY. (Top40 Charts/ AAO Music/ Reality) -
Connie Talbot - remember the name. Many millions have come to know not just her name but also her amazing voice during the brief time since Talbot was the captivating runner-up in the 2007 season of the U.K.'s top-rated "Britain's Got Talent" TV show.
The precious, 7 year-old singer has since become a best-selling international recording artist, and her unaffected charm and aplomb have won the hearts of music lovers and the media. The stunning preternatural singing talent that has made Talbot a star now arrives stateside as AAO Music/Reality releases her debut album, Over The
Rainbow in the U.S. on
September 30.
Talbot's UK debut (Rainbow Records) went gold a mere three weeks after being released in Great Britain, and has since surged to platinum in U.K. sales. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Connie now holds the distinction of two titles: the youngest artist ever to make the British charts and the youngest ever to earn a gold record.
The euphoric response by "Britain's Got Talent" viewers and judges alike (including the notoriously crusty Simon Cowell) quickly spread beyond the U.K. to the rest of Europe and throughout Asia. Recent tours include stops in South Korea (where her album has gone double platinum), Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. She was also honored to perform at the prestigious Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (U.K.) Annual Gala Dinner in London.
Plans for a Nintendo Wii Karaoke game "Sing Along with Connie," have been announced and production has been completed. Scheduled to be released in early 2009, the console game will feature 15 tracks from "Over The Rainbow." In the game, players will be able to sing along with Connie in karaoke mode, or with other friends and family members in multi-player fun.
Britain's Channel 4 has hailed Talbot as "the next Charlotte Church," resulting in Talbot becoming a popular television attraction. Recent appearances include Nickelodeon U.K. and Eire (Ireland). She has also to-date appeared on many major British TV shows as well as programs in Germany, Poland, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong - where she performed a verse of "Over The Rainbow" in sign language.
Over The Rainbow features Talbot singing such time-honored vocal standards as "Over The Rainbow," "My Favorite Things," "What A Wonderful World" and "I Will Always Love You" as well as contemporary hits like John Lennon's "Imagine" and Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" (for which she shot the video in Marley's native Jamaica). The single for "Three Little Birds" recently entered the U.K. Independent Singles Chart.
Talbot says that singing is her favorite thing to do, and cites her album's title tune as the song she loves best because she would sing it with her late grandmother as they watched their favorite movie, "The Wizard of Oz." Despite the sensation she has stirred around the globe, Talbot remains a normal primary school student in Streetly, Walsall in the English West Midlands. But with her eighth birthday coming in November, Connie Talbot is already well on her way to a lifelong musical career and international stardom.
