ALBANY, N.Y. (Top40 Charts/ AAO/ Reality) - While the current 2009 series of Britain's Got Talent reaches fever pitch, one of its original finalists -
Connie Talbot - books a double in the US climbing up the Billboard Hot Singles chart to the No 6 position, while moving up a notch to No 12* on the AC/FMQB radio chart.
With the release of her second US single, "I Will Always Love You," Talbot's popularity continues to rise, the world over. Taken from her debut album, Over The Rainbow (AAO/Reality) I Will Always Love You follows on the heels of her US chart-topping version of a well-known Bob Marley tune, "Three Little Birds," which rose to the number one position on the Billboard charts in 2008.
Connie Talbot first came to the attention of the world in 2007 at the age of 6, when she won the hearts of U.K. telly viewers as a contestant on the hit British program. Showcasing her extraordinary talent with her rendition of the Judy Garland classic, the usually irascible Simon Cowell heaped praises on the then-gap-toothed tot, years before his most recent discovery, Susan Boyle, made headlines.
In June, Talbot will travel to Tokyo to promote the release of her album in Japan, after which she will return to the US west coast for television appearances in: San Diego, Seattle, Portland and Phoenix. Talbot then returns to England-for the release of I Will Always Love You-and to conduct exclusive photo shoots for Getty Images, the premier distributor of editorial imagery.
Further proof of her international celebrity: In Korea-a platinum sales base for Miss Talbot-the Banpo bridge was recently affixed with 10,000 nozzles of gushing water on either side of its 3,700-foot-long span. Shooting dramatic bursts of water into the Han River, they are synchronized in time with music-chosen by the Seoul public-including Vivaldi and Connie's version of "Over the Rainbow."
An announcement on Connie's forthcoming US holiday album is expected in August. AAO Music Chairman Peter G. Kuys states, "Connie's holiday project will continue the building of brand Connie in the US and beyond."
Additionally, recording will commence on new material slated for release in 2010.