Singer and Broadway actress Diana Nicole DeGarmo was born June 16, 1987 in Birmingham, Alabama. Since her childhood days, DeGarmo was already singing to the public. She performed at the 1997 Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards and was involved in numerous stage productions including Annie and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. As a forth grade student, she performed at Opryland USA during the Christmas season. Opryland USA is a theme park in Nashville Tennessee known as the “Home of American Music” as it featured numerous musical shows along with the typical carnival rides.
In 2002, she was crowned Miss Teen Georgia and also became a finalist for NBC's talent search program America's Most Wanted Talented Kid. In 2004, while she was still a junior at Shiloh High School, DeGarmo joined FOX's talent search TV series
American Idol . The 16-year-old became the youngest contestant among the finalists in the third season of the said show. She proved that age is not a barrier to success when she ended up in second place behind winner
Fantasia Barrino . Her debut album entitled Blue Skies contained the singles “Dreams”, “Emotional” and a remake of the song “Don't Cry Out Loud.”
The year 2005 was a busy one for DeGarmo. Aside from singing “Reaching for Heaven” for the soundtrack of Disney's Ice Princess, she also played the lead role Maria in a San Jose production of West Side Story. In 2006, she made her Broadway debut as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray. In the same year, she also bagged the lead role in the national tour of Brooklyn: The Musical. Another musical concert DeGarmo starred in was In Your Dreams.
In 2008, she became a cast member in CMT's reality TV show
Gone Country , where artists from different music genres compete to win a country music contract.
(Photo courtesy of CMT)