Diana DeGarmo

Diana Nicole DeGarmo (born June 16, 1987 ) is an American singer-songwriter and actress.

As a third grader she was a Coca-Cola Kid during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

The next year she sang at Opryland USA during the Christmas season.

DeGarmo began singing at a young age, including the 1997 Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards, and in Atlanta-based stage productions of Annie and ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

At age ten she was part of the Cartoon Gang on The Cartoon Network, appearing in various bumper segments.

In 2002, she was named Miss Georgia Teen and was also a finalist on the NBC talent search program America's Most Talented Kid.

She rose to fame in 2004 as the runner-up of the third season of American Idol, releasing her debut studio album, Blue Skies, later that year.

The following year, DeGarmo ventured into a career in musical theatre.

She has starred in two Broadway, one off-Broadway and three national tours.

DeGarmo took part in the third season of American Idol in 2004, finishing second to winner Fantasia Barrino.

She was 16 years old at the time she competed.

During her run on American Idol she was thrice in the bottom three, but was the first contestant sent to safety each time and thus never in the bottom two.

She became one of the front-runners by week 6.

She performed around the country with the other third-season top-ten contestants during the summer of 2004.

DeGarmo was signed to RCA Records shortly after the Idol finale and released her single, "Dreams," on June 29, 2004.

The single reached number 2 in Canada and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The single also included her version of "I Believe" and a remake of Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud".

She recorded her debut album in between Idol summer tour stops.

DeGarmo's debut album, Blue Skies, was released on December 7, 2004, to opening week sales of 47,000.

The album debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200 and included songs written by future American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, as well as Desmond Child, Adam Shankman, and Andreas Carlsson, among others.

The lone single from the CD, "Emotional", was released to radio in November 2004, peaking at number 54 on the Mediabase Pop Chart.

She toured independently in the spring and summer of 2005 in support of Blue Skies. During the same time she recorded a song for the soundtrack of the Disney movie Ice Princess.

"Reaching for Heaven", written by Desmond Child, can be heard during the climactic ice skating scene in the movie.

In June 2005, RCA and DeGarmo parted ways.

On September 17, 2005, DeGarmo received the Horizon Award at the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame Awards ceremony; the award recognizes Georgia artists on the path to successful and lengthy careers.

DeGarmo began recording a pop/R&B album in 2007; however, she backed out of the project to return to her country music roots.

After filming CMT's Gone Country in late 2007, she relocated to Nashville.

As of fall 2008, the album had sold 168,000 copies with little to no advertising.

She signed to John Rich's production company and recorded material with him in 2008.

The songs were never released and DeGarmo moved on to other collaborators.

She made her television acting debut in a six-month arc as Angelina Veneziano on The Young and the Restless. DeGarmo has since released two extended plays, Unplugged in Nashville (2009) and Live to Love (2012).

She is married to fifth season American Idol finalist Ace Young.

Diana DeGarmo was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but was raised primarily in Snellville, Georgia.

In February 2009 she self-released a four-song acoustic country EP, Unplugged in Nashville, to digital retailers.

In March 2012, DeGarmo wrote "Good Goodbye" for use with her character on The Young and the Restless.

It was released to iTunes and was included on her May 2012 EP Live to Love.

After producing a music video for "Good Goodbye," fans were asked to vote on two versions of the video on the American Idol website.

The winning video became available on iTunes.

DeGarmo's second album, Gemini, was released August 2, 2019 with a release concert at Sony Hall.

DeGarmo presented and streamed a live concert of Gemini in the summer of 2020, ultimately winning the 2020 BroadwayWorld Award for Best Streamed Concert.