Jordin Sparks

Although she never had received any formal vocal training, Glendale, AZ's Jordin Sparks managed to make her way into the final 24 on the sixth season of American Idol. Only 17 at the time of her audition, she was one of that year's youngest competitors; as the competition winded down in May 2007, Sparks found her fiercest competition eliminated, and was eventually crowned the next American Idol. She continued her music career and eventually moved to acting, making her film debut in Sparkle (2012), which was Whitney Houston's film final role. Her next major film role was in 2014's apocalyptic thriller Left Behind.