This was one of the first dresses Sparks saw on the rack at our photo shoot. Her reaction: “I love the color, can I please wear that?” Dress, Gucci; earrings, Charles Garnier; ring, her own.

You may not have spent the summer after your junior year in high school performing on a national concert tour and recording a much anticipated album (neither did we), but that’s exactly what 17-year-old Jordin Sparks has been up to since winning American Idol in May. But the fame, the fans…it all almost never came to pass. When she first auditioned in Los Angeles, producers rejected her, saying, “There’s something missing.” Sparks says she didn’t beat herself up over it. “The funny thing is, I went back to my hotel room and got a call letting me know I’d landed a job modeling for the plus-size store Torrid. I was so excited! It gave me the confidence to try out for Arizona Idol.” Winning that competition meant Sparks got sent to Seattle to audition for the national show again.

Her victory on AI landed her a record deal, a new Ford Mustang and a whole lotta scrutiny over her weight. Just after her win, MeMe Roth, president of the National Action Against Obesity, went on TV to denounce Sparks as “the vision of unhealth.” Says Sparks (who, by the way, is a size 12—smaller than the average size-14 American woman): “I thought it was hilarious actually, because I exercise and I’m comfortable with myself. If this woman isn’t, then I don’t know what’s up. I am just normal!” Sparks swears we won’t be reading any how-she-lost-all-the-weight stories about her anytime soon. “There’s always that pressure, but it’s just a matter of whether or not you succumb to it,” she says. “I would look really weird as a size 2. Everybody needs a little meat on their bones.” She also doesn’t think curvy women should hide themselves in “quiet” clothes. “Don’t be scared of bright colors—they’re all about having fun,” Sparks says. One more thing she’s dead-set against: baggy stuff. “Accentuate the positive. I have a small waist, so I love wearing corset styles that define that part of my body.”

The singer has equally strong convictions about her widely reported pledge not to have premarital sex. “When I was 13, my parents gave me a purity ring and talked to me about waiting until I’m married to have sex. It wasn’t forced; it just made perfect sense,” she says. “It’s going to be awesome to say to my husband that I waited my whole life for him.” When asked what she’ll do if she never marries, Sparks displays a teenager’s optimism: “If I never get married?! Oh my gosh, that’s a good question. Well, I hope I do.”
Three more little facts about Jordin Sparks

1 Her dad, Phillippi, 38, was a star football player for the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.

2 To get that major head of hair on American Idol, she often relied on 18-inch clip-in extensions. Who knew?

3 She performed with shock rocker Alice Cooper at his 2004 Christmas charity benefit.

Given the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning successes of fellow “American Idol” winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks is feeling pressure to make her own mark on the music world.

It’s a lot to live up to.

“They’ve risen the bar so high and I’m like, ‘I hope I can reach it,”’ the bubbly 17-year-old told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’m trying to reach it! I just really hope that when (my CD) comes out it’ll be great and maybe as good as theirs. And hopefully it’ll sell well and people will like it.”
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She offers a taste of the disc with her new single, “Tattoo,” to be released on AOL’s PopEater music blog Friday and to radio stations Monday. The poppy tune about ending a romance had the Sparks seal of approval from the beginning. It was love at first listen.

“Right after I heard the first chorus, I was like, ‘I wanna sing that song. I have to have it. I wanna sing it,’ ” she said.

Sparks, the youngest winner in the Fox show’s six seasons, said her debut album, set for Nov. 20, will be a musical mixture of styles including pop-rock — in the edgy key of Clarkson, one of her role models — and the dramatic ballads that made her stand out on the “Idol” stage. She hopes to add some country, too.

This girl’s got goals — among them, to “maybe win a couple Grammys ... Maybe be happy with somebody. Maybe act in a movie. Maybe do Broadway.”

Sparks is still coming to terms with celebrity. Seeing her picture in glossy magazines is surreal. But she’d rather be in the spotlight than out of it.

“I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything,” she said. “It’s just been so amazing. You know, it’s hard because I go outside and I’m instantly recognized and I’m like, oh my gosh, because it happened overnight, literally.”

Sparks, who is out on the “American Idol” tour, remains tight with her fellow finalists. That includes Sanjaya.

“It’s abnormally weird how well we still get along,” she said. “We’re still like any dysfunctional family where we get on each other’s nerves, but, at the end of the day, we’re still just like, ’Hey, you wanna hang out?”’

The gang recently saw the hit comedy, “Superbad,” which has no shortage of R-rated raunch.

“It was so funny and I feel bad because I didn’t expect it to be as vulgar as it was,” Sparks said. “But I laughed anyway!”

Recent American Idol winner Jordin Sparks has a new single, "Tattoo," hitting radio on Monday, though traditionally Top 40 stations have been lukewarm about embracing the winners of the FOX reality show. The New York Post reports that Sparks' album will be out in November, after having inked a deal with 19 Recordings/Jive. The previous five Idol winners had all been signed to RCA.

"American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks has signed to 19 Recordings/Jive Records. The first Jive release from 17-year-old Sparks will be the single "Tattoo," on Aug. 27. The track was produced by Stargate (Beyonce, Ne-Yo) and co-written with Amanda Ghost (James Blunt's "Beautiful").

Sparks' debut album is set for release in November. "I'm feeling a little bit of pressure because it's coming up so fast," Sparks told Billboard.com earlier this month. "But I have full confidence that we'll finish it by the time we have to."

Sparks has been recording songs for the album during the American Idols Live Tour this summer, which runs through Sept. 22. Sparks is also scheduled to appear on the Teen Choice Awards, which airs Aug. 26 on Fox.

While their fellow “American Idol” finalists wait for word later this month on their futures, season six champ Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis are hard at work on their debut albums.

Jordin said that “I’m feeling a little bit of pressure because it’s coming up so fast, but I have full confidence that we’ll finish it by the time we have to.”

Jordin has just recorded four songs so far Jordin plans to do the bulk of the recording back in Los Angeles after the Idols Live tour finishes on 22nd September.

Blake said that he has recorded eight songs so far and is working with producers such as Sam Hollander and Mike Elizondo.

Jordin and Blake are both signed with Sony BMG by virtue of their “Idol” finishes, but the rest of the “Idol” crew is awaiting word on whether they’ll receive an offer later this month.

Eighth-grader Paige Blackburn and two friends sat in the grass outside the Wolstein Center. Her dad had driven them and done a nice job beating the traffic.

Only 9 hours till the American Idols walked on stage.

Paige, who's from Avon, proudly showed off a sign, lettered in red glitter: "Kiss me Blake. It's my birthday."

Then she came clean. "It's three days after my birthday."

Close enough, especially if you're going to spend the day waiting to meet the Idols.

So is it OK, Paige was asked, if "Idol" heartthrob Blake Lewis kisses you?

"It's fine with me," she said, looking over to her father. "You gotta ask him."

"He can kiss you," said Mike Blackburn, "on the cheek."

In addition to the sign, Paige had spent months creating a 2-inch-thick book for Blake, with pictures, testimonials and her own 2 -page letter to the beat-boxin' cutie. "P.S. I love cheesy white guys!" she wrote.

Soon, the girls had company. By 11:30 a.m., a dozen "Idol" fans were waiting, including Beth Barry from Stow and her 10-year-old daughter, Stephanie. They had packed a lunch -- PB&J and a ham pita -- and were waiting for a brush with fame.

"I'm kinda nervous," said Stephanie, a few weeks from fifth grade. "I couldn't sleep last night."

Six hours before showtime, at 1 o'clock, the tour buses pulled in. Almost 40 fans -- 90 percent female -- stood, shouted and tried to wave without dropping their signs, cameras and Sharpies.

Almost every large-venue tour has groupies. The difference on Monday in Cleveland was that the stars acknowledged and obliged the die-hards.

Soon after the buses parked, "Idol" winner Jordin Sparks and super-voiced Melinda Doolittle, wearing an Ohio State basketball T-shirt, walked up the grassy hill.

Instead of shrieking or fainting, the fans grew strangely quiet, star-struck into awkward conversations, tears and hugs. Soon, fellow "Idol" finalists Haley Scarnato and Gina Glocksen arrived, too.

The four chatted with the fans, posed for pictures and signed everything from shirts to dollar bills. Jordin stuck around for 20 minutes and even sang, which of course meant more tears and hugs.

"I think they're fabulous!" Doolittle said of the fans. "And, oh my gosh, how are they out here this early?! Bless your hearts."

Just then, 10-year-old Stephanie, now sobbing, walked up and into her arms.

"Oh, please don't shake. What's your name? Stephanie? Are you OK, Stephanie? Are you sure?"

A few moments later, the Idols were gone, and the fans basked in the moment.

"I touched them with my hands, Mom!" Stephanie said.

Later in the afternoon, some of "the boys" came out: Phil Stacey, Chris Richardson and, yes, Blake Lewis. (Sanjaya Malakar "wasn't feeling well," and was staying inside, a tour official said.)

Paige ended up getting her kiss, sort of: Blake blew her a smooch.

So was Dad happy that the kiss was airmailed?

"Yeah, probably," Blackburn said.

But only Paige knows where it landed.

Sometimes you luck into a leisurely interview with a celebrity, a chance to settle into the rhythm of a real conversation and gain a feel for their personality.

Sometimes you don’t.

I was the 16th person to interview recent “American Idol” victor Jordin Sparks one recent afternoon, and the telephone interview — through no fault of hers — was behind schedule, hurried and abbreviated.

Nonetheless, Sparks — at 17, the youngest “Idol” winner yet — was as enthusiastic as could be, conveying oodles of girlish excitement as we raced through my questions, the clock ticking.

Having captivated the country on television, Sparks is touring arenas across the country this summer, appearing in concert along with this season’s top nine “Idol” finalists. The tour will arrive Monday night at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.