Connie Talbot

Connie Victoria Elizabeth Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is a British singer, who was the runner-up of the first series of Britain's Got Talent in 2007.

She then signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album Over the Rainbow on 26 November 2007, which has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries.

In October 2007, Talbot signed with the Rainbow Recording Company for a six-figure deal.

Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of record label Rhythm Riders made specifically for Talbot, was due to release Talbot's first album on 26 November 2007.

It was later reported that the album was named Over the Rainbow, and the first single, "Over the Rainbow"/"White Christmas", would be released on 3 December 2007.

Experts predicted that she had a good chance of getting the Christmas number one, but the single was cancelled in favour of an album-first release.

Before the album was released, there was much speculation about Talbot and the album, with music experts describing her as potentially being "the next Charlotte Church".

The team behind the album consisted of John Arnison, who also managed Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records.

It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May.

The album was released on 26 November 2007 and was certified gold in early December, with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on This Morning.

Initially, 50,000 copies of the album were pressed, but an additional 120,000 had to be made after the album sold out in days.

In late 2007, public appearances by Talbot included headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control.

At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot said "I love it here, it's brilliant, really fun", but had to be ushered off-stage by the police.

Talbot performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square.

TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on 26 November 2007.

According to her mother, Talbot has received offers for film roles.

Sharon said "[Talbot]'s been sent a script, I haven't had a good look at it yet but it's really exciting ... Connie's a singer, not an actress, so we'll see what happens. It's completely up to her whether or not she wants to do it. I can't believe it, though."

Sharon Mawer of Allmusic praised Over the Rainbow by saying "She can sing, for a seven-year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too".

However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realisation of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5.

Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance".

However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5.

Talbot's second album, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, was released on 24 November 2008, her third, Holiday Magic, was released on 20 October 2009 and her fourth, Beautiful World, was released on 26 November 2012.

The album was re-released on 16 June 2008, but was available for pre-order in May, with three new tracks to replace its Christmas-themed songs.

The first single from the album, "Three Little Birds", was released in June 2008.

In April and May 2008, Talbot toured Asia to promote Over the Rainbow.

Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the Sun.Star mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times, and The Straits Times saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 30 million times.

In 2019, she competed on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions and in 2020 competed on America's Got Talent: The Champions.

Talbot initially auditioned for the first series of television reality show Britain's Got Talent for fun, but her confidence increased when Simon Cowell, whom she is said to have idolised, described her as "pure magic" and said that he would make her earn "£1 million-plus this year".

The judges had expected a "joke" performance as she had never taken singing lessons, but Talbot's initial performance received international press coverage.

She reached the final round after winning her semi-final with a live performance of "Ben" by Michael Jackson.

On the night of the final, she sang The Wizard of Oz ' s "Over the Rainbow", but lost to Paul Potts as a result of the call-in vote.

Talbot and Potts had been joint favourites to win the series.

According to journalist and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan, Talbot's performances resulted in many children, including Faryl Smith, auditioning for the second series of the show.

After his victory, series 2 winner George Sampson spoke of his participation in the first series, where he was knocked out before the live shows, saying "I don't think I had any shot of winning last year ... When you look at the standard of Paul Potts and Connie Talbot. Paul Potts is out of this league, and Connie is out of this league – I wasn't good enough."

Talbot voted for Sampson, saying "I liked his dancing – he was good on the lamppost".

Cowell had preliminarily agreed to sign Talbot with his own record label, Sony BMG.

After recording two songs in London with Talbot ("Over the Rainbow" and "Smile"), the label pulled out of the deal.

Talbot's mother, Sharon, said she was told that her daughter "...was too young to be their sort of artist", adding "We have been told to look for a company which looks after children."

In a statement, the label said "there was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie ... However, the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time."

Cowell himself said that "when the time is right, [he would] be delighted to see if [they could] make it work".