Brooke White

During the 1970s theme week, while White performed "You're So Vain", by Carly Simon, she stared at Simon Cowell.

It caught the judges' attention and received good reviews from them.

White performed an acoustic version of "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar, in the next week to good reviews, as well.

During the Lennon–McCartney week, she performed "Let It Be", a classic song by The Beatles.

Randy Jackson said it was a very heartfelt performance and Simon Cowell said that it was believable and one of the best of the night and that he thought that Brooke had picked good song choices in the past three weeks.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, who served as guest mentor for a show, based on his own music, was particularly impressed by White and predicted a big night for her.

However, three lines into her performance of "You Must Love Me", White apologized, stopped the band and restarted the song from the beginning.

She later explained, "I lost the lyric."

Simon Cowell stated that he would have done the same thing, had he been in her situation.

It was the first time in the show's history that a contestant restarted a performance from a point so far into the song.

(White had previously restarted "Every Breath You Take", after a single odd note.) Despite this, she was the third contestant to be named safe on the subsequent results show, while Carly Smithson went home.

When White performed "I'm a Believer" and "I Am...I Said", during Neil Diamond week, she personalized the latter, at Diamond's own suggestion, by changing the lyrics from "I'm New York City born and raised" to "I'm Arizona born and raised."

Brooke Elizabeth White (born June 2, 1983) is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter and actress who was the fifth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol.

White graduated in 2001 from Heritage Academy, a charter high school in Mesa, Arizona.

She described herself as a "beauty school dropout," and shared on Idol that she started doing hair when she was 11 years old.

White moved to Los Angeles, California when she was 19 years old where she attended the Musicians Institute for three months and then spent the next four years honing her craft as a singer-songwriter recording in the studio and performing in the clubs of Hollywood, California under the guidance of Tim Simms.

White also spent a year as a nanny for twin baby girls.

During her elimination video on American Idol, White stated "It's probably not a secret that I struggled with my own confidence but I'm stronger than I thought I was and that's a great thing to get out of this."

White currently resides in Van Nuys, California, with her husband, David Ray.

White is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 2005, White released her first studio album, called Songs from the Attic.

Judge Simon Cowell chose White early as one of his four favorites in the competition when he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on March 17, 2008.

White was in the bottom three three times, once on April 2 after performing Dolly Parton's song "Jolene", again on April 16 after performing Mariah Carey's "Hero", and when she was eliminated on April 30, 2008, after performing "I'm a Believer" and "I Am...I Said".

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, White stated that she will continue to focus on recording and that she received a call from Carly Simon.

When asked about returning as a nanny of the twins, White said that the family joked that they would give her a raise, if she went back, and she said that she did not mind babysitting every once in a while.

After White's elimination, she made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 1, 2008, Live with Regis and Kelly and The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 5, 2008, The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet on May 6, 2008, Good Day L.A. and Access Hollywood.

She also filmed an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live on May 6, 2008.

White's first post-Idol album, High Hopes & Heartbreak, was released on July 21, 2009.

The first single "Hold Up My Heart" was released on February 25, 2009, and the song debuted at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The second single "Radio Radio" was released on June 23, 2009.

She is also half of the duo Jack and White.

Brooke Elizabeth White was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in nearby Mesa, with three younger siblings (Katie, Tyler, and Quinn) and her parents, Brad and Kaylene.

She also has family members in Nova Scotia, Canada.

White started singing at 16, when she tried out for the high school musical, Meet Me in St. Louis, and earned the lead role.

White and her husband have one daughter, born on May 24, 2012 and one son, born September 3, 2016.

White auditioned for American Idol, in Philadelphia, where she sang "Like a Star" and received positive reviews from all of the judges.

During her audition, she admitted to never having seen an R-rated movie, which prompted Cowell to state that he could "bring her over to the dark side."

During Hollywood week, White performed "Beautiful", by Carole King, and accompanied herself on piano.

After that performance, judges commented that White reminded them of a young Carly Simon or Carole King.

In the live rounds of the competition, White accompanied herself on guitar for her performances of "You're So Vain", "Jolene", and "I'm a Believer" and on piano for "Let It Be", "Every Breath You Take", "Hero" and "I Am...I Said".