Kristinia DeBarge

DeBarge began singing when she was 3 years old, but did not begin to take it seriously until she was 12. When she was 12, her father took her into the recording studio. They worked until 4 a.m. recording a duet.[5] This was when DeBarge proved to her father that she was serious about a singing career. DeBarge is of African, Native American and Mexican descent.

At 13, she was first introduced to the nation. During the summer of 2003 she was a contestant on the American Idol spinoff, American Juniors. DeBarge progressed to the semifinal round of twenty contestants. She was featured in the first group of ten semifinalists and sang the song "Reflection" from the Disney movie Mulan. However, she was not one of the five to progress from that group into the final ten.