Crossover Singer Jackie Evancho Already Getting 2012 Grammy Nods?

It may be too early to know for sure, but young classical crossover phenom Jackie Evancho’s name is already being bandied about for a 2012 Grammy Award nomination.

But is that possible?

Jackie’s first album “Dream With Me” has indeed topped the Billboard 200 and Amazon sales charts lists since its release, and she has certainly made an impression on fans and professionals alike.

Insiders say there is a very good possibility Evancho could snag an award – or a nomination at the least.

Related: Meet Jackie Evancho – She’ll Melt Your Heart - Video

The eligibility requirements for the 2012 54th Annual Grammy Awards say an album must be released between Oct. 1, 2010 and Sept. 30, 2011, and must be in general distribution in the United States.

After her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle’s debut album sold over 750,000 units in the U.S. during the first three weeks but was not eligible for a Grammy that year because the timing fell outside the current year’s eligibility requirements.

However, there is some fine print that says that if an individual track “first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Period,” then it can be nominated for categories like Song of the Year and Record of the Year, even if the associated album or CD was released outside the necessary time period.

Related: Jackie Evancho tops sales charts – talks about the future - Video

It kind of sounds like if the judges and staff really want you in their award show there is always a way to sneak something in to make it legal. Just release a quick single during the period even if the album is not ready to go yet.

The other issue for Jackie is what category should she be nominated in?

In 2011, major changes were made to the rules for 2012 that included nominations for collaborations and duo’s mainly in the pop, rock and rap genre. The classical categories were also compressed.

Also, the Best Classical Album and Best Crossover category has been eliminated and now these artists are able to win under best album, record, or song of the year, etc.

Just to illustrate the ambiguity of the system you have to wonder what the difference between best record of the year and best album of the year is.

My point?

If the nominating committee want’s a particular artist in the running – they will find a way. Remember, a lot of this is about ratings for their televised award show and they would not leave a white hot artist out in the cold over a small technicality.

Watch Jackie Evancho and David Foster Interview


It also depends whether Jackie would be nominated for an individual song or the entire album - an opera song or a classical song. With more than one genre on her album it could go several ways.

And even though the number of categories has been reduced for 2012 she could still be slotted in Best Opera Recording, Best Classical Vocal Solo, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, or Best New Artist.

You can see the complete list of the revamped and eliminated 2012 categories at the Grammy site here.

Bottom line:

The timing is right. The quality is right. The material is right. The sales figures are right. The collaborations were right. The buzz is right.

Besides, Evancho’s producer on her album, David Foster, is a 17 time Grammy winner himself. If Foster doesn’t know how to wade through the nomination rules than nobody does.

Jackie Evancho will be nominated for something at the 2012 Grammy’s show, and will most likely perform as well. Heck, she may even be a presenter.

We can’t wait, and wish her the best!

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Jackie Evancho’s Album Sales Top Charts – Singer Talks Next Steps - Video

Young Jackie Evancho is only 11-years old, but she has the top selling Album on Amazon.

This week, her “Dream with Me” album outsold every artist except Adele, selling more albums then Bon Iver, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga.

To be fair, Jackie’s album was just released June 14th and she has had tons of air time on the June PBS fund drive, so time will tell if her staying power is real.

We think it is.

Related: Video - Meet Jackie Evancho, She’ll Melt Your Heart and Make You Cry

All you have to do is hear her sing and you can see she has what it takes to be a strong contender on today’s music scene.

She considers herself a crossover opera singer, and knows she will not get by on just singing opera.

But boy can see sing opera.



Just over a year ago, Evancho was taking second place on America’s Got Talent and today she’s singing duets with Susan Boyle and Barbara Streisand.

One of our favorites is her version of Sarah McLachlan’s hit “Angel” that was released as a single, and as a track on “Dream With Me.”

Related: Watch Jackie Evancho Sing “Angel”

After meeting 17-time Grammy Award winner David Foster, the two worked on creating and producing her current album - and the results have been better than both of them expected.

When asked about the title for her new album Jackie says,

“Well, the last CD that I had done was called 'Prelude to a Dream' and that's the beginning of a dream. Prelude is usually the beginning of a song or beginning of something. With 'Dream With Me,' I've kind of already made it. So, that dream has become real life, so now it's the real thing.”

And her dream has come true, and the first stop was the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota Florida where she filmed her PBS special.



And we have to say, her PBS special was amazing.

But what's in store for the new super star now that her album has been released and the World has discovered her?

Evancho says with all that has happened, she has to attend school on-line and misses her friends she used to see every day,

“Cyber School is really, really hard. And it’s boring, you know? I’d rather do normal school than go to online school.”

When asked if she is able to understand the deep emotion in some of her songs she says,

“All of the songs are emotional to me. 'Angel' is really sad because it’s about suicide. It’s really emotional. It’s really easy for me to show my emotions but it’s hard to listen to because it’s so sad.”

Watch Jackie Evancho Sing “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan


She sure does know how to make your heart melt.

When asked where she wants to go from here, and what her next steps are she says,

“I want to continue with my music but I also want to be a normal kid. This whole thing has happened so fast my parents and I are still just trying to sort it all out. For now, I’m just going to keep singing and see what happens next.”

Jackie says opera is her first love but she also likes the music of Josh Groban and Lady Gaga. She has also started writing and would like to start creating her own songs from start to finish.

Evancho also likes to play with her many pets. In fact, she calls her pet collection her “pet menagerie” and it includes nine hermit crabs, two guinea pigs, three dogs, two cats, a lizard, three frogs and four ducks.

The young opera crossover singer is currently on a mini tour with upcoming shows in Sun Valley Idaho, Atlanta Georgia, Highland Park Illinois, Omaha Nebraska, and Dallas Texas.

Jackie has already appeared on the Jay Leno Show and can be seen on CNN’s Piers Morgan show June 30th.

Go get ‘em kiddo.

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Video - 11-Year-Old Jackie Evancho Takes the World by Storm with “Dream With Me”

If you you’ve never heard of Jackie Evancho don’t worry – you will.

This 11-year-old soprano prodigy has taken the word by storm with her first full length album “Dream With Me” and is outselling Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry combined.

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho was first seen during season five of “America’s Got Talent” when she was just ten years old, and blew away viewers who couldn’t get enough of her exquisite singing.

In addition to singing, Jackie also plays the piano and violin and even co-wrote the title track on "Dream With Me" with producer David Foster.

Watch Jackie Evancho Interview with David Foster


Jackie was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to Michael and Lisa Evancho and says she became interested in singing after seeing “The Phantom of the Opera”. She has two brothers, one older and one younger, and a younger sister.

Jackie says she was amazed that her debut single “Oh Holy Night” was so well received, and couldn’t believe that it sold over a million copies and has since gone platinum.

Evancho has teamed with the famous David “Hit Maker” Foster to produce her first full length CD titled “Dream With Me”.

On the album, she features the duets “A Mother’s Prayer” with Susan Boyle and “Somewhere” with Barbara Streisand along with her favorites “O Mio Babbino Caro”, "Ombra Mai Fu", "The Lord’s Prayer" and “Dream with Me”.

But the song everybody seems to want to hear is Jackie’s version of Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”.

Watch Jackie Evancho Sing Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”


One reviewer says,

“It may well become her signature song – the one everybody wants to hear. She is able to put so much emotion into it and you can tell by watching her perform she absolutely gets lost in the moment. I have rarely seen adults who can perform with such maturity. It made me cry.”

Indeed.

In fact, PBS has been running segments of Jackie’s performance of “Angel” from her show in Sarasota Florida - and PBS only brings out the big guns during their fundraising season.

That should tell you something about this incredible young singer.

Jackie even has her own website at Jackieevancho.com and YouTube channel.

It’s true – we have not been able to find one review that had anything negative to say. This young lady is destined to become one of the greatest talents we have ever seen.

You can purchase her new album on Amazon here.

Forget Lady Gaga, this is the type of music and personality I want my kids to learn to appreciate – but I’m not holding my breath.

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