In one of the biggest travesties in American Idol history, Sabrina Sloan did not make the top 12 this year. Don’t cry for her; you’ll be hearing a lot from her in the very near future. As irony would have it, though Sabrina failed to make top 12, she has recently inked a deal with Universal Motown and is moving forward with her debut CD. This signing fulfills a life-long dream for Sabrina.
Sabrina Sloan: Moving Beyond American Idol (Image: Courtesy of MLC PR)
Sabrina has been singing since she was three years old. “I remember mom had a tape recorder with a little microphone. I have tapes of me on there singing ‘Ebony and Ivory.’ At Chuck E. Cheese, I got up on the table and sang ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie. I just love singing. I [have] loved music since I was really young.” Sabrina’s love is revealed in her performances. During her run on American Idol, she garnered compliments from her work, even from acerbic judge Simon Cowell. The night that Sabrina performed “I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You,” Simon declared her performance “the best of the night.” Sabrina was very appreciative of Simon’s comments.
“That was an amazing moment for me. . . . Simon is like the dad that you’re trying to impress the whole time, and no matter what everyone else says, you just want to hear a good word from him, especially for me. I had gotten a—the very first audition, going into Hollywood, he was a little bit harsh and said, ‘You’re going to have to come with the perfect song.’ He acted like he was unimpressed, so it was really important for me to impress him. . . . I shared a very nice, tender moment with him when he came over and hugged me and said, ‘You were great today.’ So, I was hoping that he would be kind when it got to the top 24, with everybody hearing the comments live. Yeah, to hear him say that was a really—it just really made me feel good. It really pumped me up.”
Sabrina did a great job on Idol, and many were perplexed when she failed to make top 12. Interestingly, of those who did make top 12, only the winner and runner-up have been signed to contracts, while both Sabrina and Sundance Head will be recording with a major label. This phenomenon is one of the more interesting aspects of American Idol. The voting public doesn’t always have the best idea of who will make good recording artists; they merely vote for the people they like. While personality and looks are important, record label executives know that it’s going to take more than that to have a successful recording career. While America failed to see Sabrina’s potential, Jolene Cherry, senior VP of A&R at Universal, clearly saw that potential.
Sabrina’s first project with Universal will be a collection of duets with Sundance Head. Jolene Cherry is credited with the concept. Sabrina shares, “She felt that the combination of our soulful voices would make for an amazing album.” Peter Collins, who has produced both Bon Jovi and Rush, will produce the duets project, which will feature both new music and remakes of standards. The collaboration of Sabrina and Sundance is not long term. “We’re not trying to be the new Peaches and Herb. It’s just kind of a fun thing to really showcase us in a way we weren’t able to or that we might have been able to if we had been able to stay on the show a longer period of time.” Because of that short stint on the show, many viewers remain unaware of Sundance’s talents. Sabrina shares that “He sang so much rock on the show, but he’s bluesy. He plays guitar, he’s got—I mean, an incredible range and soulful voice.”
As complimentary as Sabrina is of Sundance, she has many unrevealed talents herself. Sabrina plays piano and uses that instrument to write songs. “I played for about eight years at concerts and competitions. . . . I use that to write songs now. I definitely feel that I could have been much better than I am if I’d kept at it, but being able to read music, to really have a music theory background, is really important in helping me in my career.” In addition to using the piano to help write songs, Sabrina relies on her life experiences. “I write about love, I write about pain, and whatever I’m feeling. I’m working on kind of an inspirational song right now because I’ve been doing a lot of charity events, so I wanted to write something that was appropriate for that—that compliments people reaching out for each other.” Sabrina writes both lyrics and melodies, but her talents don’t end here.
Sabrina has played lead roles in regional theater, and she was cast in the original Broadway production of “Hairspray.” She later toured with the national touring company of that show. Sabrina is still interested in acting as part of her future work, and she has studied both voice and acting, which studies serve her well. With both comedy and drama for interests, Sabrina should have no trouble finding work in this arena. For now, however, her focus is on her music.
Graciously discussing how she would like her CD to sound, Sabrina shares that “I’ll have a couple of ballads. I love singers like Corinne Bailey Rae, but I also want something that people can put the top down to and play really loud in the park! . . . I’m trying to just work with the right people to make the best music I can.” Sabrina hopes to include some of her own original music on her debut CD. Music is no short-term goal for Sabrina. When asked where she sees herself in five years, Sabrina says, “In five years, I would love to be involved in a career like Beyoncé. Not really her style or her music, but just doing music, tours, making albums that I love, and having a little involvement in acting. Winning a Grammy!” Sabrina is an extremely down-to-earth, effervescent personality. One can only wonder why the American Idol audience failed to see that personality. Some, however, did see.
Sabrina is amazed when people stop her for autographs and photos. “People do still remember and come up to me, and I’m accumulating a fan base. I really didn’t even realize until I got off the show how big—you know, you forget how big American Idol is and how many people watch. So, it’s a great big huge blessing. . . . It still kind of blows my mind. It really does. It’s still crazy when people ask for autographs and to take pictures. I’m like, ‘Me? Are you sure?’” Part of Sabrina’s humility stems from her Christianity.
When questioned about her personal style on the show and her unwillingness to dress overtly sexy for votes, Sabrina shares that, “It definitely speaks to who I like to be as representing women . . . being able to stand as a woman of God and really honor Him and glorify Him in what I was doing. At the same time, it’s a popularity show, so there is that aspect of it where it’s kind of like ‘sex sells,’ you know, do something, and you might get more votes, but I have no regrets about how I looked on the show. I hope that people could see that I’m feminine, I’m a sexy woman, but I’m not going to throw all of my body out there in order to get people to vote. . . . [Being sexy] is more of a state of mind, a state of being, I think.” Several other Christians joined Sabrina in the top 24, another interesting phenomenon of this year’s installment. “It was all different denominations and degrees, but there was a strong faith in the contestants. Melinda [Doolittle] has an incredible faith. She’s an incredible woman. There were several of the contestants—even guys—that made it a really great environment.” Even though the environment was great, Sabrina’s faith was definitely put to the test.
“I went into the first audition saying if this is going to be damaging to me in any way or to my spiritual life, to my relations, then just don’t even let me make it past the first round. I tried it, and it was over, and I kept going and kept going. So, I really trusted that God was going to do something amazing, and honestly, with that said, when I got voted off, it was like, ‘Wait a second. What’s the plan?’ . . . [E]verything in my life has just proven that taking risks and then trusting God to handle the risks just paid off.” Taking risks is part of achieving goals and making dreams come true. If we don’t take the risk, we never realize our dreams or achieve our goals. Sabrina relied on her devout faith for strength to take those risks, and that faith paid off. We can all benefit from this lesson.
After being a fan of the show for several years, Sabrina Sloan summoned the courage to audition for American Idol to make her dreams of a recording career come true. She survived all of the judges’ cuts to make it onto the big stage as part of the top 24. Her stint on Idol was cut short by a lack of votes. Thankfully, Sabrina’s voice was not silenced by that lack of votes. Sabrina relied on her faith in God to carry her through that disappointment to realize her dream of a career as a recording artist. Armed with her faith, both inner and outer beauty, and talent, Sabrina will make her mark on the music industry. Be on the lookout for Sabrina’s duets CD with Sundance Head after the holidays, with her solo debut to follow. In spite of the disappointment stemming from her elimination on Idol, Sabrina Sloan is going to be just fine.
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