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September 7, 2008 12:12:42 AM CDT

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Sparks Best at Being Sweet

Posted Nov 23, 07 7:53 PM CST in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – American Idol season-six winner Jordin Sparks does a sweet job with a hip-hop flavored R&B debut album thanks to a roster of heavy-hitting producers who backed Beyonce and Rihanna among others, writes Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone. She does Prince funk with "Shy Boy," giving her that trademark high-school girlishness.

She's got the chops to give Kelly Clarkson a run for her money and can be playful with a riff on an old James Taylor standard, Sheffield writes. But once she channels Mariah Carey with chokes and sobs, dragging the slow songs, or acts the soulful grownup, the spell is broken. Her songs aren't ready for adulthood.

Source Rolling Stone

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Jordin Sparks performs during the "American Idols Live!" tour stop in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Gary Malerba)   (Associated Press)
Jordin Sparks' self-titled debut album is full of hip-hop-flavored R&B tunes   (Rolling Stone)
"American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks arrives at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, Calif., Sunday, Aug 26, 2007.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)   (Associated Press)
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