Nikki Yanofsky

Is Nikki Yanofsky a prodigy? Put it this way: they had to redefine the term when she came along with her phenomenal pre-teen voice and, at the age of 12, became the youngest-ever Montreal Jazz Festival headliner, performing (among other stunners) a captivating, mature, charming version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." That was back in 1996, and since then she made her recording debut with a scat-alicious cover of Ella Fitzgerald's fast-tempo "Airmail Special," spent studio time with the likes of Herbie Hancock and will.i.am, and proved a dab hand at teen pop in English and French via High School Musical 2 material like "Gotta Go My Own Way" and "Je dois faire à ma manière." No two ways about it: Yanofsky possesses the kind of talent that makes every one of her Idol-era contemporaries grateful that she skipped the talent-show circuit and went straight to the front of the queue for national and, inevitably, international fame. In early 2010, she headed up Top Songs in the Canadian iTunes store with "I Believe," the official Winter Olympics anthem.