Connie Talbot

What is it with Britain and cute kids? From time to time, the music industry offers up novelties — whether they be singing animals, animated puppets, or cute children — and given the current popularity of reality TV talent shows, one can expect to find competition from a very, very young person who just happens to have that ahhh factor. Such was the case with Connie Talbot, a six-year-old who landed the runner-up slot (losing to victor Paul Potts) on the 2007 series of Britain's Got Talent, an all-comers talent show where jugglers competed with dancers and singers.

Talbot was born in Walsall in the midlands of Britain on November 20, 2000. She entered the Britain's Got Talent competition just for a family day out, but melted the hearts of the judges and the voting public with her pure, sweet renditions of "Over the Rainbow" and "Ben." Despite performances that were not totally flawless, she was installed as one of the favorites to win, although she eventually lost the crown to opera singer Potts.

Talbot then signed to Simon Cowell's Sony BMG label but was dropped before any product could be released, as the record company deemed Talbot much too young to be embarking on a recording career. A children's division of Rhythm Riders called Rainbow Records was set up specifically for Talbot, and her debut album, Over the Rainbow, was ready for release by November 2007. Despite receiving a significant amount of publicity, the album disappointingly crashed into the chart at number 35 and had nearly exited the charts altogether by Christmas week, while the single "White Christmas" failed to chart at all.