Kiana Brown

Kiana Brown (born April 3, 1997) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist currently based in Los Angeles, California. As an infant, Brown began to sing the alphabet immediately after learning it and began performing at the age of 3 upon receiving her first karaoke machine. She cites her musical influences as One Direction, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. As a child, Brown began to regularly perform in school plays and beauty pageants while taking voice lessons and piano study. In 2011, Brown's mother discovered Kidz Bop, a website for kids to upload and share videos of themselves performing. She uploaded a video of Brown performing an original number on the piano, with Brown selected as a finalist. After performing Adele's "Someone Like You" to earn her a place in the Top 4, Brown won the 2011 KIDZ Star USA Grand Prize out of 45,000 submissions, the largest national talent competition for kids age 15 and under. At a school assembly, Brown was told that she won the national talent search by "American Idol" winner Kris Allen. The prize included a RCA Records recording contract and starring role in the Kidz Bop 21 music video and commercial. Allen said after seeing her live, "She went from 'She's good' to 'She is no doubt gonna win this thing." Brown said she had the opportunity to listen to and select from her top three song choices. After considering and listening to the songs, she said she chose her first single “Hey Chica” because of the up-beat tempo. The song was released June 19, 2012. Brown has performed the song on The Today Show and 86th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She also performed "Do the mermaid" from Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2. In 2012, Brown was named cover girl for Miss Moxie's Holiday 2012 issue. The site praised "Hey Chica" for promoting "clear message of self empowerment and encourages young women to feel beautiful in their own skin." She worked on her debut album for RCA Records, which was released in 2013.