Brooke White

Brooke White (born June 2, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and the fifth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. Brooke White was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in nearby Mesa with three younger siblings and her parents, Brad and Kaylene and is of English descent. She also has family members in Nova Scotia, Canada

Brooke White started singing at 15 when she tried out for the high school musical, Meet Me in St. Louis, and earned the lead role. White graduated high school from Heritage Academy in 2001. She at one time attended beauty school, describing herself as a "beauty school dropout", and shared on Idol that she started doing hair when she was eleven years old. She worked as a nanny and an aspiring singer-songwriter prior to auditioning for American Idol. During her elimination video on American Idol, White stated "It's probably not a secret that I struggled with my own confidence, but I'm stronger than I thought I was and that's a great thing to get out of this." White currently resides in Van Nuys, California with her husband, David Ray, an accountant.

White tried out for American Idol in Philadelphia, where she sang "Like a Star" and received a positive review from all the judges. During her audition, she admitted to never having seen an R-rated movie, prompting Cowell to state that he could "bring her over to the dark side." During the Hollywood week, White performed "Beautiful" by Carole King, accompanying herself on piano. After that performance, judges were quick to point out that Brooke reminded them of a young Carly Simon or Carole King. Since top 24, White has accompanied herself on guitar for her performances of "You're So Vain", "Jolene", and "I'm a Believer", and on piano for "Let It Be", "Every Breath You Take", "Hero", and "I Am...I Said". Judge Simon Cowell chose White early as one of his four favorites in the competition when he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on March 17, 2008.

During the 1970s week, while White was performing "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon, she stared at Simon Cowell. It caught the judges' attention and received good reviews from them. White performed an acoustic version of "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar in the next week to good reviews as well. During the Lennon/McCartney week, she performed "Let It Be", a classic song by The Beatles. Randy Jackson said it was a very heartfelt performance and Simon Cowell said it was one of the best of the night, believable, and he thought Brooke picked good song choices in the past three weeks.

Brooke White cites her musical influences as the "soulful sounds of the 70's" such as James Taylor, Carole King, Fleetwood Mac, the Carpenters, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, the Eagles, America, Carly Simon, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, and Phil Collins. When asked on American Idol with whom she would like to do a duet if made possible, she named John Mayer as her choice for a modern artist. She also says if she could choose a partner for a "dream duet", she would choose Carole King who she names as one of her main influences. She also cites Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood as her favorite former American Idol winners.