Ryan's hopeMayfair preteen and talent show winner launches career with new albums
By JONATHAN TAKIFF
takiffj@phillynews.com 215-854-5960
BIANCA RYAN seemed surprisingly quiet and shy during our interview Friday afternoon at a Society Hill recording studio.
This was hardly what I expected, given all the buzz about this diminutive (5-foot-1) 12-year-old from Mayfair with the big, big voice who recently captured the nation's heart on "America's Got Talent," and today is celebrating the release of her self-titled, extremely confident-sounding debut album.
"She read a comment from Celine Dion that a singer shouldn't talk, that she should write everything down and keep the voice in reserve, when she's about to do a big performance," explained (and half-apologized) her dad, Shawn Ryan, at Maja Studios, where Bianca had come to cut a second (!) album, a short set of Christmas music.
And trust us, this youngster does turn into a certifiable dynamo when the cameras are "on" and the tape is rolling. She has a voice that can rattle rafters and shake the walls. It seems to be the gift of a knowing, seasoned performer twice her chronological age.
On that disc hitting stores today, Ryan will knock you over with stellar performances of pop chestnuts like "The Rose" and "I Believe I Can Fly," and with more youthful originals like the coming-of-age "Awake" and future-predicting "Superstar."
It took a question about all the high-tech studio magic employed on albums today to draw Ryan out of her self-imposed shell.
"I didn't want any artificial 'sweetening' done on my vocals," Ryan declared in a soft but insistent way. "And while they did some editing - assembling the final versions of songs from pieces of different performances - what you hear is really me. Even the long notes I hold on songs like 'The Rose.' "
"It's like she leaves this shy person in the wings, and becomes someone else when she walks out on stage," marveled her dad, an insurance adjuster and former touring musician who's now road-managing his daughter's career.
Yet it's also clear this kid has been steadfastly pushing for what she wants, in her own quiet way, for some time. And doing quite nicely, thank you.
The grand price for winning "America's Got Talent" was a cool $1 million - most of which (after taxes) is now salted away in two personal corporations and college funds for Ryan and her three siblings.
Also auguring well for the near future: That down-to-the-wire Christmas disc she was recording last week is likely to get a major push this holiday season, along with her full-fledged debut album, at Wal-Mart, the nation's leading music retailer.
"We recently went to Arkansas to perform at Wal-Mart headquarters," Ryan shared. "One of the songs we did was 'Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Every Day?', an original by Walter [Afanasieff and Jay Landers] that closes the album, that's one of my favorites.
"Afterwards, the head of the company came over, very excited, and asked if I could record more like that one for an all-Christmas disc just for Wal-Mart to sell... . It's all been like a dream come true."
Starting young(er)
Ryan was "maybe 8 or 9 when she started going onto the Internet, looking up places where she could audition, then begging her mom [Janette] and me to take her there," her dad recalled good-naturedly.
"I just Googled 'talent auditions' and these casting calls and stuff would come up," Ryan said nonchalantly, like this is something every kid does.
Her first performing pursuits were as a tap dancer, recalled her former baby sitter, dance classmate and now full-time road companion, 19-year-old Jamielynn Curry. "Whatever she does, she's a perfectionist. Bianca has a shelf full of trophies from dance competitions."
Then, three years ago, the girl threw everyone for a loop when she asked her parents if she could try out for "Star Search" as a singer.
"I thought that was a real long shot for Bianca. But whatever happened, it'd be a nice day in the city. We'd see Times Square, stuff like that," recalled Shawn Ryan, who wears his love of all things Rolling Stones in the choice of his children's names. (One of lead singer Mick Jagger's wives was named Bianca, and the youngest Ryan carries his last name.)
Till that point, Ryan's only public singing experience had been in the church choir. But she also vocalized "a little" at home while her dad (who used to work with gospel groups) strummed away on guitar.
Ryan had developed a serious taste for soul/pop stylizing, listening to the likes of Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Holiday and Mariah Carey. And she had gotten her dad to hook her up with the same South Jersey-based vocal coach, Sal Dupree, who worked with "Star Search" winner Tiffany Evans.
At her "Star Search" audition, Ryan wowed the scouts with her full-blown blasting of Aretha Franklin's "Think." Out of hundreds of would-be contestants that day, Ryan was one of just three to be asked back. A few months later, the singer came in second in the nationally televised competition.
Not too shabby.
"Things started popping after that," Shawn Ryan recalled. "We'd get offers for her to perform at major sporting events and on 'Showtime at the Apollo.' [Composer] Martin Charnin wanted her for "Annie," then it turned out she was a few inches over their size limit. Four record labels were pursuing her, but I was pushing them off. I wanted Bianca to have a normal childhood. I didn't think she should start singing professionally until she was 16 or 18."
The big score
Ah, but then the highly competitive Ryan got herself into the premiere season of "America's Got Talent," NBC's variety show variation on "American Idol."
Her performances of tunes like the "Dreamgirls" showstopper, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also kicking butt on her new album) and her semi-controversial, barefoot rockin' rendering of the Janis Joplin hit "Piece of My Heart" won Ryan an unusually broad contingent of fans/voters. (Smartly, each demographic segment is targeted with cuts on her sometimes oldish, sometimes young-flavored disc.)
"I thought Celtic Spring, this really energetic family band, was going to win," Ryan recalled modestly. But when host Regis Philbin announced the winner of the million-dollar grand prize, it was our girl.
"If you look at the video of that moment, you can literally see my heart pounding," she shared.
Oops, we've got takeoff
Shawn Ryan now confides he "failed to read the fine print" in the "America's Got Talent" contract he'd signed for Ryan - a clause that committed the show's winner to a five-disc recording deal. That's why he had to back off from his vow to not let Ryan record for a spell.
But the man's got to be thrilled with the personal manager Ryan also landed - the legendary Peter Rudge, who used to work with the Stones and the Who and still has lots of clout in the biz. Please to note just the TV appearances Bianca Ryan is making this week, with Ellen DeGeneris, Oprah and the "Today" show.
Meanwhile, Ryan's already dreaming of her next career steps, including breaking into the movies (she's already talked to the Disney people) and going out on tour with a rockin' band, both in the style of another role model, Hilary Duff.
When she performs at the Q102 Jingle Ball at the Tweeter Center on Dec. 13 (and a "bunch" of other radio-station sponsored holiday shows), Ryan will have to work with pre-recorded backing tracks. But she vows she'll be singing "absolutely live. You'll never catch me lip-synching. Why should I, if I can really sing?"
Bolstering her confidence, Simon Cowell, the brutally honest "American Idol" judge and head of Ryan's Columbia-distributed SyCo Music label, observed recently that she is "potentially the best singer I've ever heard."
Also the stuff that could spins heads, LaBelle has invited Ryan to perform at a big gospel concert in Atlanta, to be taped and shown on BET. Mayor Street honored her with an official city declaration of "Bianca Ryan Day" yesterday. And the powers behind two big Thanksgiving Day parades - here and in New York - fought for Ryan's participation.
"Even though the Macy's Parade [in New York] is nationally telecast, we had to go with Philadelphia," said Shawn Ryan. "She'll have a float of her own, and she'll also perform on the steps of the Art Museum with a 700-voice choir."
We're guessing she'll out-sing them all.
Despite everything, Ryan claims her life "hasn't really changed" that much. "I've still got my friends, my family. They all still treat me normally. I'm in school [Bensalem's School Lane Charter School] most of the time and keep up on my work when I have to go on the road."
"In fact, Bianca's ahead on her assignments," said her friend and sidekick Curry.
What a surprise.
Philadelphia Daily News | 11/14/2006 | Ryan's hope
Linear Mode
