Full disclosure: This guy right here is a Jordin Sparks superfan. Voted for her all the way through to her American Idol Season 6 victory. Saw her in concert in Philly and on Broadway in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, have every one of her CDs, and very possibly may have her National Anthem from the Super Bowl XLII permanently bookmarked. She’s just the best.
©2021 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Luba Popovic
So it was a mad thrill to chat with her about her upcoming Hallmark Channel original, A Christmas Treasure. Not just because of, you know, JORDIN SPARKS!, but also because the “Countdown to Christmas” flick is an absolute joy — sweet, a bit sassy, and loaded with Yuletide charm. Not a bad way to make her Hallmark debut. “It was amazing to have that experience,” says the Sparkle alum of her role as Lou, an aspiring and so lovable novelist torn between her dreams of moving to New York and a dreamy chef (Michael Xavier). “I just love the season.”
As an executive producer on the film, Sparks was able to make sure the story featured diversity, some new twists on the classic Christmas rom-com vibe, and, of course, music. Treasure opens with a song from her 2020 holiday album, Cider & Hennessy, and Lou performs a pair of tunes — “O Holy Night” at a party and “This Christmas” at a festival — in the movie. “I love that I got to sing those two songs,” she offers. “‘O Holy Night’ is such a classic and so beautiful.”
Also beautiful is the news she drops at the end of our convo. “I have new music coming for you in December,” reveals the self-proclaimed “Christmas baby” who celebrates her birthday on December 22. “As a Christmas gift to my fans…and to myself!”
A Christmas Treasure, Movie Premiere, Sunday, November 7, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel
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