Given the goody-goody image she cultivated on American Idol, Jordin Sparks seemed an unlikely candidate to sell a song like “Battlefield,” the title track from her 2009 sophomore disc. Last time we caught her, though, she came on way stronger than expected, making the Jonas Brothers (for whom she was opening) look like little boys. Not a miracle, perhaps, but a nice surprise.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2010.