Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Nia Renée from American Idol Season 19

Here’s more about Nia.

* Her real name is Tania Kelley and she’s a 17-year-old student from Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

* She’s been performing since her early teens. At 13, she proclaimed herself a love of the arts — singing, dancing and acting — on Facebook.

* Since, she’s done all three, performing in theatrical productions including “Willy Wonka,” “Sister Act” and the lead in a one-act musical “Once on This Island” at her school.

* Last year, she was named Miss Heritage Outstanding Teen, a preliminary in the Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen pageant program. She also won the talent portion of that competition.

* Nia has performed for Governor Asa Hutchinson and, pre-pandemic, performed the national anthem at a Washington Nationals baseball game.

* The teen has released a pair of singles, “All Lost on Love” in 2019 and “High Standards” last year. She’s also filmed music videos for both that you can check out on her YouTube channel. I’m embedded a Spotify snippet of “High Standards” below.

* Nia told the Arkansas Times that she’s a longtime fan of the show and did her initial audition for producers via Zoom. “I’ve always dreamed this would happen,” she said of appearing on the show.

Nia on social media:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube