Naima Adedapo (born October 5, 1984) is an American singer and dancer from

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Adedapo placed in the top 11 on the tenth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''.

Early life

Adedapo was born in

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 census. History There was limited European-Am ...

, and her family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when she was ten.‘American Idol’ finalist Naima Adedapo a product of Chicago stage family
/ref> Adedapo is the daughter of Milwaukee area jazz singer Adekola Adedapo. Adedapo graduated high school from St. Joan Antida. Her senior year, Adedapo placed first at the Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association's State Tournament in Demonstration Speaking for her speech on African dance, with drumming accompaniment by her brother. She later majored in Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

''American Idol''

Overview

Adedapo auditioned for the tenth season of ''

'' in

. She was not one of the five female vote-getters in the semi-final round to advance to the Top 13. She was one of the six selected to sing for a wild card. The judges chose three of the six, including Adedapo, to advance to the Top 13. On March 31, 2011, Adedapo and Thia Megia were eliminated from ''American Idol''.

Performances/Results

* Adedapo was saved first from elimination. * Due to the judges using their one save to save Casey Abrams, the Top 11 remained intact for another week.

Post-''Idol''

Adedapo and the rest of the top 11 performed in the '' 2011 American Idols LIVE! Tour'', which began in West Valley City,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, on July 6, 2011, and ended in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on September 20, 2011. Both the eliminated contestants, Naima and Thia Megia, appeared and performed on '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and '' Live with Regis and Kelly''. Adedapo released a seven-song EP, ''Beautifully Made,'' which she co-wrote and co-produced, on November 20, 2015. Adedapo co-wrote and produced all of the EP's tracks. She later signed on as a songwriter with Given Music Publishing. In 2012, Adedapo signed with Peak Records.

Personal life

Adedapo is married with two daughters and three stepdaughters. She was formerly a maintenance worker at

Henry Maier Festival Park Henry Maier Festival Park is a 75-acre festival park located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the shore Lake Michigan and is the site of the annual Summerfest musical festival and the home of the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. History Be ...

(home of

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's Third Ward business district. Summerfest is known ...

) in Milwaukee.

References

External links

Naima Adedapo
on ''

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adedapo, Naima 1984 births 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century African-American singers Living people American Idol participants Singers from Illinois Singers from Wisconsin People from Maywood, Illinois University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni