Childhood & Early Life
Katie Stevens was born Katherine Mari Stevens, on December 8, 1992, in Southbury, Connecticut, to Mark and Clara Stevens. She grew up with her brother, Ryan Stevens. She is of Portuguese descent from her mother’s side and speaks fluent Portuguese since her childhood.
She had become interested in the prospect of becoming a singer when she was 3 years old. She was not trained in singing at that age and just followed her passion for singing instead.
She performed on stage for the first time when she was 5 years old. She was in her hometown, where a party had been thrown for politicians. She sang the American national anthem at the party, mesmerizing the audience.
As she carried on with singing in the following years, she also became a highly skilled swimmer. At the age of 7, she sang a song at her aunt’s wedding party. After receiving further encouragement to pursue performance arts, she joined a local community theater and began acting.
She attended the ‘Pomperaug High School.’ In 2009, she participated in the ‘Greater Watertown Scholarship Pageant,’ where she won the 2009 ‘Westbury Outstanding Teen Award.’
She participated in many theatrical plays during her early teenage years. She appeared in pivotal roles in plays such as ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘High School Musical.’ She also got an opportunity to perform at the famous ‘Carnegie Hall’ when she was 13 years old. Her life changed after she participated in ‘American Idol’ at 16.
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Career
She was in Boston, Massachusetts, when she auditioned for a spot in the ninth season of the singing reality show ‘American Idol.’ She performed the song titled ‘At Last’ and impressed all the four judges. Thus, she was advanced forward. During the audition, one of the judges, Kara DioGuardi, called her one of the most talented 16-year-old singers she had ever seen.
However, on March 24, 2010, she was put in the bottom three. She somehow made her spot in the ‘American Idol Summer Tour.’ Over time, she became one of the fan favorites. She was criticized quite a few times, due to her choice of songs, her pitch, and her age. However, her raw talent was never questioned.
She struggled throughout the show in order to locate the genre that suited her best. In the end, she settled for hip-hop, singing ‘Chain of Foods.’ In the next round, she was once again put in the bottom three and was placed at the ninth spot overall.
After she sang ‘Let it Be,’ all the judges accepted that she was improving greatly and was finally understanding which genre was the best fit for her. Her performance secured her the eighth position, while the judges continued to argue about the genre that was most appropriate for her.
On April 4, she was ousted from the show. She was placed at the eighth spot on the final list. However, her popularity remained intact even after the show ended. She also participated in the ‘American Idol LIVE! Tour.’
Following the end of the show, Katie became a national celebrity and was frequently invited to talk shows. She appeared on shows such as ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ and the ‘Late Show with David Letterman.’ The latter featured her with Andrew Garcia, another popular contestant of ‘American Idol.’ They appeared together on the ‘Wendy Williams Show,’ too
By early November 2010, she had written nine songs and had performed as a guest on ‘Idolos Portugal,’ where she sang ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’
After making waves as a singer, she turned to acting, which was her other childhood passion. In 2013, she appeared as ‘Nadia McConnell’ in the musical film titled ‘Bare: A Pop Opera.’ She then appeared in the small role of ‘Gina DeMaio’ in the film titled ‘Friends and Romans.’
In 2014, she received a big break when she was cast as ‘Karma Ashcroft,’ a lead character in the romantic-comedy series ‘Faking It.’ The series received hugely favourable reviews and ran for three seasons, covering 38 episodes. It established Katie as a talented young actor.
She then appeared in a guest role in a single episode of the series titled ‘I’ll Bring the Awkward.’ Following this, she appeared in another guest role, in ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.’
In 2017, she appeared in yet another main role, as ‘Jane Sloan’ in the comedy–drama series titled ‘The Bold Type.’
