She rose to fame in 2004 as the runner-up of the third season of American Idol, releasing her debut studio album, Blue Skies, later that year.

[3] Diana DeGarmo was born on June 16, 1987 in Birmingham, Alabama, but was raised primarily in the Atlanta suburb of Snellville, Georgia.

DeGarmo began singing at a young age, including the 1997 Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards, and in Atlanta-based stage productions of Annie and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The album debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200 and included songs written by future American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, as well as Desmond Child, Adam Shankman, and Andreas Carlsson, among others.

[5] The lone single from the CD, "Emotional", was released to radio in November 2004, peaking at number 54 on the Mediabase Pop Chart.

[13] DeGarmo made her major stage debut as Maria in an American Musical Theatre of San Jose production of West Side Story in November 2005.

In 2008, DeGarmo was set to star in a Broadway revival of Godspell at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but on August 19, it was announced that the show was postponed indefinitely due to the loss of an investor.

The Kathy Najimy created and produced show played a limited two-week engagement in Los Angeles at the Music Box Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

[15] In July 2009, she starred as the narrator in the Oklahoma Lyric's Theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat alongside Idol alum Anthony Federov.

[16] Her next role saw her return to New York City when she debuted in August 2009 as Sarah, the "sexy, blind librarian" and love interest of Toxie, in the off-Broadway musical The Toxic Avenger.

DeGarmo appeared on musical theatre composer Scott Alan's third album, What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up with the song "I Wish", released November 1, 2010.

[21] In January 2013, DeGarmo played "Sally" in the pre-Broadway run of the new musical "NERDS," in Raleigh, NC, for the North Carolina Theatre.

[22] DeGarmo played The Narrator in the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from March 4, 2014, to April 2015.

[23] In June 2015, DeGarmo starred as Dorothy in Studio Tenn's production of The Wizard of Oz at The Schermerhorn Symphony Theater in Nashville, Tennessee.

[28] DeGarmo made a cameo appearance as herself in the Lifetime Network holiday movie All About Christmas Eve starring Haylie Duff.

[32] DeGarmo's character, Frankie, is a struggling musician who falls in love with the daughter of a mafia don, and the two women become involved in a murder while also trying to come out to "Family."

[34] DeGarmo is a celebrity ambassador of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and supports the cause at events including the 2012 MDA "Show of Strength" Telethon to raise money for children and adults with neuromuscular disease.

She has been on four USO tours overseas: In late 2007/early 2008, DeGarmo participated as a Southern celebrity in television ads for the Zaxby's restaurant chain.