Karen Rodriguez is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer from New York City, New York. Rodriguez placed twelfth on the tenth season

American Idol (season 10)

The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...

 of American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

.

Early life

Rodriguez was born in 1989 in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

. Her father is Dominican

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 and her mother, Elvira Rodriguez is Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian. She is fluent in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. She went to New York's LaGuardia Arts School as did her fellow Idol contestant Pia Toscano

Pia Toscano

Pia Ann Rose Toscano is an American singer from Howard Beach, New York. Toscano placed ninth on the tenth season of American Idol. Considered to be a frontrunner in the competition, her elimination came as a shock to judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler, all of whom were visibly...

. She starred as Maria in "West Side Story

West Side Story

West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...

" as a freshman. In 2008, she appeared in the fifth season of a Puerto Rican talent show Objetivo Fama

Objetivo Fama

Objetivo Fama is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that has been on air for over five years on WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on Telefutura in the mainland United States...

and finished in seventh place.

Overview

Rodriguez auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol first on Myspace

Myspace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 and then in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. She was one of the five female vote getters in the semi-final round to advance to the Top 13. On March 17, 2011, Rodriguez was eliminated from American Idol, finishing in 12th place.

Performances/Results

Episode	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Order #	Result
Audition	Auditioner's Choice	"You Give Good Love You Give Good Love "You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was... "	Whitney Houston Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 1	First Solo	not aired	N/A	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 2	Group Performance	"Just the Way You Are Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars song) "Just the Way You Are" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, and is the lead single from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. It was released in the United States on July 20, 2010. It has also received airplay from AOL Radio's New Pop First station. The song was written by... "	Bruno Mars Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez , better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an Filipino-American singer-songwriter and record producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 3	Second Solo	"If You Had My Love If You Had My Love "If You Had My Love" is a song by American recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez, taken from her debut studio album, On the 6 . Released in 1999, the single peaked at number one in the United States, becoming Lopez's first number-one single; it also peaked at number four in the United Kingdom... "	Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...	N/A	Advanced
Las Vegas Round	Songs of The Beatles Group Performance	"Can't Buy Me Love Can't Buy Me Love "Can't Buy Me Love" is a song composed by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on the A-side of their sixth British single, "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That".-Interpretation:... "	The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round Final	Final Solo	"No Me Queda Más No Me Queda Mas "No Me Queda Más" is a song by Mexican-American Tejano pop singer Selena. "No Me Queda Mas" was the third lead single released from her album Amor Prohibido . The song was written and produced by Ricky Vela, A.B. Quintanilla III and Bebu Silvetti... "	Selena Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...	N/A	Advanced
Top 24 (12 Women)	Personal Choice	"Hero Hero (Mariah Carey song) "Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 1993 by Columbia Records as the second single from Carey's third studio album, Music Box . Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff... "	Mariah Carey Mariah Carey Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...	5	Advanced
Top 13	Your Personal Idol	"I Could Fall in Love I Could Fall in Love "I Could Fall in Love" is the first single by American singer Selena from her last studio album Dreaming of You, released in October 1995 by EMI International.-Song information:... "	Selena Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...	11	Bottom 3
Top 12	Year You Were Born	"Love Will Lead You Back Love Will Lead You Back "Love Will Lead You Back" is a song performed by Taylor Dayne. Released as the second single from Dayne's second album Can't Fight Fate , the ballad debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 27, 1990. It reached number one on April 7 that same year and spent 15 weeks in the Top 40... "	Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...	9	Eliminated

• Rodriguez was saved first from elimination.

Personal life

She considers Selena

Selena

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...

 to be her biggest idol, and is a fan of Juan Gabriel

Juan Gabriel

Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel , is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....

, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, Pitbull

Pitbull (rapper)

Armando Christian Pérez , better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, after which he released his debut album in 2004 titled M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records...

 and Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards...

.

External links

• Karen Rodriguez on American Idol
  American Idol
  American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...