E-mail a friendJamia Simone Nash
airdate February 22, 2008
At age 11, Jamia Simone Nash has already shared the stage with major artists, including Alicia Keys. She's acted in several sitcoms and the Lifetime movie, Life Is Not a Fairytale. The child prodigy began talking at 12 months, started singing at age 2 and was discovered at age 5, after winning a talent search competition in Atlanta. Nash made her feature debut in August Rush and will be the youngest African American to ever sing on an Oscar telecast when she performs that film's nominated song this year.
Jamia Simone Nash
Tavis: Eleven-year-old Jamia Simone Nash will not only be at the Kodak Theater this Sunday night for the Academy Awards, but she'll be on stage performing to a world-wide audience of nearly a billion people. The talented young singer and actress will actually be one of the youngest performers ever on that Oscar telecast for her work on the film, "August Rush."
In the film, she sings the song, "Raise It Up," which she'll perform Sunday night along with the Impact Repertory Theatre of Harlem from the soundtrack to "August Rush." Here is some of the recording session for "Raise It Up."
[Performance Clip]
Tavis: So I was asking Jamia when she walked onset whether she'd started rehearsals yet for her performance this Sunday in front of a billion people around the world and she said, "I know this song by heart." (Laughter) Anyway, Jamia, nice to see you.
Jamia Simone Nash: Nice to see you too.
Tavis: So tell me about this song.
Nash: Well, this song is an uplifting song and it talks about pain in a child that doesn't have a mother or a father and it's really moving and some people can really relate to that song because, in this world, you can find that.
Tavis: I think I was reading somewhere. You tell me if I read this correctly. I know that Academy Award nominees and presenters and those connected to the show are in a lot of different places when they get the word that they've been nominated, when they get the word they've been asked to do something.
But you are the only person I know - I have not done any research on this, but I just know this for a fact - you have to be the only person who was where you were when you heard about this and you were where?
Nash: I was in school.
Tavis: In school (laughter). Specifically doing what?
Nash: I was specifically getting packed up to go home, yes.
Tavis: (Laughter) So the word came to you while you were in school.
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: And who gave you this information?
Nash: Well, the principal on the intercom.
Tavis: On the intercom, the principal says what?
Nash: The principal was like, "Jamia got nominated for an Oscar" and everybody started screaming and the teacher is like, "Be quiet! Be quiet!" We were like all screaming and she's like, "Hush!" Then this guy was like, "Somebody said Jamia's getting nominated for something." And then they started, "Up for an Oscar" and everybody started screaming. I was like, wow. She was like, "Hush!" It was study hall, so nobody could talk.
Tavis: Study hall (laughter).
Nash: And she got mad because everybody was like, "You're gonna get a strike!"
Tavis: Study hall is the wrong place to be when you hear you been nominated for an Academy Award. You can't scream, you can't let it out, the teacher's telling you to hush 'cause you're in study hall. I know that story. No other nominee has that story to tell. So what does it feel like being your age and having this wonderful nomination and being a part of something this big?
Nash: Well, it feels great because it's all God's work. We give God all the glory 'cause this wouldn't have happened if He didn't work in our lives and get me where I am now, so I'm very excited and I'm just ready and I can't wait to hear, "They won!" If we do, well, I know we are. In Jesus' name, I do.
Tavis: What school do you go to? Let's give a shout out to your school since you're here.
Nash: Hi, Osborne Middle School.
Tavis: Osborne Middle School, okay. You're in what grade at Osborne Middle School.
Nash: Sixth grade.
Tavis: In the sixth grade.
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: Your favorite subjects are?
Nash: My favorite subject is science.
Tavis: And your least favorite is?
Nash: My least favorite is math 'cause it's very hard for me, it's very hard.
Tavis: I agree with you on the math part. Science, I couldn't do that. Not my favorite, as my grades will attest. Not my favorite. How did the singing thing happen for you?
Nash: Well, it happened at two. I started singing at two.
Tavis: You're eleven now.
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: Okay.
Nash: And actually I started singing at five at The Apollo and it all started from there to ending up on your show (laughter).
Tavis: And we're honored to have you on our show. How did you know that you had this gift for singing? I mean, do you recall being two years old and walking around singing? Do you remember this?
Nash: Well, my dad told me that I was like beating a soda bottle and singing around the house and, every song that I heard, I could imitate. He like, "This girl can sing."
Tavis: This without taking singing lessons. You were singing what you were hearing?
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: Yeah.
Nash: And my dad thought it was amazing, so he put me in this talent search for McDonalds Talent Search.
Tavis: I remember this.
Nash: And I won and we went on to The Apollo and then my career started from there.
Tavis: Do your parents - don't tell them I asked this question - do they have any singing background, any musical background at all?
Nash: Yes, both of my parents sing.
Tavis: They do. They both sing?
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: Okay.
Nash: And they're really great singers, very powerful. My dad has this low, big voice. He can sing like Johnny Gill.
Tavis: Oh, wow. Your daddy ought to get a contract then if he can sing like Johnny Gill, yeah.
Nash: And my mom has this most beautiful voice. It's amazing.
Tavis: You have siblings? You have brothers and sisters?
Nash: Yes. I have a sister.
Tavis: She's older or younger than you?
Nash: She's younger than me.
Tavis: All right. So does she understand all this? How young is she?
Nash: She is seven years old.
Tavis: Does she get all of the hype around this nomination?
Nash: She gets it. She's very smart and very funny. She will knock your socks off (laughter).
Tavis: (Laughter) So one of ya'll sings and one of ya'll tells jokes.
Nash: My sister, she loves acting. She's a really good actor and she cracks me up. I mean, she is so fun to be around and, if you put her on this show, she will crack you up. I mean, seriously.
Tavis: Oh, no, she's not. I know she ain't pushing her sister on me now (laughter). She comes on my show and now she's trying to book her sister on the show (laughter). What is your sister's name?
Nash: My sister's name is Olivia.
Tavis: All right. Ya'll call Olivia and let's get Olivia in here and talk to Olivia one day. I ain't mad at you, though. If you can't hook your sister up, who can you hook up? I ain't mad at you, Jamia. So tell me about your acting, the acting part of your life. You sing, as we discussed already, but you also act as well.
Nash: Well, acting's very fun. I mean, you can do anything in acting, but when the script tells you you have to be sassy, you have to be sassy and you can do anything with it right from there, but you have to still be that same character. It's fun to play somebody else. It is. It's very fun.
Tavis: You like doing that, yeah.
Nash: Yes.
Tavis: At this point, how are you and your family, your mom and dad and your management, how are they deciding how to shape and craft your career? Are they trying to push you now in the music direction? Are they doing the acting? Are they trying to do both? What are they doing to your career now? First of all, you're already off and running, but this exposure on Sunday is gonna open up a whole lot more doors, so where do you want to take this young eleven-year-old career?
Nash: Well, like you said, they're pushing me in the acting and the music career, so they're pushing me both ways, but in a gentle way. They're not like pushing me so far that I get so pressured. They take steps and they teach me and they show how it's supposed to be done 'cause my dad has experience singing on stage as well. He has experienced audiences in front of him. He's been on stage, so he knows what it feels like to be tense on the stage or he knows what it feels like to be acting as someone and giving that emotion on the screen.
Tavis: With all respect to your daddy, he ain't got to sing in front of a billion people on Sunday and Jamia does, so I'm wondering whether or not you have - if you have it, I don't feel it emanating from your body - but are you at all tense? Scared? Frightened? Nervous? Any of that? Or are you just ready for it to be Sunday?
Nash: Well, no, I'm not scared and tense and, yes, I am ready for Sunday. I'm excited. I'm very excited, but God's gonna work through me. It's just gonna be fascinating and, no, I'm not tense at all 'cause there's nothing to be scared of. There's nothing to be nervous about. Just think of it as one person sitting there just watching you sing. I mean, that's my life. I love singing. That's what I do.
Tavis: So you still walk around and sing and beat on bottles?
Nash: Exactly, and I play with Barbie dolls as well (laughter).
Tavis: Okay, all right (laughter). I think Jamia's gonna be all right on Sunday night. So now we established this week, last night in fact, that we're gonna watch Sunday night to see Ruby Dee, we hope, walk across the stage and accept an Academy Award. I'm sorry, I'm just biased. I love Ruby Dee and want to see her do well at eighty-three years of age. She earned it, I think. But I am anxious to hear Jamia do her thing on Sunday night.
So now I got two good reasons to watch the Academy Awards, as do you. With all the other festivities, Jamia will be on the stage doing her thing Sunday night in front of a billion people around the world. I am so honored to have you on the program and we're gonna call Olivia and see if we can get her over here to talk to us. I know she got a lot going on, so I don't know if she got time to come see us over here, you know. We're gonna call her, though, okay?
Nash: Okay.
Tavis: I'm honored to have you here. I was gonna say all the best on Sunday, but you don't need it. So have fun on Sunday night. Nice to have you here.
Nash: Thank you.
Back to February 22, 2008