Priscilla Renea

Up-and-coming pop starlet Priscilla Renea joins the growing ranks of artists who are jump-starting their careers with a jolt of self-generated YouTube publicity. Renea was a community college student in Florida in 2006, working at CVS and dreaming of going to New York City, when she entered a Justin Timberlake-sponsored Grammy contest -- and didn't win. Undaunted, the intrepid teen posted the clips she filmed of herself -- singing "Cry Me a River" and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (from Dreamgirls) -- on YouTube, followed by a slightly more impish video of her singing dictionary entries over Fergie's "Glamorous." MTV sat up and took notice, as did YouTube users, and within a few months she was en route to Atlanta, trying her luck among other music industry hopefuls. Working with a host of top producers, Renea wrote or co-wrote all the songs on her 2009 debut Jukebox, a sassy release that finds the singer's charm undiminished, even as it's grown a bit more polished.