Tucker was born and raised in Anaheim, California[1] by her mother Eleanor, a customer service supervisor with Pacific Life, and her father Stan, an attorney.[2] She began acting and singing during childhood, including performances with the Orange County Children's Theater and singing the national anthem at an Anaheim Angels baseball game.[3][2] She began her theater career in a production of The Little Princess at age 9.[1]
At age 11, Tucker played the role of young Nala for nine months in a Pantages Theatre production of The Lion King musical.[2][3][4][1] Resident director of The Lion King, Frank Lombardi, wrote about Tucker: "Her talent is extraordinary. So much so that upon realizing her skills as a singer, one of our composers added a complex vocal arrangement to one of the original songs. Lisa sang with a simplicity and beauty that made it seem effortless, even though it actually took great skill and concentration."[citation needed]
At the age of 16, she auditioned for the fifth season of American Idol in Denver, Colorado with One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston where she amazed the judges, with Simon Cowell declaring, "Wow. I think the best 16-year-old we've ever had throughout this whole competition." Later, the judges made a unanimous decision to put her through to the season's final 24. America voted her through to the top 12. While she was on American Idol she attended high-school classes with former Idol finalists Paris Bennett and Kevin Covais. Tucker was eliminated on March 29, 2006, after being in the bottom 3 with Katharine McPhee and Ace Young.[6][7] Tucker finished at tenth place on the show.[8]
She then performed on the American Idols Live! Tour 2006 tour, performing "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and "Your Song" by Elton John.[5][9] A review by Michael Slezak in Entertainment Weekly described her performance as the "most surprising," based on the show, and said that she had "the night's strongest showing among the women, sitting down at the piano to offer a restrained, heartfelt rendition of Elton John’s "Your Song" — with no accompaniment from the band."[8]
Tucker has performed at numerous local events in Orange and Los Angeles counties including singing the national anthem at Lakers, Clippers, Angels,[4] and Mighty Ducks games. She sang on the city of Anaheim float in the 118th Tournament of Roses parade.[citation needed] Tucker was invited to tour the U.S. Air Force bases in Europe to promote the kickoff of the annual USAFE Services Xtreme Summer Program.[citation needed]
She made a guest appearance on The O.C. playing herself in the prom episode.[11] She was in the third and fourth seasons Zoey 101 as Lisa Perkins; her first appearance was in the episode "Michael Loves Lisa", which aired on January 7, 2007. In August 2007, Tucker was featured on the reality TV show "Dr. 90210" as the singing instructor for Dr. Rey's children. She was cast for the pilot of the FOX series Born in the USA,[12] also by 19 Entertainment. She had a recurring role on The Game, where she played Pucci Wright in the third season. She also had a recurring role as Greta Martin in The Vampire Diaries.
^ abcBleiberg, Laura (October 15, 2000). "Girl wins a role of a lifetime PROFILE: Anaheim's Lisa Tucker portrays Young Nala in 'The Lion King.'". Orange County Register. ProQuest273476709
