Allison "Ali" Brustofski (born October 4, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter from
Oakland, New Jersey
Oakland is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 12,754, She was a finalist on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
television network's singing show, '' The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep'' in 2012, and the 2011 winner of New York's Z100 radio station's "Hometown Hero" competition, in which around 400 up-and-coming musicians participated. As a songwriter, Brustofski won the 2009 NYC Songwriters Circle's "Young Songwriter Award". On television, her original song "Rewind" was featured in two episodes of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's ''
The Voice
The Voice may refer to:
Fictional entities
* The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics
* The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe
* The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...
''.
Brustofski is a successful
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
who performs
cover versions
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of well-known artists like
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
and
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
. As of October 2015, her YouTube channel had nearly 100 million total video views and more than a half a million subscribers. She released her first original EP ''DreamBig'' independently in 2013.
Music career
YouTube
After spending several years performing in musical theater and recording voiceovers, Ali Brustofski uploaded her 1st video to YouTube in December 2008. Up to June 2014, she has uploaded over 180 videos, including over 120 music videos.
Competitions and awards
NY Songwriters Circle
In November 2009, Brustofski won the NY Songwriters Circle "Young Songwriter Award" for her original song "Rewind" over 4,000 other entries.
MSG Varsity Talent Show
In April 2011, Ali Brustofski was chosen to be a contestant on the MSG Varsity Talent Show from hundreds of submissions. The television show was broadcast on
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
's
MSG Varsity
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with ...
State Farm
State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois.
Overview
State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the la ...
Hometown Hero Competition. She was voted into the top 25 artists, and selected to be a top 5 finalist by a music industry A-List panel of judges. Brustofski performed at the 2011 Z100 Jingle Ball
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
All-Access Lounge in the
Hammerstein Ballroom
The Hammerstein Ballroom is a ballroom located within the Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; it seats 2,500 people for theat ...
on September 12, 2011 along with
The Script
The Script are an Irish rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O'Donoghue, lead guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power. The band moved to London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint ...
,
Gym Class Heroes
Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip h ...
,
Hot Chelle Rae
Hot Chelle Rae ( ) (formerly known as Miracle Drug) is an American pop rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005. The band currently consists of Ryan Follesé (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nash Overstreet (lead guitar, backing vocals), a ...
, and
Karmin
Karmin was an American pop duo consisting of Amy Renee Noonan and Nick Noonan. Starting as a novelty act that released covers on YouTube, they signed in 2011 with Epic Records. In May 2012, Karmin released their debut EP ''Hello'', which spa ...
.
''The Next: Fame Is At Your Doorstep''
In August 2012 Ali Brustofski was selected to appear on '' The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep'', a nationally broadcast TV singing competition show which aired on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Network. She was mentored by
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...
, performed at The Paramount Theater, and won the New York episode of the show. Brustofski then worked with all four of the shows mentors: Gloria Estefan,
Joe Jonas
Joseph Adam Jonas (born August 15, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to fame as a member of the pop rock band the Jonas Brothers, alongside his brothers Kevin Jonas, Kevin and Nick Jonas, Nick. The group released their ...
,
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
and
John Rich
John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...
to prepare to perform in the semi-finals and finals episodes, broadcast from The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.
Recordings
Cover Songs
Ali Brustofski has recorded over 80 individual cover songs independently, which have been distributed by MudHutDigital.com, Keep Your Soul Records, and more. They include collaborations with
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. Carpenter made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and had a recurring role on Fox Broadcasting ...
Peter Hollens
Peter James Hollens (born March 4, 1980) is an American singer/songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with ''a cappella'' music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's ''a cappella'' group, On ...
and
Savannah Outen
Savannah Paige Outen (born October 14, 1992) is an American singer who gained popularity on YouTube. Outen began posting videos of herself singing on YouTube in March 2007 along with Angelika Vee and Esmée Denters. In 2010 she collaborated with ...
. Brustofski has also released two full albums of her cover songs: ''Cover to Cover,Vol. 1'' and ''Cover to Cover, Vol. 2''.
The Next: Performance
Brustofski recorded five studio versions of the cover songs she performed on the television show ''The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep'', all of which were released by
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
in 2012.
Original Songs
Singles
On January 1, 2009, Ali Brustofski released her first original single, "Up, Up, Up!" which reached No. 2 on the Tween Pop Radio Top 40. Her second single, "Rewind" was released on April 4, 2011. Brustofski's recent single "Boys Like U" was made with the band "Like The Movies".
''Dream Big'' EP
Ali Brustofski's first EP, ''Dream Big'', was realized through a successful
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
campaign on
RocketHub
RocketHub was an online crowdfunding platform launched in 2010, its first use was September 1, 2009. Based in New York City, its users included musicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, game developers, philanthropists, filmmakers, photographers,Hai ...
. The EP was released on July 10, 2013. The first single was "Green Light" and the music video for it premiered on Z100.com. "You Are", the second single from the EP received its music video premiere on RyanSeacrest.com on January 17, 2014. "Goodbye To The Rain" is the final single from the ''Dream Big'' EP. It also premiered on Z100.com.
Acting career
Theater
Brustofski began performing at the age of three, with the first of many competition dance programs. She then acted in several New Jersey musical theater productions, including "Annie" at the Darress Theatre in
Boonton, NJ
Boonton is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline of 149 (− ...
. At 10 years old, Brustofski performed as "Brigitta" in her first professional musical, ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'', at New Jersey's
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...
.) Brustofski also performed
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in the role of Nicki in "Dear Maudie" at the 78th St. Theatre.
Voiceover Acting
In 2003, Brustofski was hired by
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
to be the voice for Piper O'Possum, the mascot of
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
after Face, from 2004 through 2007. She has continued to do voiceover work.