Bryana Salaz

Bryana Salaz was born on August 25, 1997, in Orlando, Florida, USA. Her father, Edward Salaz, is a Colonel in the US Army.

Being from a military background, she had to change places every two to three years. She attended four different high schools between her freshman and senior years. She credits this constant movement and change of place for her easy adaptability to new environments.

As a child she was interested more in playing soccer than singing or entertainment. When she was 12 years old, her mother entered her into a singing contest for Army children in Hawaii, where her father was stationed at that time. Initially she was not interested in participating in that contest owing to her interest in sports, but she reluctantly agreed.

She says that though she was initially reluctant to participate in the singing competition, once she stepped on stage, she discovered that she not only loved singing, but also loved to be on stage in front of a crowd. After that competition, she performed on request at many venues throughout Hawaii. She performed at Don Ho’s Island Grill and at an event for Martin Luther King Jr. at Kapiolani Park. She also sang the US national anthem for an event of the D.A.R.E. programme in front of a 10,000 strong crowd. She started training her voice for singing under one of the best vocal trainers in Hawaii, Yvonne Iversen.

She started participating in singing competitions and won the ‘Lolani Talent Competition,’ in 2010. She also began to perform in musical plays. She auditioned for the musical play, ‘High School Musical 2,’ at the ‘Ft. Shafter Richardson Theatre.’ The director of the musical play was impressed with her talent, but she was too young for any of the roles on offer in the play. As a result, the director created an entirely new role for her in the play as ‘Jr. Sharpettes.’ Thereafter, she performed in several musical plays.

Her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she continued to participate in singing competitions and perform in theatre productions. In 2011, she participated in the auditions for the TV show, ‘America’s Got Talent.’ She was selected and advanced to the Las Vegas Rounds.

In Atlanta, she signed up with the J. Pervis Talent Agency. She also started applying for auditions for acting roles. She landed a role in the film ‘Joyful Noise’ as part of a children’s choir. She also bagged a guest role in the television sitcom, ‘Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.’