Taryn Southern Bio

This Taryn Southern biography contains information believed to be accurate as extracted from sources around the internet including Wikipedia. If you believe there are errors or omissions in this Taryn Southern bio, please let us know so that we can correct any inaccuracies.

Taryn Southern (born July 16, 1985) is an American singer, actress and comedian. She was part of American Idol season three's Top 50. Southern gained national attention with her video Hot4Hill during the 2008 Presidential race. She later went on to star in and executive produce DirecTV's first original series, Project My World.

Taryn Southern: Early Life

Southern grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and began landing starring roles in local theatrical productions by the time she was 10, and was co-hosting a local television show when she graduated from Wichita East High School in 2003.

In 2005 at the age of 20, Southern earned both a B.S. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Miami. In 2005, she also won the Miss University of Miami pageant. While in school she received a grant to travel to Peru to study the shamanic use of ayahuasca among rainforest communities.

Taryn Southern: Career

In 2004, she auditioned for the third season of American Idol, in Los Angeles making it to Hollywood week and the Top 50.

On July 2, 2007, she released a YouTube video called Hott4Hill in support of the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton. The video, which she wrote and performed, shows her singing and dancing in a jokingly suggestive manner about her personal admiration of Clinton and how much she would like to see Clinton win the election.

In November 2008, Southern and her producing partner, Jessica Rose, launched Webutantes, a new media studio. Also in 2008, Southern wrote/produced her first comedic musical web series, Private High Musical, which was released across various media platforms.

In 2010, she had a recurring role in the 5th season of the CBS comedy series Rules of Engagement, as well as a small part in the movie Battle: Los Angeles as a reporter.

Also in 2010, she released the first video, "Keep it in Your Pants," from her upcoming comedy album on YouTube. The song reached #20 on the iTunes comedy chart.

Southern currently hosts the pre-show for the US version of The X Factor.

She is also doing a voice over for the character Judy, on the Fred animated series on Youtube.