Life and career

Born to Jewish parents in Worcester, Massachusetts, Porter is the great-granddaughter of the late, prominent Worcester rabbi Joseph Klein. Her maternal grandmother ran the Charlotte Klein Dance Center in Worcester. Porter's mother, Laura Klein, also taught dance, coaching Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski, who appeared on Star Search in 1987, in the junior dance category, before they became better known as the Coors Light Twins. Her father, Ric Porter, was co-founder, lead singer, and songwriter of the Worcester Band Zonkaraz. While in Los Angeles for the twins' appearance on the show, the show's producer heard Porter singing in the hotel lobby and had her on the very next episode. Alisan has been singing and performing since the age of three; at the age of five, she became the youngest Star Search participant ever to win the competition.

As an actress, she is known for her lead role as Curly Sue in the 1991 movie Curly Sue starring Jim Belushi.

Porter continued acting at Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, where she joined a theater group and participated in various shows. While a freshman she portrayed Anita in West Side Story and when a senior she played the lead in Cinderella. Interviewed after her win of the 2016 The Voice competition, her former high school drama teacher said she was not surprised at her win saying "she blew everybody away" with her performance in West Side Story and added, "She really seemed to get the best out of everybody else. Her energy rubbed off on everybody. She inspired others."

When she was eighteen, she moved to New York to audition for Broadway shows. She was cast as Urleen in the show Footloose.

Porter is based in Los Angeles, where she has been working on her music career. During this time she starred as Miriam in the smash The Ten Commandments: The Musical at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles alongside Val Kilmer and Adam Lambert and Broadway star Lauren Kennedy. In 2003, the band The Raz was formed, with Porter as the vocalist and main songwriter. The Raz split up in 2004. In March 2005, she announced the birth of her new band, The Alisan Porter Project. During 2006, she performed in the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line as Bebe Bensonheimer at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City.

On October 9, 2009, Porter's independent debut self-titled album was released.

The Voice (2016)

On February 29, 2016, she became a contestant on season 10 of The Voice and sang "Blue Bayou" for her blind audition performance. All four coaches - Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams - turned their chairs for her and she chose Aguilera as her coach. In the battle rounds, Porter was up against Lacy Mandigo with the song "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas as a rock version. In the knockout rounds, Porter beat Daniel Passino. Porter went on to sing through the live shows, advancing via public vote every week up to the finals. On May 24, 2016, Porter was crowned the season 10 winner of The Voice. She also helped make The Voice history as the first artist to win the show with a female coach, giving Aguilera her first win as a coach. Her original song called "Down That Road".

- Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

Stage	Song	Original artist	Date	Order	Result
Blind Audition	"Blue Bayou"	Roy Orbison Linda Ronstadt	February 29, 2016	1.11	All four chairs turned Joined Team Christina
Battle Rounds (Top 48)	"California Dreamin'"	The Mamas & the Papas	March 21, 2016	8.9	Saved by Coach
Knockout Rounds (Top 32)	"River"	Joni Mitchell	March 28, 2016	10.5	Saved by Coach
Live Playoffs (Top 24)	"Cry Baby"	Janis Joplin	April 11, 2016	14.12	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 12	"Stone Cold"	Demi Lovato	April 18, 2016	17.9	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 11	"Stay with Me Baby"	Lorraine Ellison	April 25, 2016	19.6	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 10	"Let Him Fly"	Patty Griffin	May 2, 2016	21.9	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 9	"Cryin'"	Aerosmith	May 9, 2016	23.8	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 8 (Semifinals)	"Desperado"	The Eagles	May 16, 2016	25.4	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 4 (Finals)	"Down That Road"	Alisan Porter	May 23, 2016	26.2	Winner
	"You've Got a Friend"	Carole King		26.6
	"Somewhere"	Barbra Streisand		26.12

Non Competition Performances:

Collaborator(s)	Song	Original Artist
Bryan Bautista, Nick Hagelin, Tamar Davis, Kata Hay, and Ryan Quinn	"Stars"	Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Christina Aguilera and her team	"Live and Let Die"	Paul McCartney & Wings
Adam Wakefield	"Angel from Montgomery"	Bonnie Raitt & John Prine
Paxton Ingram, Kata Hay and Ryan Quinn	"Straight On"	Heart
Jennifer Nettles	"Unlove You"	Jennifer Nettles

Personal life

On March 10, 2012, Porter married Brian Autenrieth, a fruit exporter and former child soap opera actor, in California. The couple have two children: son Mason (born 2012) and daughter Aria (born 2014).

Porter has openly discussed her battles with alcoholism and drug addiction. She has been sober since October 28, 2007.

Since December 2008, Porter is a contributing columnist for movmnt magazine.

Porter created a closed Facebook page for mothers called Lil' Mamas and then, in 2012, a related blog website of the same name that she runs with her business partner, Celia Behar.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Homesick	Maggie
1989	Parenthood	Taylor Buckman
1990	Stella	Jenny (age 8)
1990	I Love You to Death	Carla Boca
1991	Curly Sue	Curly Sue
2003	Shrink Rap	Brandi
2006	The Ten Commandments: The Musical	Miriam
2008	Meet Dave	A Chorus Line Dancer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Pee-wee's Playhouse	Li'l Punkin	2 episodes
1987	I'll Take Manhattan	Young Maxi	Miniseries
1987	Family Ties	Child	Episode: "Miracle in Columbus"
1989-90	Chicken Soup	Molly Peerce	12 episodes
1990	Perfect Strangers	Tess Holland	Episode: "New Kid on the Block "
1990	When You Remember Me	Kelly	Television film
1991	The Golden Girls	Melissa	Episode: "Beauty and the Beast"
2001	Undressed	Belinda	Season 4 episodes
2016	The Voice	Herself / Artist	Season 10 Winner

Discography

Albums

Title and details	Notes
Alisan Porter Type: Debut album Released: October 9, 2009	Track listing No. Title Length 1. "6am" 3:22 2. "C'mon" 2:55 3. "My Only" 4:33 4. "Sorry" 4:39 5. "I Can't Stop the World" 4:05 6. "Dimension" 4:11 7. "The Hard Way" 4:17 8. "Never Easy" 3:31 9. "Back To Earth" 4:07 10. "For Us" 4:28 11. "The End Song (live @the Cinegrill)" 4:29 12. "Into The Fire" 3:49

Title and details	Notes
Who We Are Type: Album Released: November 24, 2014	Track listing No. Title Length 1. "Hold Me" 0:49 2. "Stay or Run" 3:30 3. "Who We Are" 3:31 4. "Blue Heart" 3:49 5. "Surrender Your Heart" 3:28 6. "Runnin" 4:06 7. "Before You Come Back" 3:36 8. "This Old Town" 4:13 9. "Hawk and Crow" 3:00 10. "Long Run" 3:47 11. "Stay" 4:52

Releases from The Voice

Albums

Album	Details	Peak chart positions
		US	US Digital
The Complete Season 10 Collection (The Voice Performance)	Release date: May 24, 2016 Label: Republic Records Formats: music download

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions			Sales
		US Digital	US Country	US Rock
2016	"Blue Bayou"	—	41	—	30,000+
	"California Dreamin'"	—	—	74	—
	"River"	—	—	—	—
	"Cry Baby"	—	—	—	—
	"Stone Cold"	—	—	—	—
	"Stay with Me Baby"	—	—	—	—
	"Let Him Fly"	34	—	—	—
	"Cryin'"	—	—	30	—
	"Desperado"	24	—	—	—
	"Somewhere"				65,000+
	"You've Got a Friend"				25,000+
	"Down That Road"				62,000+
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Other works

Porter co-wrote the following songs:

• Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment (2009)
  • Aftermath (Adam Lambert, Alisan Porter, Ferras, Ely Rise)
• Scarlett Cherry - Labor of Love (2011)
  • Angel (Alisan Porter, Ely Rise, Scarlett Cherry, Lee Cherry, Guy Baruch)
  • Sleep Until You Dream (Alisan Porter, IIsey Juber, Jordan Lawhead, Scarlett Cherry, Lee Cherry)
  • Never Knew Love (Alisan Porter, Ely Rise, Scarlett Cherry, Lee Cherry)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1992	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actress Guest Starring or Recurring Role in a TV Series	The Golden Girls	Nominated
1993		Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture	Curly Sue	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]