Touring with Alicia Keys and Jesse McCartney

Sparks was the opening act for Alicia Keys on the U.S. leg of her As I Am tour. Before going on tour, she was to appear on the GMA Dove Awards as part of a tribute to Michael W. Smith as well as it was announced Sparks would team up with cosmetics company, Avon, to become a spokesperson for the teen-focused line Mark. Before the tour even started, a potentially career-threatening throat injury forced Sparks to cancel a few weeks of shows. Officials said that she was suffering an acute vocal cord hemorrhage, and was ordered to strict vocal rest until the condition improved. If it had not improved, it may have required laser microsurgery. Her first concert originally was scheduled as an opener for Alicia Keys on Saturday, April 19, 2008.[25][26][27] She was back on the road with Alicia Keys by April 30. She remained on the tour until the last show on June 18.

In an interview with Perez Hilton, it was mentioned that Sparks will co-headline tour along with Jesse McCartney in August 2008[28] while she recently joined with the website DoSomething.org and Staples Inc. to resolve the problem with a national back-to-school supply drive.[29]

Sparks was appointed on August 12, 2008 by President George W. Bush to be a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for a two year term along with other celebrities such as Corinne Bailey Rae and Michael W. Smith, with whom she has previously worked.

Sparks joined Alicia Keys for a second time on an Australian leg of her As I Am Tour, which began on December 6, 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand at the Vector Arena and ended December 20, 2008.

While on tour with Alicia Keys in the American leg of the As I Am Tour Sparks stopped by several talk shows. She appeared on The Tyra Banks Show in early 2008, with Banks saying she wanted Sparks for the main role in a scripted television project she was working on. Later in 2008 on the radio show Johnjay & Rich, Sparks mentioned that she received an email from Tyra, which she expected to be news about the show, but was just a hello. She added that Tyra said she would contact her when the show came up.

Sparks states that she would love to break into acting.

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