Over the Rainbow Review

Over the Rainbow is Connie Talbot's debut album, and was released 26 November 2007 by Rainbow Recording Company. It received poor reviews from critics and peaked at 38 on the British charts. Despite this, additional copies of the album had to be pressed after sales were higher than expected, and it was rated gold in early December 2007 after selling over 100,000 copies in Britain alone. The recording of the album and its release was geared towards Talbot's young age, with much of the recording being done in her auntie's spare room. Public appearances were kept to a minimum, though Talbot did make some public and television appearances to promote the album, and performed in public several times. She later toured Asia in support of the album. A rerelease of Over the Rainbow is due in June 2008 with an updated tracklist, replacing some of the Christmas themed tracks with more general covers.

After briefly recording with Sony BMG, Talbot was signed to Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of Rhythm Riders made specifically for her. To produce Over the Rainbow, Talbot worked with John Arnison, who currently also manages Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records. It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May. A recording schedule was worked out so that Talbot could continue with her normal school activities while recording the album in her aunty Vicky's spare bedroom, which her mother described as "a better solution [than Sony BMG] which has not robbed her of her childhood". The final version of Over the Rainbow was recorded at Olympic Studios, on 12 October 2007. The album was released on 26 November 2007, with an initial pressing of 50,000 copies. However, an additional 120,000 had to be pressed after the album sold out in days.

A publicity shot of Talbot taken during the recording of Over the Rainbow at Olympic Studios (12 October 2007).Although Arnison claimed he did not "want to put [Talbot] through the promotional grind which most artists go through because she is too young", Talbot made several public appearances after the album release, include headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control. At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot was quoted as saying "I love it here, it’s brilliant, really fun" but had to be ushered off-stage by the police. Talbot also appeared with 9 year-old James Buckley, Dragons' Den winner, to turn on the 2007 Halifax Christmas lights. She was also responsible for the turning on of Walsall's Christmas lights, and has performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square. TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on the day of the album's release.

In April and May 2008, Talbot began touring Asia to promote Over the Rainbow, with planned stops in Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong. Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the Sun.Star mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times, and The New Paper saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 35 million times.

The album was received mostly negatively by critics. Sharon Mawer, of All Music Guide, praised Over the Rainbow by saying "[Talbot] can sing, for a seven year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too". However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realization of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5. Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance". However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5. Reviewers in the Harlow Star agreed, saying "There's no doubt she's a sweet little girl with a nice voice, but surely there's something inherently wrong with thrusting a child into the limelight at such a young age?"

The album peaked in the British album charts at 38, and was almost out of the charts by Christmas, despite having been tipped as a potential Christmas number one. The official Connie Talbot website claimed the album had been more successful elsewhere, including Hong Kong, where it was claimed Over the Rainbow reached number 6 on the charts, beaten only by Amy Winehouse and The Eagles from the international community. The album was certified gold in Britain in early December, with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on daytime television programme This Morning.