Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks Weighs Getting
Serious with Boyfriend
Could Jordin Sparks be ready to take her relationship with close pal, singer-songwriter and ex-model Steph Jones to the next level?

"We don't know whether or not to go further or to just keep the friendship," the singer, 19, told PEOPLE Tuesday night at the 57th Annual BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills, where Jones was her date. "It's crazy. We've got the feelings, but we don't know whether or not to say it out loud."

One thing is for sure: The fellow keeps her feeling bubbly. "He's a really good guy," Sparks says. "A lot of fun." So how did the two initially link? Sparks proudly admits she was the one who made the first move.

Met Two Years Ago
"I met him two years ago," she recalls. "He was writing for Blake [Lewis], who got second place [on the sixth season of American Idol]. I was like, 'Can I get your contact information because you are a songwriter?' I was still working on my album and he was the only person I knew in L.A., so every time I would come I would say, 'Hey, you want to hang out?' "

And hang out they did. "My parents have met him and everything already," she says. Recently the pair have been seen cheering at the May 6 Lakers vs. Rockets basketball game at the Staples Center and slow dancing to Michael Buble's live rendition of "Me and Mrs. Jones" during the Gamble and Huff icon tribute at the BMI Pop Awards. "We've gotten really close," Sparks confirms.

For now, whether the two will start dating officially is still up in the air. "We'll see what happens," says Sparks. Until then, one thing is certain: She will tour with the Jonas Brothers starting June 20 in Dallas.
Jordin Sparks anxiously waited four years to audition for American Idol because she was only 12 when the show first aired. But once she turned 16 – the minimum age requirement for Idol contestants – Sparks blew the judges away with her rendition of Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," eventually taking the crown as the youngest Idol winner in history.

Although Sparks is just old enough to legally drive, the Arizona-raised powerhouse isn't a rookie to fame: Her famous father Phillippi played cornerback in the NFL for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. The talented teen previously auditioned for Star Search, but TV juggernaut American Idol made the bubbly beauty a household name.