At age six, JoJo was offered a record deal, but her mother turned it down because she believed JoJo was too young for a music career. After appearing on various talk shows, the McDonald's Gospelfest, performing Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me" and competing on the television show, "America's Most Talented Kids" (losing to Diana DeGarmo), record producer Vincent Herbert contacted her and asked her to audition for Blackground Records. During her audition for Barry Hankerson, Hankerson told her that the spirit of his niece, the late singer Aaliyah, had brought her to him. She was signed to the label, and had recording sessions with producers The Underdogs and Soulshock & Karlin. JoJo's live demo, "Joanna Levesque", recorded in 2001, features covers of soul and R&B songs, including Mack Rice's 1965 "Mustang Sally", Etta James's 1989 "It Ain't Always What You Do (It's Who You Let See You Do It)", Aretha Franklin's 1968 "Chain of Fools" and 1969 "The House That Jack Built", The Moonglows' 1956 "See Saw", Stevie Wonder's 1972 "Superstition", and The Temptations' 1975 "Shakey Ground".