Music Friday: 'Star Search' Junior Champ Tiffany Evans Sings, 'I'll Rock Your Promise Ring'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, a 14-year-old Tiffany Evans sings about a very special piece of jewelry in her 2007 debut single, "Promise Ring."

In the song, the former Star Search Grand Champion in the Junior Singer Division tells her boyfriend that sometimes a girl needs a token of love to show how much she's appreciated for all the things she does. Apparently, her boyfriend was thinking the same thing.

He surprises her with a small velvet box containing a promise ring and makes the following vow: "I promise not to hurt you, I promise not to lie / I promise to befriend you and defend you with my life / I promise you forever, I promise you today, he said / Would you wear my promise ring? I said yes."

Later in the song, Evans sings, "How in the world could a girl say no / I knew it the moment he made my finger glow."

The recurring hook is, "Yes, I'll rock your promise ring."

"Promise Ring" was the lead single from the teenager's self-titled debut album. The song went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 list and #66 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list. The album scored a Top 20 position on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop albums chart.

The official video for the song spotlights the teenybopper rockin' her promise ring with a special appearance by Grammy Award-winner Ciara, who was 21 years old at the time. The video has been viewed on YouTube more than 12 million times.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Evans rose to fame in 2003 as an 11-year-old contestant on Star Search, hosted by Arsenio Hall. Evans was the only performer in the talent show's history to earn perfect scores on all of her appearances. The Grand Champion in the Junior Singer Division soon caught the attention of Columbia Records, which signed her to a record deal.

Please check out the video of Evans and Ciara performing "Promise Ring." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Promise Ring"
Written by Michael Crooms, Ezekiel Lewis, Balewa Muhammad, Candice Nelson, Bryan Reid and Patrick Smith. Performed by Tiffany Evans, featuring Ciara.

To the beat, to the beat, to the beat 'cause I need
Everybody to the floor, why? 'cause this beat is sick, yeah
It's time to rock, uh, that's what it is
Tiffany's her name, love is the game
And the only way to play is with this promise ring

Sometimes a girl needs to know that she's
Appreciated for all the things she does
With some sorta token of love
'Cause without it her young heart won't know

And right then to my surprise, he
Pulled out a small velvet box, pink ribbon tied
I'm wondering what's inside
He opened it and then he replied

He said, I promise not to hurt you, I promise not to lie
I promise to befriend you and defend you with my life
I promise you forever, I promise you today, he said
Would you wear my promise ring? I said yes

If ya break ya promise we breakin' up
Got a couple things that I want
Walks in the park and sweet things
If I rock your promise ring

I could be your pretty young thing
You could become my king
I gotta know you got me
Yes, I'll rock your promise ring

Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring

How in the world could a girl say no
I knew it the moment he made my finger glow
It was good to know I'm who he chose
It was your heart he felt now it shows, now it shows

You know when you see me floss
No way it's gon' get lost, I'll never take this off
I'm older and they call me by your name
I'll wear it on a chain, because I can hear you say

He said I promise not to hurt you, I promise not to lie
I promise to befriend you and defend you with my life
I promise you forever, I promise you today, he said
Would you wear my promise ring' I said yes

If ya break ya promise we breakin' up
Got a couple things that I want
Walks in the park and sweet things
If I rock your promise ring

I could be your pretty young thing
You could become my king
I gotta know you got me
Yes, I'll rock your promise ring

Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring

Everybody get up and rock to this beat
My name is Tiffany and why'all know me
All my girls with me, all the boys like me
Come correctly with the promise ring
And you just might be my boo, my boo

Promise that you'll never let me go and boy I'll
Boy I'll wear your promise ring
All you have to do is say the word and boy I'll
Boy I'll wear your promise ring

Just let me know, just let me know, what I gotta do
Just let me know, just let me know
You ain't goin' nowhere, I ain't goin' nowhere
I'll be on for sure but you gotta know that

If ya break ya promise we breakin' up
Got a couple things that I want
Walks in the park and sweet things
If I rock your promise ring

I could be your pretty young thing
You could become my king
I gotta know you got me
Yes, I'll rock your promise ring

Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, promise, promise ring
Yes, I'll rock your promise, yes, I'll rock your promise ring

If I rock your promise ring
Young thing, my king

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

More Deep-Earth Discoveries Locked Inside a Diamond — a 'Tiny Indestructible Spaceship'

A series of groundbreaking discoveries have the science community singing the praises of diamonds — especially the ones with inclusions. One physicist compared the precious gemstone, which can ferry material to the surface from hundreds of miles beneath the Earth's crust, to a "tiny indestructible spaceship."

A few weeks ago, we reported on a never-before-seen deep-Earth mineral — calcium silicate perovskite — that had traveled to the surface trapped within a diamond. The unstable material would have normally deformed as it moved to the surface, but within the body of diamond, it remained intact.

Then we learned about the discovery of ice-VII, a type of water ice that forms under enormous pressure. Previously, scientists theorized that ice-VII likely existed in great abundance in our solar system, but they did not think it could naturally occur on Earth. That thinking was turned upside down when traces of the unique crystallized water was found encapsulated in a diamond.

Both the calcium silicate perovskite and ice-VII originated 400 miles deep within the Earth's crust and rode to the surface in volcanic eruptions as diamond inclusions. Neither could have survived the massive pressure change outside the protection of the diamond.

“Diamond is a remarkable vessel for sampling the geochemistry of the deep mantle,” Steven Jacobsen, a mineral physicist at Northwestern University, told EOS.org, “because of its ability to seal off trapped inclusions from the reactive environment during ascent, like a tiny indestructible spaceship.”

As diamonds form hundreds of miles beneath the Earth's crust, tiny bits of their surrounding environment can be trapped inside. What's particularly unique about diamonds is that the inclusions will remain under the same pressure as they were during the time they were encapsulated.

"The diamond lattice doesn't relax much, so the volume of the inclusion remains almost constant whether it's in the Earth's mantle or in your hand," noted Oliver Tschauner, a professor of geoscience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A press release provided by the university explained that in the jewelry business, diamonds with impurities hold less value. But for Tschauner and other scientists, those impurities have infinite value, as they may hold the key to understanding the inner workings of our planet. In the most recent case, they revealed that aqueous fluids reside deeper in Earth than anyone ever expected.

The once-elusive ice-VII has 1.5 times the density of Ice-I, which is the type of ice we might put in a soft drink. Ice will progress from ice-I to ice-II, and so on, based on differing pressure and temperature conditions.

"These discoveries are important in understanding that water-rich regions in the Earth's interior can play a role in the global water budget and the movement of heat-generating radioactive elements," Tschauner said. "It's another piece of the puzzle in understanding how our planet works."

The ice-VII findings by Tschauner and his team at the University of Nevada were published in the journal Science. The findings related to the discovery of calcium silicate perovskite by scientists at the University of Alberta were published in the journal Nature.

Credit: Image of 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Elaborate World Series Rings Use Gemstones to Tell the Story of Astros' First-Ever Championship

The Houston Astros' 2017 World Series rings tell the story of the franchise's first-ever championship using 225 colorless diamonds, nine orange sapphires and 16 blue sapphires set in 14-karat white and yellow gold. Each ring weighs 90 grams and glitters with 10.40 carats of genuine gemstones.

Players, coaches and team management received their new bling during a special ceremony at Minute Maid Park last week.

According to the team, the top of the championship ring illustrates how — when the pieces come together — history can be made. The colorful design features the team's iconic "H" logo rendered in colorless diamonds layered over a yellow-gold-framed Texas star formed from orange sapphires. The star sits atop a circle of blue sapphires — also framed in yellow gold — which is encircled by a halo of tiny white diamonds.

The "H" posed a tricky design challenge for Minneapolis-based Jostens. The solution was to use 11 custom-cut baguette diamonds, which, not coincidentally, were the number of the team's post-season wins. Another challenge was sourcing orange sapphires of a hue that exactly matched the team colors. According to published reports, Jostens and Astros' team management had to go back and forth a number of times before getting it exactly right.

The logo's diamond halo includes 56 round diamonds, which represents the 56 years of Astros franchise history prior to earning a world championship. In all, the total diamond count for the top of the ring amounts to 112, the number of wins — both during the regular season and post season — that the Astros achieved to win the World Series.

And the symbolism continues...

On one side of the ring is the player's name rendered in raised yellow-gold lettering. Below the name is the the iconic Houston skyline, paying the ultimate respect to the city and fans who never wavered in their support for their team. A rendering of Minute Maid Park's left field wall seems to lift up the city of Houston, a sentiment expressed by many fans when describing what this championship has meant to them and their community in light of the devastating flooding that hit the city in August of 2017. Layered over the wall is the player's number encrusted in white diamonds. "Our guys were playing for something bigger than themselves," team president Reid Ryan said.

On the opposite side of the ring, the phrase "Houston Strong" is prominently displayed in contrasting yellow gold atop the year, which is rendered in diamonds. A single solitaire diamond sits in the top of the Commissioner's Trophy, representing the first World Series victory in franchise history. The trophy seems to be rising from the center of Minute Maid Park. The Roman numeral LVI sits to the right of the trophy, paying tribute to the 56-year history of the Astros franchise.

The open sides of the ring feature a rim of round colorless diamonds set in contrasting yellow gold and punctuated by two princess-cut sapphires, an orange stone on one side and a blue stone on the other. Each is set in a bezel that's shaped like a home plate. These sapphires represent Houston's unique achievement of being the first franchise in history to have won a pennant in both the American and National Leagues.

The interior of the ring showcases the results of each series in the Astros' playoff journey, including the logos of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. The bottom edge is inscribed with the organization's rallying cry, "Earned History," and includes the Astros' logo rendered in black enamel on 14-karat white gold.

Jostens reported that the Astros ordered 1,322 championship rings, which were distributed to the team's players, coaches, clubhouse and training staff, baseball and business front office members, medical staff, part-time associates, Hall of Famers, owners and broadcasters.

The only team to order more were the 2016 champion Chicago Cubs. That team ordered 1,908 rings, a nod to the prior time the Cubs won the World Series — 1908.

Credits: Images via Twitter.com/Houston Astros; Courtesy of Jostens.

Music Friday: Miranda Lambert Confesses Cheating Ways to Her Engagement Ring in 'Dear Diamond'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country star Miranda Lambert stares down at her engagement ring and confesses a deep, dark secret in the 2011 ballad, "Dear Diamond."

The song's protagonist has cheated on her husband and she fears that her once-flawless marriage could be torn apart.

She asks her diamond ring for clarity. If she confesses her indiscretions, she'll break his heart. If she doesn't, the guilt will haunt her.

She sings, "Dear diamond, pretty and new / Perfectly flawless, too good to be true / Dear diamond, you shine like the sun / You wrap around my finger just like he does / You cost more than he wanted to lose / And with this ring I said I do / I promise to never do what I've done / I've lied to someone."

Lambert explained the origins of the song in an interview with CMT.com. Apparently, the characters in the story are fictional.

“When you first get engaged, as the girl, you’re constantly staring at your ring, showing everybody your ring,” she told CMT.com. “I just thought it would be a cool concept to write a song to my ring. And, of course, the dark side of me just kind of leaned toward the darker version instead of going happy with it. But I think that was the right way to go.”

"Dear Diamond," which features the haunting harmonies of country and bluegrass singer, Patty Loveless, is the sixth track from Lambert's Four the Record album.

Lambert told Rolling Stone magazine that Loveless was one of her heroes and that the collaboration was really special to her — "a dream come true."

With more than one million records sold, Four the Record reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country albums chart and ascended to #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. It also placed as high as #12 on the Canadian Albums chart.

Born in Longview, Texas, in 1983, Lambert became interested in country music after a attending a Garth Brooks concert as a nine-year-old. Lambert made her professional singing debut with "The Texas Pride Band" while she was still in high school. She also performed with the house band at Reo Palm Isle in Longview, Texas.

In 2003, Lambert placed third in Nashville Star, country music's version of American Idol. Her first album, Kerosene, made its debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. In April 2017, Lambert won the ACM Award for Female Vocalist of the Year for a record eighth consecutive year. She also has won two Grammy Awards out of 12 nominations.

Please check out the audio track of Lambert and Loveless performing "Dear Diamond." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Dear Diamond"
Written by Miranda Lambert. Performed by Miranda Lambert, featuring Patty Loveless.

Dear diamond, pretty and new
Perfectly flawless, too good to be true
Dear diamond, you shine like the sun
You wrap around my finger just like he does

You cost more than he wanted to lose
And with this ring I said I do
I promise to never do what I've done
I've lied to someone

Dear diamond, what will we do?
Well I like the devil, just face the truth
Dear diamond, be my saving grace
What you don't know will kill him, that I can't face

You cost more than he wanted to lose
And with this ring I said I do
I promise to never do what I've done
I've lied to someone, dear diamond

Dear diamond, with your band of gold
Some people you have, some people you hold
Dear diamond, I promise to keep
The secret I have while he's holding me

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Four Magnificent Diamonds to Headline Sotheby's New York Auction Later This Month

Diamond lovers are in for a big treat later this month as Sotheby's New York will present an impressive array of rare gems at its Magnificent Jewels sale. Among the headliners of the April 18 event are fancy-colored diamonds in pink, orangey-pink and blue, as well as a D-flawless pear-shaped diamond weighing in excess of 33 carats.

Carrying a pre-sale estimate of $4.2 million to $5.2 million is the auction's top lot — a fancy intense pink diamond weighing 7.01 carats. The natural-color, square-cut diamond has a clarity of SI2 and is set in a simple four-prong ring.

A D-flawless, 33.25-carat pear-shaped diamond is the star of a gorgeous pendant necklace that carries a pre-sale estimate of $4 million to $5 million. The pear-shaped stone, which carries the ultra-rare Type IIa purity grade, is topped by a marquise-shaped diamond weighing approximately 1.00 carat.

A fancy intense orangey-pink diamond weighing 7.37 carats and accented by two emerald-cut diamonds is expected to fetch between $3 million and $5 million. The unusual natural-color diamond boasts a clarity of VS1 and is set in a ring that's embellished with near-colorless and pink diamonds.

Rounding out the highest-profile lots at Sotheby's is this rare fancy intense blue diamond weighing 3.47 carats. Entering the sale with a estimated price range of $2 million to $2.5 million, the cut-cornered rectangular step-cut gem is secured with four prongs on a simple white metal band.

Sotheby's New York will be hosting previews of these and many other sale items, starting on April 13.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.