Scarnato was born in San Antonio, Texas to Rose and Anthony Scarnato.[1] She was a young gymnast between the ages of 5 and 15. After dislocating both of her shoulders, Scarnato moved on to other interests. Soon after, she found out that singing and music were her true passions and loves. She became a freelance singer, performing back up vocals with the Josephine Theatre (a local theater troupe), and singing in the band The Oh So Good! Band, a live wedding band in Texas. Haley graduated from William Howard Taft High School in San Antonio. She is a Christian and prays before every performance.
[edit] American Idol
Scarnato auditioned for American Idol in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. She sang Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me". Paula said that she had real nice control of her voice and said that it was lovely. Randy thought it was just okay and Simon agreed by saying "you look good, you sound, it's a bit cabaret". Both Simon and Randy didn't think she had much originality, but all three of them agreed that she did have a good voice and decided to let her through to Hollywood. While in Hollywood, she sang Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and Simon was very impressed with her vocals. In the group round she sang with fellow semi-finalists Amy Krebs and two other female contestants. Simon thought it was good, but said that he wasn't going to remember any of them. Scarnato made through to the Top 40 then finally made it through to the Top 24. On March 8, 2007, Scarnato was voted through to the Top 12 over Sabrina Sloan, with whom she was roommates. Scarnato tended to get mixed reviews and was seemingly always in the bottom 3. She was eliminated from the show on April 11 after receiving the lowest amount of votes during Latin Music Night, making her the first contestant in the top 12 to be eliminated after having been in the bottom two or three in any previous week
