Carly Rose Sonenclar

In 2012, Sonenclar auditioned for the second season of The X Factor USA with the song "Feeling Good" by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse (famously covered by Nina Simone among others). Sonenclar received a standing ovation from all four judges (L.A. Reid commented "You may be 13, but your soul is old!"; Simon Cowell awarded her "4,833 yeses"), and she advanced to the next round.[13] After her successful initial audition, she advanced through the first day of the "Bootcamp," stage of The X Factor where she sang "Pumped Up Kicks" with Beatrice Miller. Of the 120 contestants who auditioned at bootcamp that day, she was among the sixty acts asked to continue on.[14] At the end of bootcamp, she was chosen to be one of the six contestants in the "Teens" category who were invited to perform at the "Judges' Houses" stage of the competition. She performed the song "Brokenhearted" for the "Teens" category mentor, Britney Spears, and Spears' guest judge will.i.am. Both Spears and will.i.am responded positively to her performance; will.i.am remarked appreciatively that she was "possessed." Sonenclar next advanced into the live shows, where she performed "Good Feeling" in the first week, then in the second week, where she performed "It Will Rain". When Sonenclar reached the third week, she performed "My Heart Will Go On", where she finished second in the public vote, behind only Tate Stevens,[15] a distinction she achieved again after advancing to the fourth week.

On November 21, she performed the song "Over the Rainbow", which she received a standing ovation from all four judges, sending her into the fifth week. In addition, she also won the public vote overtaking Stevens.[16] On November 28, she performed "Rolling in the Deep", sending her into the quarter-final, and was revealed to have again won the public vote.[17] She later advanced to the final, in which she performed "Feeling Good" (again), "How Do I Live" (with LeAnn Rimes), and "Hallelujah".[18] On December 20, 2012, she had finished the competition in second place behind Tate Stevens.

Sonenclar performed the following songs on The X Factor:

Sonenclar stated in 2013 that Syco Music has a recording option on her, and that they were "trying to find the right record label" for her.[19] Despite her opting to attend and graduate middle school, high school, and college in the coming years, in June 2013, she performed her debut original song "Unforgettable", as well as another song called "Fighters". The following month, she performed at the opening ceremony of the 19th Maccabiah Games at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.[20] In August 2013, she performed in New York City at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square as part of the Stand Up for a Cure 2013 Concert Series.[21]

Sonenclar appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, "Dissonant Voices", which aired in November 2013, during the show's fifteenth season.[22] Sonenclar has performed on several occasions with Boyce Avenue. In 2014, she continued to attend public high school[23][24] and released an original music video, "Everybody's Watching".[25] She gave a concert at Provident Bank Park in Pomona, New York, in July 2014, where she performed three original songs, “Aliens”, “Weekend” and “Everybody’s Watching”.[26] On May 29, 2014, Sonenclar was ranked fifth by Fox Weekly on their list of Most Influential X Factor USA Contestants for her audition performance of "Feeling Good".[27]

On June 19, 2019, Sonenclar released her debut single, "Birds & Bees". Since then, she has released numerous singles and a 7 songs EP, "Wild". She collaborated with singer Goody Grace for her first ever music video 'Wild'. In 2022, she has also rerecorded her cover of Karmin's Brokenhearted which she had performed ten years earlier at the Judges' Houses at The X Factor.