Eva Avila

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Eva Avila


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Eva Gougeon-Ávila
Alias = "Eva le dragon"
Born = birth date and age|1987|02|25
Died =
Origin = Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Instrument = Singing
Genre = Pop/R&B
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 2006–present
Label = Sony-BMG (2006-Present)
Associated_acts = Ryan Malcolm, Kalan Porter, Melissa O'Neil, Brian Melo, Theo Tams
URL = [http://www.evaavila.ca Official Site]
Current_members =
Past_members =

Eva Avila (born Eva Gougeon-Ávila, in Ottawa, Ontario, February 25, 1987) is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Gatineau, Quebec who was the winner of the fourth season of "Canadian Idol" in 2006. She was the second female winner in the show's history.

Biography

Early life

Avila's father introduced her to music [cite web | author = LCN | title = Eva se remet de ses émotions! | url = http://lcn.canoe.com/lcn/artsetspectacles/musiquelivres/archives/2006/09/20060918-131638.html | date = 2006-09-18 ] and she has been singing in public since the age of 2, and at the age of 9 was a winner on "Homegrown Cafe", a talent show on CJOH-TV, in Ottawa. Her nickname, given by her family when she was a small child, is still "Eva le dragon" (English: Eva the dragon). Prior to "Idol", she had been working as a postal clerk and a beauty consultant. She had also been a former winner of the "Jeune Diva du Québec" contest. [cite web | author = CTV News | title = Eva Avila takes Canadian Idol title by 3 % margin | url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060917/idol_finale_060917/20060918?s_name=idol2006 | September 17, 2007 ] Avila also participated in another competition for a Quebec TV soap-opera aired on SRC called "Virginie". She usually speaks English and French, as well a little Spanish because her father is original of Peru.

"Canadian Idol" 2006

In early 2006, Avila auditioned for the fourth season of "Canadian Idol" in Ottawa. She advanced into the top 10, and then she made it to the final two of the competition. During the final show, hundreds of Avila's supporters were gathered at Gatineau City Hall while Canadian Idol crews were filming scenes occasionally during the show. Several local politicians such as Gatineau mayor Marc Bureau, Hull-Aylmer federal MP Marcel Proulx, as well as Hull provincial MNA Roch Cholette were in attendance. [ cite news | author = La Haye, Dominique | title = Tous unis pour Eva (All united for Eva) | publisher = Le Droit | date = 2006-09-18 | page = 2 ] . During the finale show, Judge Zack Werner said that Avila was the show's most obvious candidate for international stardom, but he thought Craig Sharpe would win the competition. However, on September 16, 2006, Eva Avila was crowned the as the fourth Canadian Idol winner, defeating Craig Sharpe by a margin of only 131,000 votes or 3%. [cite web | author = CTV | title = Eva or Craig? Canadian Idol to crown champ tonight | url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060917/idol_showdown_060917/20060917?s_name=idol2006 | date = 2006-09-17 ] To date, she is one of only four singers from Quebec or Francophone Canada to crack the top ten and the first to win the event: Season one's Audrey de Montigny was the first to reach the top ten, Steffi DiDomenicantonio in season four, Khalila Glanville in season five and Katherine St-Laurent in season six.

"Canadian Idol" Performances

*Ottawa Audition: On My Own (Les Miserables)
*Top 22: Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
*Top 18: Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack)
*Top 14: Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell)
*Top 10: Powerless (Say What You Want) (Nelly Furtado)
*Top 9: Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones)
*Top 8: White Wedding (Billy Idol) - "Bottom 3"
*Top 7: Who Wants to Live Forever (Queen)
*Top 6: How Come You Don't Call Me (unplugged version by Prince)
*Top 5: Here You Come Again (Dolly Parton) - "Bottom 2"
*Top 4: Would I Lie to You? (Eurythmics)
*Top 4: Old Skool Love (Divine Brown)
*Top 3: God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday)
*Top 3: They Can't Take That Away from Me (Fred Astaire)
*Top 2: Wild Horses (Natasha Bedingfield)
*Top 2: How Come You Don't Call Me (Alicia Keys)
*Top 2: Meant to Fly (winner's single)
*Grand Finale: Powerless (Say What You Want) (Nelly Furtado) - "Declared 4th Canadian Idol"

Post-"Idol" Career

2006-2007: "Somewhere Else"

Hours after her victory, Avila signed with the Sony BMG record label and released her first single "Meant to Fly", which debuted at number one on the Canadian singles chart, a position it held for a huge nine weeks. The single was eventually certified double platinum. On October 5, 2006, the CTV television network reported that Avila has signed a modeling contract with Ford Model. [cite web | author = CNW Group | title = Exclusive: Canadian Idol Eva Avila Signs Modeling "{sic}" Contract | url = http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2006/05/c5743.html | date = October 5, 2006 ] Avila started the 2006 NHL season on October 4 when she performed the Canadian national anthem at the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators game. She performed the anthem again before another Battle of Ontario game at the Scotiabank Place on October 26 following an autograph session on the same afternoon at Gatineau's Les Galeries de Hull shopping centre.

Avila's debut album, "Somewhere Else ", was released on November 14, 2006. [cite web | author = Turcot, Geneviève | title = Eva Avila sortira un album en novembre | url = http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060919/CPARTS03/609190662/5020/CPARTS03 | date = 2006-09-19 ] and debuted at number 6 on the Canadian albums chart, selling 16,000 copies in its first week. The second single from the album, "I Owe It All To You", [ cite news | author = Poirier, Dominique | title = Eva: La vie après Canadian Idol (Eva: Life after Canadian Idol) | publisher = La Revue de Gatineau | date = 2006-11-01 | page = 17 ] peaked at number nine. On November 19, 2006, Avila performed the national anthem at the 94th Grey Cup game in Winnipeg. Eva and her "Canadian Idol" predecessor, Melissa O'Neil, were both nominated for the 2007 Juno Award for Best New Artist, but Tomi Swick won the award. The third and final single from Avila's album, "Fallin' For You" was released in April 2007 and peaked at number fifteen.

On March 26, 2007, eTalk confirmed that Avila would be the new face of Maybelline New York, making her the first Canadian to be a face for the brand. Also in 2007, she participated on the Hip Hop compilation "Les 40 Voleurs" with La Dynastie on the song "La Fausse Raison". Eva also recorded the song: "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)", the finale tune to the film "O Canada!" which is shown at the Canadian pavilion in Epcot in Orlando Florida.

2008-Present: "Give Me the Music"

Following the success of her debut album, Avila returned to the recording studio in Toronto to begin work on her sophomore album. On August 9 2008 she announced on Canada's eTalk that the first single to be taken from her second album is called "Give Me The Music", composed by Matrax Production and written by Frankie Storm, Tee Marie a.k.a Tanya Miller of (Tha Kopi Writz) and Shaun Johnson [http://www.evaavila.com/en-splash/] and will be released on September 2 [http://www.evaavila.com/en-splash/] , with the album following on October 28. [http://www.totallyeva.com/?subaction=showfull&id=1203912212&archive=] She also stated that the record label, Sony BMG Canada are hoping to make the record her first American release. If this does go ahead and the album is well received in America, Avila stated that she hopes to extend the album's supportive tour into the U.S.

Personal life

On September 12, 2006, Avila and fellow Idol finalist Chad Doucette revealed that they had been dating for about three weeks, but had wanted to keep it private until the competition was over. [cite web | author = CTV News | title = Eva admits she's been dating Chad for three weeks | url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060912/idol_couple_060912/20060912?s_name=idol2006&no_ads= | date = 2006-09-12 ]

Discography

Infobox Artist Discography
Artist = Eva Avila
Logo =


Caption =
Studio = 2
Compilation =
Live =
Video =
Music videos = 3
Singles = 4
Option = 3
Option name = B-sides
Option color = crimson
1Option = 2
1Option name = Micellaneous
1Option color = chartreuse
2Option =
2Option name = Collaborations
2Option color = violet
3Option = 1
3Option name = Tours
3Option color = orange
References =
Ref link = Notes and references

The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Canadian pop/R&B artist Eva Avila.

Albums

ingles

Other Recordings
* "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)" (from Epcot's "O Canada" film at Walt Disney World)

"'Appeared On
*"Canadian Idol: Spotlights" (August 2006)

Controversies

Prior to "Canadian Idol", Avila sang several songs predominantly in French, including one that caused a stir the day immediately following her "Idol" victory. Gatineau TVA-affiliate station CHOT and newspaper Le Droit reported that a record company from Ottawa, Productions Vision Recordz, released a French song performed by local artist Kareem featuring Avila and titled "Poursuivre mes rêves".

The song was inadvertently made available for sale on the Archambault Zik record company website. There will be an investigation. Avila mentioned that the songs done in the past were for her own pleasure and was unaware about the launch of the single with Kareem.

On September 16, 2006, a day prior to the public announcement of the "Idol" results, Sony BMG Music Entertainment began offering Avila's version of the first single, "Meant to Fly", for sale on the website. [cite web | author = EvaAvila.com | title = Eva Avila | url = http://evaavila.com EvaAvila.com | accessdate = 2007-03-31] Although the page was subsequently blanked, the artwork for the single can currently be located within the image files of the webpage. [ [http://evaavila.com/images/packshot.jpghttp://evaavila.com/images/packshot.jpg] "Evaavila.com" Retrieved on 05-21-07 ] This occurrence led to many rumours regarding the winner of the competition.

Cholette and Proulx, two politicians that appeared at the "Canadian Idol" final published a full page newspaper ad to ask local residents to vote for Avila. This drew criticism from local residents, who claimed it was a waste of taxpayers' money. It was later ruled that the two politicians had to pay the costs. [ cite news | author = Duquette, Patrick | title = Les politiciens montent dans le train d'Eva Avila (Politicians join the Eva Avila bandwagon) | publisher = Le Droit | date = 2006-09-09 | page = 7]

Avila's name was mentioned in the Outaouais Parti Québécois 2007 election platform [cite web | author = Radio-Canada Gatineau/Ottawa | title = Le P.Q. de l'Outaouais fait son mea-culpa | url = http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/regional/modele.asp?page=/regions/ottawa/2007/03/09/001-pq-outaouais-avila.shtml | date = 2007-03-09 ] recognizing local culture, including Avila and Pierre Lapointe. After complaints from her record company, Sony, the party decided to remove her name.

References

External links

* [http://www.evaavila.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.eva-avila.org/ Eva Avila Online]
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20050616/idolbio_EvaAvila/20060619?s_name=idol2006 Canadian Idol - Eva Avila]
* [http://sessions.aol.ca/?id=900 Eva performs on AOL Music Sessions]