eva avila biography
Eva Avila (born Eva Gougeon-Ávila) was born in Ottawa, Ontario on February 25, 1987. She is a Canadian singer from Gatineau, Quebec and was crowned the winner of the 2006 season of Canadian Idol, the fourth installment of the show.
Eva is the second ever female winner of the show, (Melissa O'Neil being the first.) Eva auditioned for the competition in Ottawa. Her father initiated her to music and she has been singing in public since the age of 2. At the age of 9 she was a winner on Homegrown Cafe, a talent show on CJOH-TV, in Ottawa.
Prior to appearing on Canadian Idol, Eva worked as a postal clerk and a beauty consultant. She is also a former winner of the Jeune Diva du Quebec contest. Eva is fluent in French, English and Spanish. Her nickname, given by her family when she was a small child, is Eva le dragon (English: Eva the dragon).
On September 16, 2006, the day prior to the public announcement of the Idol results, Sony BMG Music Entertainment offered Avila's version of the first single, Meant to Fly, for sale on the website. The page was subsequently blanked, the artwork for the single can currently be located within the image files of the webpage. This occurrence led to many rumours regarding the winner of the competition.
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.
While winning the 2006 crown, the vote separating her and runner-up Craig Sharpe was only 131,000 votes or 3% of the total votes.
Hours after her victory she signed with the record label Sony-BMG and will record an album which will feature Meant to Fly, a song written by Chantal Kreviazuk along with Raine Maida and Gaby Moreno.
Her debut album, Somewhere Else , was released in Canada on November 14, 2006. The second single is the uptempo 'I Owe It All to You'.
After her victory, Avila will embark on a Canadian tour with country singer Martina McBride next summer.
On October 5, 2006, the CTV television network reported that Avila has signed a modelling contract with Ford Models.
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. On November 19, 2006, Avila performed the national anthem at the 94th Grey Cup game in Winnipeg.
In December 2006, dates for Eva's debut tour where annouced. The tour takes in 30 cities across Canada over 3 months starting in February 2007.
Eva and her predecessor as Idol, Melissa O'Neil, were both nominated for the 2007 Juno Award for Best New Artist, but Tomi Swick took the award.
On March 26, 2007, eTalk confirmed that she now is the new face for Maybelline New York and is the first Canadian to be a face for them.
Eva has been reported to have sung the song: "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)", which is the finale tune to the film "O Canada!" is shown at the Canadian pavilion in Epcot in Orlando Florida.