Biography
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Born
12 July 1988 (age 35)
Melissa Crystal O'Neil (born July 12, 1988 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian singer who was the winner of the third season of Canadian Idol in 2005. She was the first Canadian female winner and is the youngest North American "Idol" winner. She is of Chinese, Irish and French heritage.
She then signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Canada and released her first single Alive, which hit stores on October 4, 2005 and debuted at number one on the Canadian singles chart, a position it held for four weeks. The single went on to be certified four-times platinum by the CRIA.
Her self-titled debut album Melissa O'Neil, was released on November 22, 2005 and debuted at number sixteen on the Canadian albums chart. The second single from her album, Let It Go was released in late 2005 and peaked at number 7 on the singles chart. On February 7, 2006, O'Neil embarked on her first solo tour in North Bay, Ontario, named the 'Let It Go Tour' after her second single. Her support act was her Canadian Idol runner-up, Rex Goudie. The third single release from O'Neil's album was Speechless, which peaked number 31. On September 16, 2006 Melissa returned to the Canadian Idol stage during grand finale of its fourth season. Here she was surprised with the certified gold presentation disc of her debut album.
Melissa attended the annual Juno Awards, where she was nominated for Best New Artist. Since then, Melissa stated that she was working on her second studio album, which she aims to illustrate her full musical aspirations, and allow her to grow as an independent, imaginative artist. She starred in the musical of Dirty Dancing in Toronto, Ontario as a featured singer. She then played the role of Gabriella in High School Musical On Stage with Drayton Entertainment in St. Jacobs and Penetanguishene and was featured as a lead in the Stage West Calgary production of "British Invasion", alongside former lead singer of The Guess Who, Terry Hatty. She made her Stratford Shakespeare Festival debut during the 2011 season as Martha/Maid by the Fire in Jesus Christ Superstar and she made an appearance in Camelot.
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