Global pop charts and star news

There’s no getting away from teen singing sensation Melissa O’Neil in Canada these days. The first ever female winner of Canadian Idol is enjoying unparalleled success with the album “Alive” at the ripe old age of… 17!!

Talking on the subject of the title track from the album, Melissa revealed the secret of her success was in the planning and sublime execution of each track. “The music and lyrics really put you into a zone. When the producers and I began recording the CD we knew the pop/rock infusion would move people. We wanted to create a record with a little bit of everything for the fans”.

Melissa even got the chance to explore her own song-writing potential on the album. “Safe Place To Hide” is entirely her own work and dedicated to her brother. It is a message of love and support to him featuring the chorus line: “I’d fly through the night to get back to your side, / I’ll be your safe place to hide.”

And to think Melissa’s undeniable talent could have been wasted on another profession. Born on the same day as Bill Cosby, Melissa was an intelligent and academic student at school and only auditioned for Canadian Idol on her father’s whim. He suggested going to the auditions one evening as he arrived to collect Melissa from school basketball practice. Perhaps he had simply had enough of her renditions of Broadway Musical Show tunes in the shower every morning.

“The truth is that parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet.” The Cosby Show: Season 2

Aside from belting out such popular classics, day in day out, since she could talk, Melissa admits a passion for her mother’s favourite jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday . But she is quick to distance herself from any charges of imitation. Lady Day is not an influence. Melissa O’Neil is strictly doing her own thing.