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 female winner and is the second youngest idol winner in the world, with the youngest being 2004 Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan (singer) . She is of Chinese, Irish and French heritage. Her Chinese name (???) given to her by her maternal grandfather is pronounced Oh Seemun
in Chinese.
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MELISSA O'NEIL TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
O'Neil was born and raised in
Calgary, Alberta by her parents Tim O'Neil and Alison Yeung. She attended Terry Fox Junior High School in and then studied at
Lester B. Pearson High School, both of which are situated in her home town of Calgary. Prior to her
Canadian Idol
experience, she had worked at a daycare centre, and had also been involved in local musical theatre productions. Her mother stated that her daughter only became interested in singing around three years before her audition for
Canadian Idol
. Melissa has one sibling, a younger brother named Colin Patrick O'Neil, whom she is very close to.
Canadian Idol
2005
In early 2005, O'Neil auditioned for the third season of
Canadian Idol
, however her audition was not shown on television. The judges were impressed by her vocals and she made it through to the top 100 round. On the first day, she sang the song "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride a cappella and again impressed the judges, however on the final day of competition, she forgot the words to her chosen song and froze on-stage. Nevertheless, the judges were still so impressed by her singing abilities that they all agreed that she should move on to the top 32, semi-final stages of the competition. After scoring the highest number of votes in her semi-final group with another stunning performance of "Concrete Angel", O'Neil was granted a place in the final 10 of the contest.
Although she was highly praised by the judges, O'Neil suffered huge setbacks in the top 10 and top 9 weeks of the finals, as she was in both the bottom three and bottom two respectively. Shocked by this, the judges urged viewers to vote for contestants like Melissa, who clearly had the best vocal abilities. From then on, O'Neil never fell back into the bottom three after delivering consistently praised performances, and judge
Zack Werner declared that she was "a threat to win the whole thing". On September 7, 2005, O'Neil made it into the final two of the competition, alongside
Rex Goudie, and after yet more stunning performances, judge
Zack Werner famously stated that the headlines of the next day's newspapers would be "The King [Kalan Porter] is dead, long live the Queen." During the grand finale results show on September 14, 2005, O'Neil was crowned the third
Canadian Idol
and the first female winner, defeating
Rex Goudie.
Canadian Idol
Performances
| Week
| Theme
| Song Sung
| Artist
| Status
|
| Audition
| Contestant's Choice
| "If I Ain't Got You"
| Alicia Keys
| Selected
|
| Top 200
| Contestant's Choice
| "On My Own"
| Les Mis Cast
| Advanced
|
| Top 32
| Contestant's Choice
| "Concrete Angel"
| Martina McBride
| Advanced
|
| Top 10
| Canadian Hits
| "I Believe In You"
| Amanda Marshall
| Bottom 3
|
| Top 9
| Steve Wonder Songs
| "Living for the City"
| Stevie Wonder
| Bottom 2
|
| Top 8
| Songs of the 1980s
| "Holding Out for a Hero"
| Bonnie Tyler
| Safe
|
| Top 7
| Big Band Hits
| "It's Delovely"
| Ella Fitzgerald
| Safe
|
| Top 6
| Classic Rock Week
| "Alone"
| Heart
| Safe
|
| Top 5
| Songs of the Guess Who
| "My Own Way to Rock"
| Burton Cummings"
| Safe
|
| Top 4
| Songs of Elvis
| "A Little Less Conversation"
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
| Elvis Presley
| Safe
|
| Top 3
| Hits of BNL
| "The Old Apartment
"When I Fall"
| The Barenaked Ladies
| Safe
|
| Top 2
| Contestant's Choice
| "Angel of the Morning"
"A Broken Wing"
"Alive"
| Juice Newton
Martina McBride
Idol Single
| WINNER
|
| Grand Finale
| Duet
Movie Duet
Favorite Song Sung
| "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" with Rex Goudie & Kalan Porter
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
"It's Delovely"
| Charlie Daniels
Phil Collins
Ella Fitzgerald
| Declared Winner
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Post-Idol
Career
2005-2006: Melissa O'Neil
Immediately after her win on
Canadian Idol
, O'Neil received a congratulatory phone call from the
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. She then signed a recording contract with
Sony BMG 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 seven 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 thirty-one, significantly lower than her two previous songs but still respectable nonetheless. In March of 2006, her debut album was certified gold by the
CRIA for 50,000 units shipped, and her first single "Alive" was covered by Becki Ryan in the movie
Flicka
. On September 16, 2006 O'Neil 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.
2007-Present: Second Studio Album
On April 1, 2007, O'Neil attended the annual
Juno Awards, where she was nominated for Best New Artist. Ironically, one of the other nominees was her
Canadian Idol
successor,
Eva Avila. However,
Tomi Swick took home the award. Since then, O'Neil 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. Whilst working on the album, she is also starring in the stage production of
Dirty Dancing
in
Toronto, Ontario. She is now playing the role of Gabriella in High School Musical On Stage with Drayton Entertainment in
St. Jacobs and
Penetanguishene, Ontario.
Personal life
A few months after the competition ended, first runner-up Rex Goudie confessed that he and Melissa had a "thing" going on since practically the beginning of the competition. In an interview with Canadian Press, Goudie confirmed that they were dating. However, their relationship ended in mid 2007.
Discography
The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Canadian pop music artist Melissa O'Neil.
Albums
- 2005 Melissa O'Neil
- 2009 "TBA"
Singles
| Year
| Song
| Canada
| Certification
| Album
|
| 2005
| "Alive"
| 1
| 4xPlatinum (CRIA)
| Melissa O'Neil
|
| "Let It Go"
| 7
| —
|
| 2006
| "Speechless"
| 31
| —
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Featured On
- Canadian Idol: High Notes
(2005)
Track #6: Concrete Angel
- Rex Goudie: Under The Lights
(2005)
Track #11: Whiskey Lullaby
References