Ryan Michael Malcolm
(born October 13, 1979 in Kingston, Ontario) is a Canadian singer best known as the winner of the first season of Canadian Idol
.
In 2006, after spending two years writing songs, Malcolm formed a new rock band, Low Level Flight. They released their first single, "Change For Me", in February 2007 and their debut record Urgency
was released March 27, 2007, on I Heart Records with distribution by Fontana North.
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RYAN MALCOLM TICKETS
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Biography
Early years
Malcolm grew up in
Amherstview, a small town just west of Kingston. The son of John and Sharron Malcolm, Ryan had two older siblings, Kim and Sean. At the age of nine, Ryan's parents split and John re-married. Throughout the 90's, Ryan's father owned and operated many restaurants, which is where Ryan started singing.
Before entering Canadian Idol, he worked as a waiter at the Lone Star Texas Grill in Kingston and was often referred to as the 'waiter boy,' in reference to the pop singer
Avril Lavigne's song
Sk8er Boi
.
Canadian Idol
Malcolm did not crack the top 10 in his first attempt but was awarded a spot on the wildcard show after which, because the vote was so close, he became the 11th contestant in the final group. His consistency throughout the final phase of the competition and his great song choices won him many fans and eventually the Canadian Idol crown.
| Week
| Theme
| Song Choice
| Artist
|
| Audition
| N/A
| "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
"Down on the Corner"
| The Platters
Creedence Clearwater Revival
|
| Top 32
| N/A
| "One"
| U2
|
| Wildcard
| N/A
| "Just the Way You Are"
| Billy Joel
|
| Top 11
| Canadian Hits
| "Try"
| Blue Rodeo
|
| Top 8
| Motown
| "For Once In My Life"
| Stevie Wonder
|
| Top 6
| Summertime Hits
| "Drift Away"
| Dobie Gray
|
| Top 5
| Elton John
| "Believe"
| Elton John
|
| Top 4
| Love Songs
| "Crazy"
"Hooked on a Feeling"
| Patsy Cline
Blue Swede
|
| Top 3
| Judges' Choice
Competitors' Choice
| "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"
| The Hollies
Billy Joel
|
| Top 2
| Final Two
| "Something More"
Stand by Me
"Down on the Corner"
| Ryan Malcolm
Ben E. King
Creedence Clearwater Revival
|
After Idol
His debut single "Something More" was released to radio the day after his win and to the public on
September 30. It went four times
platinum on the first day of its release and stayed at #1 on the Canadian singles chart for 14 straight weeks.
On
December 9,
2003, Malcolm's debut album
Home
was released. It debuted and peaked at #4 on the Canadian album chart and went platinum, selling 170,000 copies and earning a
Juno nomination for best pop album.
Later that month, Malcolm participated in
World Idol and shared the stage with
Elton John and
Victoria Beckham. Alongside fellow idol friend
Kelly Clarkson, he placed sixth. He followed this with a tour of Eastern Canada with various guests, including
Jacynthe,
Gary Beals, and
Audrey de Montigny. He returned to Europe two more times that year to perform with
Annie Lennox at
Royal Albert Hall in London as well as to perform in Prague.
He made his acting debut in the recent
Ross Petty pantomime "Snow White and the Group of Seven" at the
Elgin Theatre in Toronto with fellow finalists
Gary Beals and
Billy Klippert, as well as season two finalist
Elena Juatco. Ryan also spent some time traveling in
Africa and
South America, where many of LLF's songs were inspired. In 2006 and 2007 He was a two-time host of Toronto's sketch comedy show
Sunday Night Live
.
Malcolm is now fronting the indie rock band
Low Level Flight. Their hit single "Say" cracked the Canadian Hot 30, and the band spent much of 2007 touring across Canada promoting their debut album. Their first video for "Change For Me" went to number one on the MuchMoreMusic Top Ten. In September 2007, LLF performed second the single "Say" on the top three results show of
Canadian Idol
. The video for "Say" was played by both MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic. In 2009 LLF signed a record deal with Times Of India, and toured throughout Asia.
Along with fronting LLF, Malcolm is a partner in I Heart Records, a Toronto-based indie label he co-owns with Michael Rosenberg.
Important credits include
Juno Award presenter and a
Radio Music Award nomination. He represented Canada at the National Children's Peace Concert in the
Czech Republic. He sang the national anthem at the 2004
Grey Cup.
Singles history
- Something More
(#1, Canadian Singles Chart - 14 weeks) (Certified 5x platinum with sales of over 50,000 copies - 40,000 of those copies sold on the first day of release on September 30, 2003)
- Star of All The Planets
(#79, Canadian Singles Chart) (Most added song to AC that year)
- You Made This Fool Become a Man
(March 2004)
Low Level Flight singles
- Change For Me
(#63, Canada) (February 2007)
- Say
(#22, Canada) (September 2007)
- Hesitate
(December 2007)
- Turnaround
(May 2008)