Ivy O

Remembering Canadian Idol

My little 12 year-old cousin recently decided to do a search for me on YouTube and came across a 30 second video that someone posted of my Canadian Idol audition back in 2005. The discovery of the video definitely brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad, of my experience with Canadian Idol. After posting it to my personal profile on Facebook, I received many comments from friends that I should "definitely try out again!" Although I am happy to have had the experience of being a Canadian Idol Top 100 finalist, I would never go through with it again.

I need to mention that Canadian Idol was not holding auditions in Ottawa the year that I tried out (2005) so my parents and I headed to Sudbury for my audition. There were only four Ottawanians that made it to the Top 100 in Season 3, and three out of the four people came right from my secondary school, Notre Dame High School (710 Broadview Avenue): Rachelle Richard, Emily Vinette (who was part of the Top 10) and myself.

Here is the footage of me singing "You Can't Hurry Love" and getting my "gold ticket" to Toronto which was aired on television.

*Disclaimer: I was very nervous, hence my rushing of the song. Also, I was in front of the judges for a good twenty minutes and sang at least five different songs before they gave me a gold ticket, which was obviously edited out.

Hoi Cho Tet 2012 (Year of the Dragon)

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With it being the Year of the Dragon (I was born under the year of this Chinese zodiac animal!), I could not let the opportunity to help the Vietnamese community of Ottawa with the celebration slip away. I had a lot of fun performing for this year's Hoi Cho Tet, as always, and would like to share the poster from this year's event, as well as a video of my rendition of Leona Lewis' "Run".

Poster of Hoi Cho Tet 2012

Photo of Ivy in a traditional Vietnamese ao dai

Singing "Run" by Leona Lewis:

A New Year

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I've been busy with my studies since beginning the Bachelor of Education program in September 2011. Although finding it difficult to find too much time to myself while in school, I am thankful to have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with loved ones. I hope that those reading this blog post also passed a restful and lovely break surrounded by friends and family. Each new year brings new challenges; this year, I am working towards the goal of learning how to play (and sing at the same time) the guitar that I received as a Christmas gift.

Me with my new guitar

Roof of Love Fundraising Dinner

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Last year, Ivy participated in a wonderful fundraising event called "Compassion" which was organised by a prominent member of the Vietnamese community - Mr. Luong Le Phan.

This year, the community was once again called together by Mr. Le Phan to help raise funds for Roof of Love, "a Canadian Charitable Organization determined to improve lives within poverty struck communities in Vietnam while building awareness and engaging individuals in Western countries in order to establish collective action."

Ivy was happy to lend a hand, too, by performing along with many other talented artists from the Vietnamese community for Mr. Le Phan's Roof of Love fundraising dinner, hosted at the Bronson Centre on October 8th, 2011.

Here are some photos from the event:

Photo taken by Philippe Le Phan from backstage

Photo courtesy of Robert S. Vibert

Mr. Luong Le Phan (left) pictured with members of the Vietnamese community (Photo courtesy of Robert S. Vibert)

Here is a video of Ivy performing "Je suis malade" by Lara Fabian:

Dominic D'Arcy and the Rising Stars Program

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Ivy first knew Dominic D'Arcy as the "singing policeman" when she watched him perform during her years as a young elementary school student. It was not until many years later, after Dominic had retired from the police force, and Ivy began performing around Ottawa, that their paths crossed again. This time, Dominic invited Ivy to be part of his Rising Stars Program.

From Dominic D'Arcy's official website:

Founded in 1989, Dominic D'Arcy's "Rising Stars Program" develops and manages young performing artists from the greater Ottawa region and teaches them about the value of stage presence, practice, performance, prose and being ambassadors for their community (and in some cases their country). The "Rising Stars Program" guides young performers towards a career in entertainment, learning the challenges by experience and example along the way. By joining Dominic on stage, these early performances offer young talent an opportunity to use the stage as a springboard to the next steps in their career, under the mentorship of an experienced professional.

Recently, Ivy had the pleasure of performing on September 18, 2011, with Dominic and the rest of the Rising Stars at the Villa Lucia restaurant. Some special guests were past Rising Stars, Alex Lacasse (signed with Universal Records) and Kira Isabella (signed with Sony Music), both of whom Ivy used to perform with while under the vocal instruction of Trina Langthorne.

Here are some photos from the event: