OLIVIA RUIZ

OLIVIA RUIZ

BIOGRAPHY
Olivia Ruiz, who has been a singer and musician from her teens, made her name appearing on the French reality TV show "Star Academy." Although she did not actually win the show, the young songstress has gone on to become one of the nation’s fastest rising stars and is also a popular pioneer of "nouvelle chanson."
Olivia Ruiz was born in Marseillette, a village just up the road from Carcassonne, in the south of France, on 1 January 1980. Her father, Didier Blanc, happens to be a professional singer and musician and belonged to a local ‘tribe’ of music aficionados who had originally come to France from Spain. Young Olivia was introduced to music at an early age and spent her formative years watching her father and his group, "Didier Blanc et la Belle Histoire", perform live on stage. It soon became evident that Olivia had inherited the family’s musical genes and it was not long before she took to the stage herself, appearing on the local theatre scene. She was just 12 years old when she performed with the Médiévales troupe for the first time. Meanwhile, the multi-talented youngster was also taking dance classes, with her sights firmly set on some sort of artistic career.
At the age of 15, Olivia formed her first band, teaming up with four friends from a neighbouring village. The band, who went by the name "Five", went on to win a number of local talent contests and performed as a support act for singers and musicians in the region. At this early stage of her career, Olivia also honed her vocal skills singing with an artist from Narbonne. These different experiences not only helped the young Ms. Ruiz forge an impressive musical culture, but also went some way towards financing her communication studies in Montpellier. Meanwhile, Olivia continued her singing career, teaming up to form a duo with her father. Both father and daughter shared a passion for Latin rhythms and created a repertoire of Spanish songs, also paying homage to Claude Nougaro, a singer from the south of France of whom Olivia was a huge fan.
After graduating from her communications course with a degree, Olivia began looking for a means of breaking into the music world. Realising the potential of reality TV, she auditioned for the music show "Star Academy" in 2001. This may appear to have been a rather bizarre choice for Olivia, whose musical tastes verged more on indie rock than glitzy mainstream pop. But she managed to make her mark on the show despite her non-conformity, her distinctive voice and brunette good looks winning her enough votes from viewers to get her through to the semi-final. "Star Academy" was much decried by critics in France, but Olivia always assumed her decision to participate in the show claiming that for her it was a vital means of getting herself known.

2003: "J'aime pas l'amour"
Once she finished her run at "Star Academy", Olivia went round knocking at a number of doors, contacting all the singers and musicians she admired. The young hopeful did not always get a warm welcome, however, and found it frustratingly hard to shake off her "Star Academy" label. Olivia’s first encounter with one of her idols, French ‘chanson’ star Juliette, proved to be something of a disaster but Juliette eventually saw the potential of the feisty young singer with the southern accent. And she agreed to write a song for her, penning "J'aime pas l'amour" which became the title track of Olivia’s debut album, released on 7 October 2003. Her first single, "Paris", had already paved the way for the album in May 2002.
Besides Juliette, the album "J'aime pas l'amour" - written in close collaboration with France’s alternative music scene - featured contributions from Weepers Circus, Nery (ex-VRP) and the composer Philippe Prohom. Produced by Iso Diop and Mitch Olivier (producers and musicians with legendary French indie band Les Rita Mitsouko), "J'aime pas l'amour" was a veritable melting-pot of influences. This went down badly with the critics who deemed the album '"patchy", but did not stop Olivia from being nominated at the Victoires de la Musique awards in the "Best Live Newcomer of the Year" category. The album went silver in the end, selling over 50,000 copies.
In 2003, Olivia returned to French television screens, taking part in Didier Varrot’s documentary "Olivia Ruiz, star'activiste", which traced her evolution from Star Academician to professional singer. The 52-minute documentary, which featured interviews with contestants and critics analysing the reality TV phenomenon "Star Academy", won a Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros. And it did much to improve Olivia’s image, showing how she had carved out her career through sheer determination and originality. In September 2003, Olivia set off on tour, performing as a support act to the likes of Les Têtes Raides, Arthur H and Tryo. Audiences, who had come to see their own music idols, were not always easy to win over, but Olivia managed to charm them with her jazzy, rock-tango ballads. She put in an impressive performance at La Cigale, in Paris, on 12 October 2004, confirming her talent as a live act and increasing her popularity with the mainstream public as well as fellow professionals. This series of concerts kept the rising young star on the road through to April 2005.

2005: "La Femme Chocolat"
After her tour, Olivia began focusing on her follow-up album. This would involve collaborations with Mathias Malzieu (from the group Dionysos), producer Alain Cluzeau, Christian Olivier (from Les Têtes Raides), Christophe Mali (from Tryo), Ben Ricour and, of course, Juliette. "La femme chocolat", an album of efficiently produced and bitter-sweet ballads, was released in November 2005.
"La femme chocolat" confirmed that 26-year-old Olivia Ruiz had finally found her musical style, an upbeat mix of rock, accordion, violins, tango, clarinets and Latin rhythms. Her quirky and refreshingly original sound was epitomised by the first single release, "J'traîne des pieds", a song about her teenage years. The single soon exploded on the nation’s airwaves and Olivia Ruiz found herself in great demand on the French festival scene as a result.
On 4 March 2006, Olivia’s success story was confirmed when "La femme chocolat" won "Album of the Year" at the annual "Victoires de la Musique" awards. Olivia was on tour at the time, playing concerts up and down France and appearing at all the major summer festivals. She managed to take a short break from performing, however, to visit her birthplace, Marseillette. Olivia went on to bring the house down at Le Bataclan, in Paris, on 3 April 2006, echoing the phenomenal success of her album sales. By August 2006, sales of "La femme chocolat" topped 350,000.

J'AIME PAS L'AMOUR (2003)
1. Qui sommes nous ? 3:19
2. Enervé 3:50
3. Petite fable 3:17
4. J'aime pas l'amour3:10
5. Pas si vieille 3:47
6. Le tango du qui 4:01
7. De l'air 4:27
8. De toi a moi 4:34
9. La dispute 3:37
10. Les vieux amoureux 4:28
11. L'absente 3:34
12. Malaguena 3:11

password: NS36

LA FEMME CHOCOLAT (2005)
1. J'traine des pieds 3:31
2. La femme chocolat 2:53
3. I need a child 2:50
4. Non-dits 4:04
5. Thérapie de groupe 3:22
6. La petite valse de Narbonne Plage 4:01
7. Quijote 3:37
8. Cabaret blanc 4:09
9. Goûtez-moi 2:38
10. Vitrier 4:14
11. La petite voleuse 4:22
12. La fille du vent 4:04
13. De toi à moi II 3:59
14. La Molinera 4:10

password: NS37