Olivia Ruiz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Olivia Blanc |
| Born | 1 January 1980 Carcassonne, Aude, France |
| Genres | Nouvelle chanson |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Polydor |
| Website | olivia-ruiz |
Olivia Blanc (born 1 January 1980), known as Olivia Ruiz, is a French pop singer belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre. [1] She gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of the French Star Academy series in 2001.
Ruiz was born 1 January 1980 in Carcassonne, [2] the daughter of musician Didier Blanc, though later taking her grandmother's maiden name, Ruiz. Her family on her mother's side is Spanish and fled Nationalist Spain to go to Marseillette, in the village's concert hall (subject of her second album). [3] She has a brother, Anthony, born in 1985. He is a rap composer known by the nickname Toan. She studied in Carcassonne but went to college in Montpellier, where she studied performing arts, before changing to a BTS in communication. [4]
At the age of 15, Ruiz started getting involved in music. She left her parents' house to live with her aunt in Narbonne, where she took theater and dance classes with her friends from Comigne, the band Rock Five. [5] Together, they did some opening acts in order to make some money by singing the Cranberries' or Lenny Kravitz's songs. She also took dance classes at the Pelizzon School in Carcassonne and Trèbes. She entered the Médiévales de Carcassonne, a group of small artists, for their summer show. She started performing in different bars, along with Frank Marty (from the bands THC, Les Croquants and La Varda) a multi-instrumentalist from Narbonne. They mainly performed songs from old artists like Fréhel, Yves Montand and Gilbert Bécaud, but also songs from the new generation and Spanish standards.
In 2001, she was a prominent contestant in the first French edition of Star Academy , a popular TV reality show and musical contest. She was defeated in the semi-final by eventual winner Jenifer Bartoli but according to an interview on Europe 1 she claimed that she never wanted to win [6] and, following a post-series tour, worked to distance herself from the Star Ac image.
For her second studio album La Femme Chocolat, Olivia Ruiz was recognised by the Victoires de la Musique as the Female Artist of the Year in 2007. For the live performances accompanying the record, she also received the prize in the category of Musical Show, Tour or Concert of the Year. The album topped the French chart and was certified as a diamond record for selling more than 750,000 copies in France [7] and made it to the top 50 of the Walloon and Swiss charts. [8] Off the album, the music videos of the tracks "J'traine des pieds" and "La femme chocolat" were placed on rotation on the MCM French TV channel in 2006. [9] The singles made it to the top 50 of the French and Walloon charts.
Olivia Ruiz wrote all the lyrics for her third studio album Miss Météores, co-orchestrated the music and employed a crew of guest stars including the rapper Buck 65, the indie band Noisettes and the folk and dark cabaret project Lonely Drifter Karen and featured the styles of nouvelle chanson, punk, folk and Hispanic rock. [1] [10] The record topped the French and Walloon album charts in 2009. [11] Off the album, the single "Elle panique", with the music written by Buck 65 peaked at #2 of the Walloon chart. The music video of the song was placed on rotation on the MCM in May 2009. [9] Her ex-partner is Mathias Malzieu, the lead singer of the band Dionysos.
During an interview, Ruiz said that she did not want to "stuff people" [12] with her music and preferred waiting at least two years before releasing a new studio album. From August to October 2011, she shared the screen with Gérard Jugnot and François Berléand in Un jour mon père viendra, a French movie by Martin Valente. She also participated in the project Les Françoise, with Jeanne Cherhal, Emily Loizeau, Camille, La Grande Sophie and Rosemary Standley (from the band Moriarty).
During an interview for L'Express, [13] Ruiz said that she started recording her fourth album after going to Cuba alone to take a break. The title of her album is Le calme et la tempête. It was released on 3 December 2012. This album was also a success with 150 000 copies sold.
In February 2013, she won her third Globes de Cristal Award as the Female Artist of the Year. (2007, 2010, 2013).
In October 2013, she played Candela, the gypsy in L'Amour sorcier , a ballet d'action written by Manuel de Falla in 1915. [14]
In May 2014, she announced that her fifth studio album would be released by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. [15] However, the album, entitled À Nos Corps-Aimants , was released on 18 November 2016.
| Year | Title | Chart positions [17] | Sales and certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (WA) | FRA | SWI | |||
| 2001 | Star Academy, L'Album | 1 | 1 | 3 | Ruiz appears as one of the Star Academy team [18] |
| Star Academy, Le Live | 7 | 16 | 38 | Live versions of the Star Academy songs, Ruiz sings Paris [18] | |
| 2003 | J'aime pas l'amour | 95 | 87 | – | Silver record (more than 50,000 sold) in France |
| 2005 | La Femme Chocolat | 6 | 1 | 33 | Diamond record (more than 750,000 sold) in France |
| 2007 | Chocolat Show! [19] | 40 | 54 | – | Live Album |
| 2008 | La Chica Chocolate [19] [20] | 60 | 185 | – | La Femme Chocolat rerecorded in Spanish |
| 2009 | Miss Météores | 1 | 1 | 7 | Over 400,000 copies sold |
| 2012 | Olivia Sings for the Red Star | – | 170 | – | |
| Le calme et la tempête | 17 | 14 | 51 | 100,000 copies sold | |
| 2016 | À nos corps-aimants | 58 | 29 [21] | ||
| 2024 | La réplique | 28 | — | ||
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (WA) | FRA | SWI | |||
| 2001 | "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" | 11 | 1 | – | as Star Ac 1 with Jenifer Bartoli and Carine Haddadou [16] |
| 2007 | "La Femme Chocolat" | 31 | 42 | – | La Femme Chocolat |
| 2007 | "J'traîne des pieds" | 23 | 37 | – | |
| 2009 | "Elle panique" | 2 | – | 74 | Miss Météores |
| "Belle à en crever" | 63 | – | – | ||
| 2010 | "Les crêpes aux champignons" | 22 | – | – | |
| 2012 | "My Lomo & Me" | 50 | 184 | – | Le calme et la tempête |
| 2016 | "Mon corps mon amour" | – | 116 [22] | – | À nos corps-aimants |
Calogero Joseph Salvatore Maurici, better known as Calogero, is a French singer.
Star Academy is a French reality television. It was produced by the Dutch company Endemol. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Canada called Star Académie. It was broadcast on TF1 and NRJ 12 (2012-2013). At the end of each season, selected contestants would go on tour around France, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, and other French-speaking countries.
Patrick Chouchayan, known by his stage name Patrick Fiori, is a French singer of Armenian descent.
Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira has released 11 studio albums, five live albums, two compilation albums, 69 singles and 62 music videos. With 95 million certified records worldwide, she is the highest-selling Colombian artist and the best-selling female Latin artist of all time. She is the only South American artist to peak at number one on the Australian Singles Chart, the UK Singles Chart, and the US Billboard Hot 100. Her singles "Hips Don't Lie" and "Waka Waka ", have achieved sales in excess of ten million units, becoming some of the best-selling singles worldwide.
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! " is a song by Swedish band ABBA. It was recorded in August 1979 in order to help promote their North American and European tour of that year, and was released on ABBA's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 album as the brand new track.
Jenifer Yaël Juliette Dadouche-Bartoli, known by the mononym Jenifer, is a French singer.
Dionysos is a French pop band that originated in Valence, Drôme, in 1993; their formation took place at their lycée. The group presents songs in both French and English and has produced six studio albums. They are particularly recognized in France for their surrealism and eccentricity.
Indra Kuldasaar is a singer, best known in France.
La Caravane des Enfoirés is an album performed by Les Enfoirés, released in 2007. It was recorded during the show at Le Zénith in Nantes, on 27 January 2007.
La Mécanique du Cœur is the sixth studio album by the French band Dionysos, released on 5 November 2007. The title can be translated as the mechanics of the heart; the album complements the book of the same name written by Mathias Malzieu, the band's frontman. The album has sold over 75,000 copies, making it a Gold Disc, and has been adapted into a film directed by Malzieu.
La Mécanique du cœur is a book written by Mathias Malzieu, lead singer of the French rock band Dionysos. The book has sold well in Malzieu's native France.
Isabelle Geffroy, known professionally as Zaz, is a French singer and songwriter who mixes jazz, French variety, soul and acoustic. She is known for her single "Je veux", taken from her self-titled debut album, released on 10 May 2010. Worldwide Zaz has sold over 5 million albums, including 2 million outside France.
Patrice Maktav, born 1 March 1978 in Annecy, is a French singer and actor.
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a 2013 French animated musical fantasy film based on the novel La Mécanique du cœur written by musician Mathias Malzieu and the concept album by French rock band Dionysos, which he is the frontman for and who also composed the film's music.
Monkey Me is the ninth studio album by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer, and her 18th album overall. Preceded by the lead single "À l'ombre", which peaked at number-one in France, the album was released on 3 December 2012. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it entered the French album chart at number one selling almost 150,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified 3× Platinum within its first month of release in France.
Keren Meloul, better known as Rose, is a French singer, songwriter, author and composer.
Vampire en pyjama is the eighth studio album by Dionysos, and was released on 29 January 2016, two days after Mathias Malzieu's novel, Journal d'un vampire en pyjama. The album was intended to be more acoustic than those before it and the lyrics are more personal. A mascote accompanies this album : a man with a heart for a head, Heartman, frequently drawn by the band and its fans in the streets of their own towns.
Slimane Nebchi, also known professionally by the mononym Slimane, is a French singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence after winning season 5 of The Voice: la plus belle voix.
Claudio Ruccolo, better known as Claudio Capéo, is a French singer and accordion player of Italian descent. He grew up in Cernay, Alsace.
Miss Espoir born Enagnon Omonloto Ahmada in January 24, 1980 in Porto-Novo, Benin is an artist and singer-songwriter. Her début LP was Bougez in 2006.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
