Olivia Ruiz
Olivia Blanc (born 1 January 1980), known as Olivia Ruiz, is a female French pop singer of partial Spanish descent belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre.[1] She gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of the French Star Academy series in 2001.
Biography
Ruiz was born at Carcassonne,[2] daughter of musician Didier Blanc though later taking her grandmother's maiden name Ruiz. 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[3] 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[4] and made it to the top 50 of the Walloon and Swiss charts.[5] 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.[6] 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][7] The record topped the French and Walloon album charts in 2009.[8] 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.[6] Her partner is Mathias Malzieu, the lead singer of the band Dionysos.
Discography
Albums
- 2003 : J'aime pas l'Amour, produced by Iso Diop & Mitch Olivier
- 2005 : La Femme Chocolat, produced by Alain Cluzeau, Mathias Malzieu (Dionysos) & Olivia Ruiz
- 2007 : Chocolat Show
- 2008 : La Chica Chocolate (La femme chocolat)
- 2009 : Miss Météores
- 2010 : Miss Météores Live
- 2012 : Le Calme et La Tempête
Singles
- 2001 : Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - an Abba cover sung by a group of Star Academy contestants including Ruiz and Jenifer Bartoli that reached No 1 in the French charts[9]
- 2002 : Paris, songwriter Chet.
- 2003 : J'aime pas l'amour, songwriter Juliette.
- 2003 : Pas si vieille, songwriter Philippe Prohom.
- 2003 : Qui sommes nous ?, songwriter Chet and Jérôme Rebotier.
- 2004 : Le tango du qui, songwriter Stéphane Balmino and Denis Hénault-Parizel.
- 2004 : Les vieux amoureux, songwriter Chet and Jérôme Rebotier.
- 2005 : J'traîne des pieds, songwriter Olivia Ruiz and Ben Ricour.
- 2006 : La femme chocolat, songwriter Mathias Malzieu.
- 2007 : Non dits, songwriter Christian Olivier.
- 2007 : Goutez-moi, songwriter Mathias Malzieu.
- 2007 : Thérapie de Groupe
- 2009 : Elle panique
- 2009 : Belle a en crever
- 2010 : Les crêpes aux champignons
- 2010 : Elle panique (Live)
- 2012 : My Lomo & Me (Je photographie des gens heureux)
- 2012 : Volver
DVDs
- 2007 : Chocolat Show (Live)
- 2010 : Miss Météores (Live)
Charts
Albums
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions[10] |
Sales and certifications |
|---|
| BEL (Wal) |
FRA |
SWI |
| 2001 |
Star Academy, L'Album |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Ruiz appears as one of the Star Academy team[11] |
| 2001 |
Star Academy, Le Live |
7 |
16 |
38 |
Live versions of the Star Academy songs, Ruiz sings Paris[11] |
| 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![12] |
|
54 |
|
Live Album |
| 2008-9 |
Chica Chocolate[12][13] |
60 |
185 |
|
La Femme Chocolat rerecorded in Spanish |
| 2009 |
Miss Météores |
1 |
1 |
7 |
Over 400,000 copies sold |
| 2012 |
Le calme et la tempête |
– |
14 |
– |
100,000 copies sold |
|
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Peak positions |
Album |
|---|
| BEL (Wal) |
FRA |
SWI |
| 2001 |
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) |
11 |
1 |
– |
as Star Ac 1 with Jenifer Bartoli and Carine Haddadou[9] |
| 2007 |
La Femme Chocolat |
31 |
42 |
– |
La Femme Chocolat |
| 2007 |
J'traîne des pieds |
23 |
37 |
– |
La Femme Chocolat |
| 2009 |
Elle panique |
2 |
9 |
74 |
Miss Météores |
| Belle à en crever |
13 |
3 |
|
Miss Météores |
| 2010 |
Les crêpes aux champignons |
22 |
|
|
Miss Météores |
|
References
External links
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