Ashley Leitão (, born December 6, 1986) Is a Canadian recording artist. She was the ninth-place finisher on the third season of the reality show ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

'' in 2005. CTV.
Ashley Leitão
'. Archived fro
the original
on October 3, 2012. Calgary Sun.
Ashley Bows Out
''. July 28, 2005 Her heritage is Portuguese. As of 2005, she resided in Burnaby, British Columbia. After ''Idol'', she and two other contestants formed the group

Braided Braided is a musical group consisting of Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitão, and Amber Fleury, who all competed on the third season of '' Canadian Idol'' in 2005. They are the third music group to come from an Idol show in the world, after Young Div ...

, releasing an album in 2006, on which Leitão duetted with figure skating champion Elvis Stojko.

Early life

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Leitão is the daughter of a Portuguese baker. Her parents ran a bakery in Winnipeg. Leitão moved with her family to Portugal at age five, and her family ran a bakery there for ten months. They returned to Canada and lived in Burnaby, operating a bakery in North Vancouver. Leitão, musical from a young age, began formal singing lessons at age nine. She graduated from Burnaby's

Alpha Secondary School Alpha Secondary"For School Data, SourceBC Schools Book." ''Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Education'' January 16, 2006. is a public high school in Burnaby, British Columbia part of School District 41 Burnaby. Academics Alpha Secondary ...

in 2004.

''Canadian Idol''

Performing on the third season of ''Canadian Idol'' in 2005, in the first group of the Top 32, Leitão performed the song "Colors of the Wind", which convinced viewers to vote her into the next stage of the competition. She got the second-highest number of votes that night, after Daryl Brunt.Zacharias, Yvonne (June 17, 2005). "Baker's daughter an Idol finalist: Burnaby teen Ashley Leitao proud of her Portuguese heritage", ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...

'', p. D8. Songs that Ashley performed during the season included: * Top 32: " Colours of the Wind" ( Vanessa Williams) * Top 10: " Let It Rain" (

Amanda Marshall Amanda Meta Marshall (born August 29, 1972) is a Canadian pop-rock singer. She has released three studio albums; the first was certified Diamond in Canada, with the latter two certified 3× Platinum and Platinum respectively. She is best known f ...

) * Top 9: " Sir Duke" (

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

) On the July 27 episode, it was revealed that Leitão was a member of the "Bottom 3", along with

Melissa O'Neil Melissa Crystal O'Neil (born July 12, 1988) is a Canadian actress and singer. In 2005, O'Neil won the third season of ''Canadian Idol'', the first Canadian female to have won. As an actress, she is known for her roles as Two / Rebecca / Portia L ...

and

Josh Palmer Joshua Keith Palmer (born September 22, 1999) is a Canadian-born American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee and was drafted by the Chargers in the ...

. Judge

Jake Gold Jake Gold (born April 4, 1958) is an American-born Canadian music manager. He was a judge on the ''Canadian Idol'' television program. In addition to ''Idol'' participants, he has managed Canadian artists The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen, The C ...

made the observation that all three of them were from Western Canada, and insinuated that regional voting might have been at play. Leitão had the lowest number of votes, and after giving a tearful goodbye to Canada, she performed a farewell rendition of "Sir Duke".

Post-''Idol''

Leitão formed the group

with fellow former Season 3 contestants

Casey LeBlanc Cassandra Beth "Casey" LeBlanc (born November 4, 1987) is a Canadian recording artist, She was a contestant on the third season of the popular reality television show '' Canadian Idol'', and was the fifth-place finisher. Born in Woodstock, New Br ...

and

Amber Fleury Amber Fleury (born April 10, 1979) is a Canadian recording artist, and was the eighth-place finisher in the third season of '' Canadian Idol'', which aired during the summer of 2005. Born in Dauphin, Manitoba, she now lives in Calgary, Alberta whe ...

. DND/

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

.
News Release: Task Force Afghanistan Show Tour: Smiles from Home
''. November 1, 2006 Their first single, entitled "A Little Bit Closer", was released to radio on June 15, 2006. CTV.
Amber, Ashley and Casey release single to radio
'. She recorded a duet with Elvis Stojko, a former world champion Canadian figure skater.Canadian Press.
Figure skater Elvis Sojko takes his place among Canada's best athletes
''. November 2, 2006. Braided released the album ''Casey, Ashley and Amber'' in August 2006. Mersereau, Bob (August 9, 2006). "LeBlanc gets the Braided look", ''

Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' i ...

'', p. D7.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitao, Ashley 1986 births Canadian Idol participants Canadian people of Portuguese descent Living people Musicians from Winnipeg