Manuelle "Emma" Daumas (born 23 November 1983, in Avignon) is a French singer-songwriter and

performer The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...

, particularly well known for her participation in ''

Star Academy ''Star Academy'', called ''Operación Triunfo'' ("Operation Triumph") in Spanish-speaking countries, is a highly successful television pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements. Format There are many versions of t ...

''.

Career

Daumas grew up in a family of music lovers. Her passion for music led her to write several songs by the age of 12. Her parents then allowed her to record her first song ''Stupid boy''. After the piano, she took lessons in guitar, and enrolled at the academy of ''Villeuneuve-lès-Avignon'' at the age of 15. She frequently entered contests, in particular ''Mon Dieu'' of

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...

. She came in 8th in the

Laudun Laudun-l'Ardoise (; oc, Laudun) is a commune in the Gard department in Occitanie (southern France). The commune name was ''Laudun'' until February 1, 2001. Population Wine Laudun is one of the communes producing Côtes du Rhône Village ...

song contest playing one of her own compositions, ''Dis-moi pourquoi'' ("Tell me why"). From this point on, her potential not only as a singer but as a songwriter started to become noticed. At this time, she began to enter the scene by taking part at the galas of Pascal Fallais, her professor at the time, with songs like ''I'm sorry'' or ''Vivre'' from the musical ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. Three years later, she eventually took first place at the song contest at Laudun. In 2000, Daumas participated in ''Graines de stars'', a live show hosted by Laurent Boyer. Her performance of

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's "

Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

" allowed her to take fourth place. She waited to complete her literary Baccalauréat before pursuing music full time. Thus Emma continued her vocal training in 2001 and 2002 by taking singing lessons from vocal coach Maguy Vilette, and took guitar courses again for two months, because the musical style of

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

attracted her. She learned more about the music scene by opening for acts such as ''Carlos'', Éric Colado (comic of southern France), the groups ''Gold'' and Émile et Image, Noëlle Perna (a comedian from

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

), at the casino of Juan-les-Pins, but especially Michael Jones with the cabaret Le Rouge-Gorge at Avignon in November 2001, while doing odd jobs to make money. The publicity from the casting for ''Star Academy 2'' will mark the end of a year of rich experiences.

''Star Academy''

In August 2002, she endeared herself with the public, but not in sufficient measure to defeat the eventual winner

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

. Nevertheless, she reached the semi-final in the contest, and had the opportunity to sing duets with Bruno Pelletier,

Serge Lama Serge Lama (born Serge Claude Bernard Chauvier on 11 February 1943 in Bordeaux) is a French singer and songwriter. His most famous song is '' Je suis malade'', written with Alice Dona Alice Donadel, stagename Alice Dona (Maisons-Alfort, 17 F ...

, Patrick Bruel,

Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Le saut de l'Ange'' – her 2004 debut album received a mixed reception but the relatively hard-edged rock riffs in certain songs helped distance her from the pure commercial-pop image that tended to become a stigma for some singers who rose to prominence through Star Academy * ''Effet secondaire'' – well-received 2006 follow-up album * ''Le Chemin de la Maison'' – 2008 CD album.Amazon reviews
/ref>

Singles

* ''Au jour le jour'' (2003) * ''Si tu savais'' (2003) * ''Tu seras'' (2004) – Gold disk * ''Figurine humaine'' (2004) * ''J'attends'' (2004) * ''

Someone (Laissons nous une chance) "Someone (Laissons nous une chance)" is a song by American pop/rock band Hanson and French singer Emma Daumas. It was written mainly by Isaac Hanson while attending Miles Copeland's annual "songwriting bootcamp" at Château de Marouatte in France ...

'' – song recorded with

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

and released as a limited single plus as a track on the French version of Hanson's 2005 album '' Underneath'' * ''You got me'',

Eskobar Eskobar is the name of a Sweden, Swedish Northie(Northern Indie)/indie/pop band that was founded in 1996 some 30 kilometres north of Stockholm, in the small town of Åkersberga. The band features Daniel Bellqvist as its lead singer, Frederik Z� ...

feat. Emma Daumas'' (2005) * ''S'il te plaît'' (October 2005) – the first extract from her second album ''Effets secondaires'', only available on download * ''Regarde nous'' (April 2006) * ''Club Addict'' * ''Mon tombeur'' * ''J'suis conne'' (June 2008) – first single from ''Chemin de la maison'' * ''Secret défense'' (2009)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daumas, Emma 1983 births Living people Star Academy (France) participants 21st-century French singers 21st-century French women singers