Vanessa Denae Olivarez (born April 7, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is the

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and autoharpist for the country bands Granville Automatic and Mama's Blue Dress, has written songs for the country duo Sugarland, and was in the Top 12 of the second season of the television series ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' in 2003."Night After Night, June 18, 2010", by Ben Olivo, San Antonio Express-News, June 17, 2010
Profile
mysanantonio.com; accessed April 7, 2015. Later that year, she released a single, "The One", which peaked at number nine on the Canadian charts. In 2004, she played Tracy Turnblad, the lead role in the Canadian version of ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

'', for which she was nominated for a

Dora Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

''American Idol''

Olivarez's friends talked her into auditioning in 2002 for the second season of ''American Idol''. She performed

Irene Cara Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...

's "

Out Here On My Own "Out Here on My Own" is a ballad from the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', performed by Irene Cara. It was written by sibling songwriting duo Lesley Gore (lyricist) and Michael Gore (composer). The recording was produced by Michael Gore. Cara perform ...

" in the semi-finals."American Idol, The FORT Interview with Vanessa Olivarez", Lobeck, March 18, 2003, FOR

/ref> During a following round where contestants write their own numbers, Olivarez impressed the judges with her song "The Only Thing Special About You Is Me". She moved into the top 32 contestants of the season. “American Idol News”, February 4, 2008, American Idol
/ref> When she reached the top judges she switched to Queen (band), Queen's "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

"."California Dreamin': You May Sing Like Celine Dion, but You Won't Make It Onto American Idol Without Survivor Stamina", May 1, 2003, ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'

/ref> They compared her to singer and actress Bette Midler. She was in the final twelve and she performed

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

' "

You Keep Me Hangin' On "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown girl group the Supremes, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. American rock band Vanilla Fudge ...

".“Happy Birthday, Vanessa Olivarez!”, April 7, 2010, American Idol News
/ref> Soon after she was eliminated from American Idol, she lent her celebrity status to support animals' rights group

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities hav ...

. She posed naked for their "I would rather go naked than wear fur" campaign. The ad was first unveiled in Herald Square in middle of Manhattan and also ran in Atlanta."Interview with Vanessa Olivarez from American Idol.", Scott Meenen, May13th 2003, Liberty Post News.(transcrip

She also did a benefit for Atlanta Humane Society and

The Station nightclub fire The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. The fire was caused by pyrotechnics set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlini ...

Canada and first singles

In 2003, Olivarez was contacted by Canadian songwriter and actor James Collins who brought her to Toronto, Canada, to write and record some new music. Her first single, "The One", co-written by Olivarez, James Collins and Dave Pickell, had "I'm In Love with My Best Friend's Ex" as a B-side, and reached number nine on Canada's single charts & Top Thirty on the Canadian BDS airplay chart. Another of her songs, "As Vain As You" (also co-written with Collins & Pickell), was on the compilation album ''Girls Night Out 3''. She played Tracy Turnblad in the Canadian version of the musical ''

''. After ''Hairspray'' she returned to the United States and joined an Atlanta musical group Butterfly Stitch which released an EP and live album. In May 2005 she appeared in an American Idol theme week on ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, th ...

''."In Brief", Stephen M. Silverman, January 31, 2005, ''

'

/ref>

Granville Automatic

In 2009 she co-founded Granville Automatic, a country duo, with guitarist and songwriter Elizabeth Elkins who is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. They are named after a 19th-Century typewriter, and collaborate to write and perform songs about history. They recorded an eight-song set for an episode of PBS' '' Sun Studio Sessions'' (taped at Memphis'

Sun Studio Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...

) and the digital-only EP Live from

is available online. Their self-titled album, ''Granville Automatic'', came out in 2012. Their second album, ''An Army Without Music,'' was released in 2015 and is a collection of songs inspired by Civil War battles.

Boys Club for Girls

In 2019 she joined with Amie Miriello to form the

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

duo, Boys Club for Girls. On January 27, 2020, they released a video for the song "The Weatherman" off their album expected to release later in the year.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Albums

* Granville Automatic - "Granville Automatic" - Release date: May 1, 2012 * Granville Automatic - "Live from Sun Studio" - Release date: January 31, 2012

Singles

References

External links

Granville Automatic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivarez, Vanessa 1981 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American actresses American expatriate musicians in Canada American musical theatre actresses American Idol participants Living people Musicians from Atlanta Writers from Atlanta 21st-century American women singers