Alexz Johnson
Alexz Johnson as Jude Harrison in Instant Star
Background information
Birth name	Alexzandra Spencer Johnson
Born	November 4, 1986 (1986-11-04) (age 21) New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Genre(s)	Pop, Indie, Progressive[1]
Occupation(s)	Actress/Singer/Songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	Early 90's–present
Label(s)	Orange Records (2004-2006) Capitol (2006-2007) Epic (2008-Present)
Associated acts	Instant Star So Weird

Alexzandra Spencer Johnson (born November 4, 1986) is a Canadian actress and singer/songwriter known for her roles in Final Destination 3 and So Weird, and for playing the lead role of Jude Harrison in the hit teen drama series Instant Star where her performances have twice been nominated for a Gemini Award (Canadian equivalent of an Emmy Award). Jude Harrison is a fictional character from the hit teen drama series Instant Star, she is portrayed by Alexz Johnson. Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with Speech. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Orange Record Label is a Canadian Independent record label, located in Toronto, Ontario. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as Epic Records is an American Record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment. Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude So Weird is a Television series shot in Vancouver British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a Midseason replacement Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Final Destination 3 is a 2006 Supernatural thriller, and the third film in the Final Destination series. So Weird is a Television series shot in Vancouver British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a Midseason replacement Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry Awards in Canada. ^[2]

Early Life

Johnson was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, as the sixth of what would become ten children in her family. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page One of her sisters is a stage actress, and her brother Brendan is a musician with whom she often collaborates.

From the age of two, Alexz would frequently sing for her large extended family; and by the age of seven, she was receiving vocal training, participating in festivals with her local youth choir, and giving solo performances at school and community functions. She entered many talent contests and festivals, and won a National Anthem Contest at the age of 11, with her rendition of the National Anthem being heard on national television. This resulted in numerous radio and television interviews, and interest from management. That year, she was also voted Best Anthem singer of the season by the Vancouver Sun. The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912

Locally, she was often referred to as our "West Coast Celine", and sang the National Anthem at games for the Vancouver Canucks (NHL hockey) and Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA basketball team, now based in Memphis), as well as singing at charity events and fairs around the province, and also the B. The Vancouver Canucks are a Professional Ice hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America The Memphis Grizzlies are a professional Basketball team based in Memphis Tennessee. C. Summer Games. She opened the Variety Club show singing a duet with Bob McGrath, sang the first set of songs at the Molson Indy (a major car race), and entertained on New Year's Eve at Planet Hollywood at the age of 12. Robert Emmet "Bob" McGrath (born June 13, 1932) is an American singer and actor best known for playing the human character "Bob" on Planet Hollywood, a Theme restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood, was launched in New York on October 22, ^[3]

Acting Career

So Weird

With an outgoing personality, Alexz moved into acting, where she excelled, landing auditions for commercials and a showcase for a pilot called "Most Talented Kids". She auditioned for the Disney television series So Weird which, for the final season of the show, was looking for a lead actress who could also sing. So Weird is a Television series shot in Vancouver British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a Midseason replacement Alexz was offered the job immediately after her audition. This role was a tough assignment, because many fans of the show had already become accustomed to a different story-line, were not happy that the show had shifted from a "darker" to a "lighter" tone, and were upset that the previous lead actress Cara DeLizia was moving on as the show approached its final season. Cara Elizabeth DeLizia (born April 10, 1984 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is an American television actress most known for her portrayal While many long-time fans of the show continued to feel this way, the show nevertheless retained its popularity, and Alexz built up a fan base on the strength of both her acting and her singing.

Unfortunately, the songs she sang on the show are not generally available in complete, high audio quality versions, despite numerous requests from viewers. However, versions of varying length and audio quality can be found on the Internet. Rips from a stream that was on the Zoog Disney site for So Weird include “What You Do”, “One In A Million”, and “Never Give Up”. There are also audio rips from the actual episodes of So Weird that include Johnson in the role of Annie: “Cause’ You’re Watching Over Me”; “Push Me, Pull You”; and a duet of “One In A Million World” with Mackenzie Phillips.

Alexz Johnson as Jude Harrison and Tim Rozon as Tommy (her producer) on Instant Star (Credit to Epitome Pictures)

Instant Star

In 2004, Alexz sent in an audition tape to the producers of Degrassi: The Next Generation for their upcoming show Instant Star. Degrassi The Next Generation is a Canadian Teen drama television series, set in the Degrassi Fictional universe created Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude They were specifically looking for a Canadian teen actress/vocalist to play the lead role, Jude Harrison. Jude Harrison is a fictional character from the hit teen drama series Instant Star, she is portrayed by Alexz Johnson. The first audition tape Executive Producer Stephen Stohn received was Alexz's, and he was convinced she was exactly the one who would be perfect for the role - but the auditioning continued, returning of course to Alexz in the end. John Stephen Stohn (born May 8, 1948 in Denver, Colorado, US) is a Canadian entertainment lawyer and Television

After its first season, Instant Star was nominated for three Gemini Awards (Canadian equivalent of the American Emmy Award) in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series. The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry Awards in Canada. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Nominations included: (1) Best Series; (2) Best Performance (Alexz Johnson); and (3) Best Direction (Graeme Campbell). Graeme Campbell is a Gemini Award winning film director writer and editor The show won the award for Best Direction. ^[4]

On August 28, 2007, the show received three more Gemini Award nominations, in the category of Best Children's or Youth Program or Series - two for best direction (Pat Williams and Graeme Campbell), and one for Best Performance (Alexz Johnson, in the episode, "I Fought the Law"). Graeme Campbell is a Gemini Award winning film director writer and editor ^[5][6] However, the show did not win further Gemini awards in 2007, with Alexz losing out to Shenae Grimes, who plays the role of Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Shenae Grimes (born October 24 1989 is a Gemini Award winning Canadian actress Darcy Edwards is a Fictional character on Degrassi The Next Generation. Degrassi The Next Generation is a Canadian Teen drama television series, set in the Degrassi Fictional universe created

Alexz Johnson sings all of the songs that her character Jude sings on the show. She has recorded three soundtracks for Instant Star, with three released so far: Songs from Instant Star, Songs from Instant Star Two, Songs from Instant Star Three . Songs from Instant Star is the soundtrack for the first season of the television series Instant Star. Songs from Instant Star Two is the soundtrack CD for the second season of the Canadian television show Instant Star. She co-wrote five of the songs on the first album, including 24 Hours, Let Me Fall, Criminal, Skin, and That Girl. She did not write songs on the albums for the second and third seasons, focusing her songwriting instead on her solo CD.

Because of her early start in the music business, Alexz has been giving concerts for over a decade. She is at her best in front of an audience, as shown by her performance of four of the songs from seasons one and two of Instant Star at a preview event - Backstage Pass - on The-N, just before the broadcast of the second season of the show. From the first season CD, she sang Skin and Let Me Fall (both of which she co-wrote); and from the second season, she sang Another Thin Line and My Sweet Time. While they definitely like what they are hearing on the CDs, many fans would argue that the live versions of these songs are far better - more emotion and more power.

In the live performances, Alexz is accompanied by her band from the show, Spiederman Mind Explosion, which consists of three members who do double duty as actors and real-life musicians. They are: Tyler Kyte ("Vincent Spiederman" - "Speed") on lead guitar; Christopher Gaudet ("Wally") on bass; and Ian Blackwood ("Kyle"), on drums. Jonathon Tyler "Ty" Kyte (born July 24, 1984 in Lindsay Ontario) is a Canadian Actor / Singer. Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude Ian Blackwood (born August 12, 1982) is a Canadian actor and musician best known for playing Kyle Bateman on the CTV teen hit Instant

Alexz Johnson says that she looks forward to the time when she can hopefully "step away from the acting and focus more on becoming a musician". ^[7] For her, acting is "a great job" that she works hard at six months of the year and that gives her the financial freedom she needs in order to be able to create her own music for the rest of the year. As reported in the Toronto Star, the show also provides her with much of what she wears. The Toronto Star is Canada 's highest-circulation newspaper though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario. She is a “non-shopper” who wants to stay focused on the music. ^[8]

In a sense, the choice of Alexz to play the lead in Instant Star was ironic, because her own career has been much more gradual: she has been working her way up in the business over a number of years. Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude However, Instant Star has given a major boost to both her acting and musical career: people who like the music are tuning in to the show, and people who like the show are buying the music.

Song Samples

Two-minute, CD-quality samples of 7 of the songs from Season 1, and 8 of the songs from Season 2, are on the web site of The-N, which broadcasts Instant Star in the USA: Audio - Instant Star on The-N Links to a complete set of songs (listed here by episode rather than song title), in a briefer version (1. 5 minutes), can also be found on the site for The-N: Season 1 Songs^[9] and Season 3 Songs. ^[10]

Brief versions (1. 5 minutes each) of the songs for Season 3 can also be found on the web site of The-N: Song Samples for Season 3 of Instant Star. ^[11] One Season 3 song that showcases her voice is Darkness Round the Sun. ^[12] The Season 3 songs also include I Will Be The Flame,^[13] a duet with Cory Lee who plays Karma, her nemesis on Season 3 of the show.

The songs from Season 1 can also be found in one-minute samples on the web site of Viva, which is the counterpart of The-N in Germany (and which is also owned by Viacom), at the bottom of the following page (under "Trackliste"): Audio - Instant Star on Viva. ^[14] The track list includes all the original songs except for "24 Hours", but this is available as a video further up on the page, highlighted in red.

Other Roles

Johnson also decided to audition for the role of Julie Christenson in the thriller Final Destination 3 . Final Destination 3 is a 2006 Supernatural thriller, and the third film in the Final Destination series. As it turned out, she showed up at the audition in an all black, punk rockish outfit, later claiming that she had also been in a bad mood. The casting directors concluded that she would be perfect for the role of Erin Ulmer, a character with a bad attitude. This was not a large part, but she played it convincingly, right to the gruesome end. Her performance attracted praise from some critics, even from one (writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer) who said: "The characters are so loathsome, you're glad to see them go. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily Newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United Except for two: the goth couple Ian (Kris Lemche) and Erin (Alexz Johnson). Kristopher Lemche (ˈlɛmkiː born 1978 is a Canadian Actor. Lemche was born in Brampton Ontario to a schoolteacher mother and a father who He's a cynical know-it-all, like Dennis Miller with black fingernails; she's like Parker Posey with raccoon mascara. Dennis Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American Stand-up comedian, political/sports commentator, and television/radio personality Parker Christian Posey (born November 8 1968 is an American actress. . "^[15]

Alexz has also stated that her roles on both Instant Star and Final Destination 3 were great acting experiences, and she is very interested in continuing her acting career down the road, but did not want to make a main career out of it, saying she was interested in trying her hand in actual TV production later down the road though. Instant Star was a Canadian Television program and a Gemini Award winner starring adolescent music competition winner Jude Final Destination 3 is a 2006 Supernatural thriller, and the third film in the Final Destination series.

Johnson was also one of the final choices to play the lead roles in the horror remake of Black Christmas and in the Britney Spears novel inspired movie Brave New Girl. Britney Jean Spears (born December 2 1981 is an American recording artist and entertainer On one of Britney Spears’ many E! True Hollywood Stories, during a clip of Spears celebrating her birthday during the auditioning for Brave New Girl, one can see Johnson, Lindsey Haun, Lynne Spears, the other girl who was up for the lead role, and others singing happy birthday to Britney. Both auditions were confirmed by Alexz's rep.

In September, 2007, Alexz appeared in the lead role in Devil's Diary, a made-for-television movie, shown as the movie of the week on Lifetime Television in the United States. Devil's Diary is a Canadian horror film made for television directed by Farhad Mann and starring Alexz Johnson, Magda Apanowicz, Deanna Lifetime Television is an American Television network devoted to movies, sitcoms and Dramas all of which are either geared toward For this performance, she has been nominated for a Leo Award, in the category of Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Feature-Length Drama. [2] The Leo Awards are held annually to promote and celebrate excellence in British Columbia's film industry, which is the third largest in North America (after Los Angeles and New York); this year's awards will be on May 23-24.

Johnson has also acted in independent films produced and directed by her brother, Matt Johnson.

Alexz Johnson as Jude Harrison on Instant Star (Credit to Epitome Pictures)

Solo Musical Career

Johnson first enrolled in singing lessons at age 6, and took classical vocal training (including opera) for at least 8 years, much of it from Joseph Shore, an acclaimed operatic baritone and music educator in the Vancouver area. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto She is said to have a four-octave range.

She also showed an interest in songwriting, and wrote one of the songs for So Weird. After the show ended, she continued her interest in songwriting, co-writing with her brother Brendan. (They are currently working on Alexz's solo album. ) She also learned to play the guitar. She worked as a demo singer on various projects, completed a demo of her own music to shop around to music labels, and opened for David Foster at his charity events. David Walter Foster, OC, OBC, LLD (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Solo Album (2006-Present)

After Johnson appeared on So Weird, there was interest in signing her to a record deal, but she preferred to wait for the right deal which would allow her more creative freedom. After recording the soundtrack albums for Instant Star 1 and 2 with the Orange Record Label in Toronto, she negotiated a deal for a solo album with Capitol Records. Orange Record Label is a Canadian Independent record label, located in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as However, with the merger of the Capitol and Virgin labels within the EMI Group, there was a shake-up, leaving her without the support she had anticipated for her solo album. The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in

The arrangement with Capitol records was in place long enough to affect the line-up of artists for the Instant Star 3 soundtrack, as her record label allowed her a maximum of four songs on Instant Star 3, for reasons which remained unexplained.

Most of the work on the solo album has been completed. She worked on it for several months in 2006, co-writing songs with her brother Brendan, who writes and produces music. There are two updates on her early work on the album from Stephen Stohn the Executive Producer of Instant Star - one saying that "she's written stacks of songs for her CD" (June 17), and the other saying that he had listened to some of "the rough demos" (November 8) which, in his view, were "absolutely stunningly amazing". John Stephen Stohn (born May 8, 1948 in Denver, Colorado, US) is a Canadian entertainment lawyer and Television Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration ^[16]

In writing songs for the album, she has also worked with UK writers Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, Jason Mraz) and Sasha Skarbek (James Blunt), as well as producer/songwriter Brio Taliaferro (Sugababes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, James Blunt). ^[17]

On June 25, 2007, Johnson appeared on the Canadian version of MTV. MTV ( Music Television) is an American Cable television network based in New York City. She confirmed that all of her songs have been written and recorded. She planned on shopping for a label over the next few months and hoped to release the album in the winter. She said she was in no hurry for it to be released. As of October 2007, as confirmed by her current management -- Watchdog Management -- she remained without a label, but was very close to finding a new home for her music.

On February 15, Alexz Johnson announced in her MySpace blog[3] that she had signed a record deal with label Epic Records, part of the Sony BMG group. Epic Records is an American Record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a diverse music and entertainment group Since it was founded in 1953, Epic has been the label for a highly diverse set of artists: other female singers on the Epic label have included Gloria Estefan, Mandy Moore, Shakira, Fiona Apple, Heart, Tori Amos, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Cyndi Lauper, and Celine Dion.

With the songs already written, Alexz Johnson is currently half-way through the studio work for the album, and expects to be finished recording by the end of March, 2008. [4] Having heard the first six songs, Stephen Stohn, in his MySpace blog of Feb. 16, 2008, commented that, "they are just incredibly good - very different from the songs you've come to know through Instant Star, much more rhythmic, with almost a world beat. "[5]

The producer for the album is Greg Wells - a Canadian (from Peterborough, Ontario), who now lives and works in Los Angeles as a producer / instumentalist / songwriter. Greg Wells is a musician and Grammy nominated record producer based in Los Angeles As noted in Stephen Stohn's blog, Wells has previously worked with Pink, Natasha Bedingfield, Michelle Branch, Jewel, and Celine Dion, among others.

In her MySpace blog of February 15, 2008, Alexz Johnson indicated that she is planning an extensive tour around her new album, saying of her songs that, "I can't wait to perform them live! Looking forward to seeing all of your faces!"

Demos and Recordings before Instant Star

Early on, when Johnson’s original site was put up around 1999-2000, she had two clips of demos up for listening: "Sunshine Reigns" and "To Dream About You" (which Johnson co-wrote for the original Disney Channel series, So Weird). Full but low audio quality versions of both songs can be found on the Internet - but the only better quality versions exist only as clips. A short higher quality clip of "To Dream About You" and the actual clip of "Sunshine Reigns" that were originally from Johnson’s site, can also both be found on the Internet.

In 2001, Alexz teamed up with the production/songwriting team of Johnny Elkins and CJ Vanston. C J Vanston is a Film composer / Music producer / Songwriter / Keyboardist in Hollywood California. Johnson worked with Elkins and Vanston for approximately two to three years, recording several demos, although the total amount of material recorded is unknown. Amongst the material recorded, there were clips - “First In Love”, “Stop The World”, and “Secret Heart” - which had been posted on Alexz’s revamped 2001 website for listening. While working with the team of Vanston and Elkins, Johnson contributed the song “Transparent Lies” for Elkins' project, Fill Your Head - a compilation album with the intent of using a broad range of vocabulary found on the SATs. A video of Alexz recording a clip of the song can be found on the Fill Your Head website.

Two demos from 2002/2003 - “Teach Me How To Love” and “Don’t Pull Off My Wings” - can be found on Vanston’s website under "Music and Movies". Both are produced by Elkins and Vanston; both are co-written by Alexz and Brendan Johnson; and both show a ballad-like, more mature sound than the previous demos, which were more up-tempo.

With her work with Vanston and Elkins ending around 2003, for unknown reasons, three other demo clips surfaced on the Internet. No one knows where the demos came from, because when Johnson launched a new site in 2002/2003, after her old one was taken down due to costs, she was still working with Vanston and Elkins; who did not produce the three demos that surfaced. The three demos were “Crawl”, “Where’s The Sky”, and “Running Back” (which has become a fan favorite amongst her own material). The demos showed Johnson’s music in a new direction. With the addition of more mature lyrics, guitar, and stronger vocals, it showed a new side of what her sound could be. “Where’s The Sky” originally showed up on the Internet in two clips - a short clip of a guitar intro and one line of vocals, and a one-minute clip of the actual song. “Crawl” is rumored to have been from the demo CD Johnson sent to the executives of Instant Star with her audition tape. This three song demo was produced and co-written by Brendan Johnson and Gabriel Maga in 2003 at Trebias Institute.

Other recordings by Johnson over the years can be found on the Internet, including: a low audio recording of “Wishing On A Star” (probably from 1999-2000); a low audio quality two minute studio version and a medium quality audio rip of the song “Everything (Feels Like New)”, originally recorded for the Disney Channel movie, The Other Me; an a capella live version of the song on the Express Yourself commercial (done for the Disney Channel); audio rips of a cover of "Black Velvet", from her role as Angel in Selling Innocence; and audio rips of an unnamed original song composed for the episode of Cold Squad in which she starred. The Other Me is a 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie about a teenager who clones himself and uses the clone for school Selling Innocence is a Made-for-TV movie that shows and condemns the exploitation of teens on the web today Cold Squad is a Canadian procedural police Television series that follows the investigations of a part of the Vancouver PD Homicide Division tasked with

Charity Work

During 2001, Alexz worked with World Vision, and had a section on her official site where fans could order shirts with a design done by Johnson and also featuring her autograph. World Vision, founded in the United States in 1951 is an international Christian relief and development organization whose stated goal Unfortunately, there were production problems and the shirts were never sent out. Alexz made an apology on her site and provided refunds to everyone who ordered one. In 2002, she performed as the opening act at Wayne Gretsky's celebrity dinner and auction, held in Edmonton, Alberta, to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald children's charity. Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born January 26 1961 is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey player Edmonton (ˈɛdmɨntɨn is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. More recently, she has worked with David Foster, opening for his charity events for the David Foster Foundation. David Walter Foster, OC, OBC, LLD (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada After the season premiere of the second season of Instant Star on The-N she also did a public service announcement for Second Harvest which was assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Filmography

Discography

References

External links

• Alexz Johnson at MySpace
• Alexz Johnson at the Internet Movie Database