Barbra Preisman
 Age: 17 "Hopefully I'll bring some old school vibe back to the stage – maybe even some old school interpretations of some new school material." Barbra Preisman has very little public singing experience but has transformed her idolization of Ella Fitzgerald into a never-seen-before jazz presence on Canadian Idol. "I could listen to all my Ella CDs in one sitting without getting bored," she says. "Most people sound like they're singing to you, at you. But when Ella sings, you feel like you're barely invited. It's a privilege." Barbra started singing in public at her piano class recitals but says she first started singing "pretty much the moment my larynx dropped low enough to articulate sound." Barbra, who says she's "dedicated to Jazz," also plays trumpet, loves to read, and is a trained figure skater. She likes to write music and occasionally poetry, "especially something with a bit of humour in them. No arias or haikus." She says her "big, fat Romanian" family is her biggest support. Anastasia is her favourite movie ("not the Ingrid Bergman one – the animated one from Fox!") and The Hunchback of Notre Dame is her favourite book. Barbra says she's "really bad at math" but enjoys Biology and Ancient History. She loves crème brulée, Spongebob Squarepants and the Toronto Maple Leafs and says the Canadian she admires most is Wiarton Willie. What got Barbra this far in the competition? "So many things: my beauty, my charm, my wit, my awesome musical skill – but above all, my modesty." I'm Old Fashioned is the song title that best describes her, she says.
Barbra's fun facts: Which musical act would you most like to see in concert? ABBA. They bring out my best moves.
What has been the biggest accomplishment of your life? Getting this far in Canadian Idol is pretty much it. What are you the most proud of? My extensive beanie-baby collection. It's an investment. When they come back in style (and I know they will *wink, wink) I'll sell them on the black market for millions! Which item could you not live without? Bandit, my teddy. What's been the best day of your life? This one time my dad and I had a day downtown together. We went to all the used book stores within a 10km radius of Yonge and Bloor on a mad rampage for this obscure book I wanted. We ended up finding it at this cool bookstore that only sells fantasy and science-fiction books. I didn't even know something like that existed. It was so neat. We even finished off the day at an expensive café for some Thai food and crème brulée. If you could meet one person, living or dead, who would it be and why? Ella Fitzgerald. That's a gimme. She's the greatest singer that ever lived, bar none, plus she's been my idol for as long as I can remember. What do you think has gotten you this far in the competition? So many things: my beauty, my charm, my wit, my awesome musical skill, but above all, my modesty. What will it take for you to become the Canadian Idol? At the end of the day, I think this thing is all about personality... after all, it's been established at this point that we can all sing. What has been the most challenging part of the competition so far? Dealing with too many nerves and not enough sleep. It's really frustrating going in every day with the knowledge that you physically can't compete to the best of your ability, like when you hand in an assignment late and it's a ten mark deduction right off the bat. Whose career path would you like to follow and why? Barbra Streisand. She started out singing but she went on to be an actress, producer, director, composer, writer, humanitarian and political activist. What part of the Canadian Idol experience has surprised you the most? The amount of work that's put into the show by the people who organize it. There are individual people working on every individual aspect of Canadian Idol. They stay up and wake up as late and as early as the contestants do, if not later and earlier. What did you learn about yourself during the Top 100? I learned how difficult it is to sing without a piano. It's a totally different experience. When you're standing up, it's more than just the music. It's "What should I do with my hands" and "What should I do with my feet"? Everyone who thinks that singing and playing at the same time is so hard never had to make adjustments the other way around. What was your reaction when you made the Top 32? It didn't sink in immediately. I think it's actually yet to sink in. The whole thing was so secretive, still is, so it was more like some weird undercover military bootcamp. Getting into the top 32 made me not so much excited as grateful that I hadn't been shot down…yet. Who has been the greatest inspiration of your life? My mom. She's just a really strong and reliable person who's made it through so much. Who has helped to make you the singer you are today? Once again, my mom. If she's not the one demanding a performance, she's the one secretly adjudicating me. Actually it's not so secret. She's the closest thing I have to a vocal coach. What song touches you the most? Why does it affect you so much? "The Glory of Love." My mom sang it to me when I was little. We sang it together sometimes when she would blow-dry my hair. Now I hum it when I blow-dry my own. What do you do to keep your nerves in check during the competition? Drink plenty of water and hope that keeping hydrated compensates for slurred speech and memory loss. How has this competition changed you? Canadian Idol required everyone to do a lot unscripted work in front of a lot of people we didn't know. So I think I'm a bit braver now. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? "Thingy", "What's his/her face", and "You know?" |
