Khalila Glanville

Updated Tue. Jan. 22 2008 11:45 AM ET

Age: 24
Hometown: Dorval, Qc
Audition City: Montreal, Qc

Since returning home from Canadian Idol, Season 5's Top 9 competitor Khalila Glanville has been living a bit of a double life. As a daycare worker by day, she's spending the rest of the time trying to write the songs and meet the people who could help launch the career of her dreams.

"I've been working on writing my own songs (and) attending local celebrity parties," she told Eye on Idol. "Things haven't been easy. (I'm) trying to get out there and be the successful woman I want to be... I'm not about to give up just yet!"

Before beginning her hectic life as a Canadian Idol competitor, Glanville had no idea her most important success skill on the show would come from her years working at the Lachine, Québec daycare -- patience.

After handling an Idol schedule that involved long days and lots of waiting, Glanville said she's thankful she honed these important skills before being thrown into the world of showbiz.

"You need patience to work with kids and you need patience to work in the music industry," she told Eye on Idol the night of her elimination at Top 9. "It's all about patience."

Now, as she works on writing her own music, she sees these skills carrying her even further.

"Especially when you want to get something done, it's not going to happen overnight," she said. "It takes time for things to happen and it takes time and people to do things and to get it all to work together."

Having first tried out for Idol in Season 1 and meeting flat-out rejection, Glanville built up her confidence and returned this year to great success. Getting a payoff for her hard work has inspired her to continue following her dreams, no matter how distant they seem.

"I got to show more than 2 million people my face so I think this opportunity has done a lot for me," she said. "It's only going to keep getting better and better... People know my name now. Before I was just the girl at the daycare."

That said, she plans to continue being "the girl at the daycare" for some time yet.

"My job (is) awesome because I (get) to teach children and watch them grow," said Glanville, who later said one of the best things about Idol was meeting the children supported by Ronald McDonald House. "Even if I had a bad morning, I'd walk in and it's like a clean slate. They wipe everything away. They take away all my bad thoughts."

"It's not the end for me. It's just the beginning."