Kristina Maria

Kristina Maria Chalhoub (born May 14, 1989 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter. As a second-grader, eight-year-old Kristina joined her school's choir writing her first song in third grade. She says she would write poems in class and then later set them to music. During her fifth and sixth grade years, she spent time in local studios recording demos. She participated in school talent shows in her native Ottawa. At 11, she enrolled in dance classes and took formal lessons, at the Canadian Conservatory of Music in Ottawa. She sang in many different styles, from pop to opera to R&B. With her mother acting as her manager, Kristina performed at state fairs and exhibitions. In 2005 Kristina's vocal coach put her in a group named The Showstoppers with seven other girls and sent them to Florida to sing medleys of ABBA songs and Motown hits at theme parks like Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld. In the summer of 2009, veteran music industry executive Vito Luprano (Céline Dion, Garou) heard some of her recordings and arranged to record some of her renditions. Her single "Let's Play" from her first album, Tell the World (which is due out in March 2012), has peaked at number 19 on the Canadian Hot 100, on June 11, 2011. Her second single, "Co-Pilot" is currently on rotation on Canadian radio stations, and has reached number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100. Kristina started performing on tour in Canada in May 2011, and her first album, Tell the World is due out on April 10, 2012.