Canadian popstar is a Filipina

MANILA, Philippines - Canada is a hot bed of pop music activity. Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morrisette are just some of the big names to have come from the big country up north and this proves that Canadians can pump out great sounding pop. That’s why it’s with great anticipation that we’re holding our breath for one Elise Estrada. Dubbed as the Canadian Pop Princess, Elise is a singer-songwriter-performer with a string of No. 1 hits to her name. Her music videos are bombastic audio-visual experiences and best of all, Elise has got Pinoy blood pumping in her veins.

The foxy Filipina-born Canadian had an amazing debut back in 2008 when her album and its title-track Insatiable hit No. 1 at the Canadian Billboard pop charts. Her streak continued with another Top 10 hit in These Three Words, before hitting the top again with the R&B tinged pop track Unlove You. Elise has since been nominated for the Juno (Canadian Grammy) Award for Best R&B Soul Album and has aced prestigious nods like the Emerging Artist Award, Best New Artist and has over 40,000 airplay spins on Canadian FM radio for Insatiable alone.

Over the course of two R&B inflected dance albums, Elise has produced a total of 10 Top 10 hits. She has also shared the stage with Lady Gaga, Rihanna, 50 Cent, Sean Kingston, Enrique Iglesias, Nelly and Backstreet Boys making good on the moniker given her as the Rihanna of Canada.

Elise lived in Marikina until she moved to Canada with her parents and two siblings when she was four years old. She has kept in touch with her Pinoy roots all the time though she was establishing herself as a pop, R&B and dance artist in Canada. Pinoys would do well to know about Elise as she has done us proud on her own through music, half a world away.

This month, Elise returns with a new album titled #Round3, bannered by the knockout pop track You Don’t Need 2 Know. On the song, Elise, is in full-on foxy mode. It is a nice piece of infectious pop music.

Elise is assisted by her creative A-Team, led by producer Adam Hurstfield, who has produced tracks with R&B star Ne-Yo and pop metal giants Def Leppard. There’s also Grammy-winner Orlando Calzada, who has mixed albums for Destiny’s Child, Lady Gaga, J.Lo and One Direction.

The music video for You Don’t Need 2 Know has already made the rounds of music channels here in Manila a few months back (MTV Pinoy and MYX). In Canada though, the music video went straight to No. 1 on Canada’s top music channel and was highlighted on the front page of Vevo TV upon its release proving that Elise hasn’t lost a beat and is as strong as ever.

To promote her new album, Elise will do a series of shows at the Ayala Malls starting Aug. 19 at the newly opened Fairview Terraces; Aug. 21, Market! Market!; Aug. 22, Marquee Mall, Pampanga; and Aug. 24 to 25,  Harbor Point in Subic and Trinoma in Quezon City, respectively. All shows start at 5 p.m.

Elise will also do rounds of radio and TV guestings in Manila and will promote two new tracks from her new album. Among these tracks is Over & Out, an EDM-type of pop club music that samples the memorable choruses of the New Order hit Bizaare Love Triangle. Then there’s the upbeat track Champion which a local R&B station has been raving about and playing in their playlists. Elise’s new album #Round3 also includes a song titled All It Takes Is A Moment, which she dedicated to survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.

Elise’s #Round3 is distributed in the Philippines by Viva Records.