Alexaundra Christine Schneiderman (born December 9, 1996), known professionally as AleXa (Korean: 알렉사) and formerly Alex Christine (알렉스 크리스틴), is an American singer based in South Korea. After competing in both seasons of the reality showRising Legends, AleXa signed with Zanybros' ZB Label in 2018 and trained there for roughly two and a half years. During this time, she also competed on Mnet's Produce 48. She debuted as a K-pop singer in October 2019. In 2022, she represented her home state Oklahoma in NBC's American Song Contest with the song "Wonderland" where she won with 710 points.[2]
Early life
AleXa was born as Alexaundra Christine Schneiderman on December 9, 1996, in Tulsa, Oklahoma,[3] to a Russian American father and a South Korean mother. AleXa's mother was adopted at age five by her adoptive American parents from an orphanage in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where she last saw her brother.[4] AleXa has one sibling, a younger brother.
As a child, AleXa took dancing lessons for various genres, including ballet, jazz, hip hop, and tap. She began to dance when she was eighteen months old and continued into mid-high school. She attended Jenks High School where she was a member of the show choirs Jenks Varsity Pom and the Jenks Trojanaires, which competed nationally. She attended Tulsa Community College, where she participated in theatre. AleXa was an avid K-pop fan and created both an Instagram and Snapchat account dedicated to covering K-pop songs and choreography while in school.[5]
Musical career
2016–2018: Rising Legends and Produce 48
In 2016, under the name Alex Christine, she participated in the Rising Legends online audition run by Soompi. The competition was organized in partnership with JYP Entertainment. In 2017, she competed on Rising Legends again when Soompi partnered with Cube Entertainment. Despite placing #1 in the dance category the first time and the overall winner the second,[6] she did not make it into either of the companies' trainee programs and instead signed with ZB Label as their first (and as of 2022, only) in-house artist.[7] In 2018, AleXa competed on Produce 48 and was eliminated in the first round at #82.[8]
2019–2021: Debut, Do or Die and Decoherence
In 2019, AleXa released her debut single album titled "Bomb" on October 19.[9] She collaborated with rock band Diablo to release a rock version of the song on December 13.[10]
In 2020, she announced her first mini-album with the release of the trailer "A.I Trooper" on February 24. The music video "Do or Die" was released on March 6. The mini-album, also titled Do or Die, was released on April 1. AleXa collaborated with girl group Dreamcatcher and boy group IN2IT to release the single "Be The Future" for the Millenasia Project on May 6. The project, supported by UNESCO's Global Education Coalition, was released to bring attention to the importance of education and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] On July 16, AleXa released the music video for "Villain" (빌런) from her upcoming second mini-album titled Decoherence.[12] She released the mini-album alongside the music video for "Revolution" on October 21.[13]
In 2021, AleXa released her digital single "Never Let You Go" (오랜만이야) on January 14.[14] She collaborated with rock band Onewe to release an acoustic version of the song on February 8.[15] On April 12, AleXa released the OST "I Miss You Every Day" for the TV Chosun drama Somehow Family.[16] On May 18, Spotify announced its third RADAR collaboration in the MENA region, bringing together AleXa and Bader AlShuaibi, a Kuwaiti-Saudi pop singer. The song "Is It On" was released on May 21.[17] AleXa released her second single album ReviveR and its lead track "Xtra" on July 1.[18] She collaborated with all-female rock band Rolling Quartz to release the rock version of the song on August 25.[19]
2022–present: "Tattoo", American Song Contest, Tours across the United States, Girls Gone Vogue, "Juliet"
In 2022, AleXa released her third single album Tattoo on January 6.[20] In May 2022, AleXa competed in the American Song Contest, representing Oklahoma with the song "Wonderland", and won.[21]
On August 3, she announced her US tour, touring eight different cities in October.
On October 20, ZB Label announced that it would return on November 11. On October 22, the first concept trailer for their first mini-album, Girls Gone Vogue, was released. On October 31, ZB Label's album promotion for the upcoming album Girls Gone Vogue was postponed due to the Seoul Halloween crowd crush.[22]
On June 1, 2023, ZB Label announced that AleXa would be making a comeback with the digital single "Juliet", which was released on June 9, with an accompanied music video filmed in Jeju Island.[23]
On February 23, 2024, AleXa released the digital single "Sick". The music video for the song was released the following day. "Sick" is part of AleXa's new American studio album.[24]
Other ventures
From June 23 to August 4, 2020, AleXa was a guest host on the podcast How Did I Get Here?, often shortened to "HDIGH". On August 7, 2020, Dive Studios announced on their Twitter that she would become a permanent fixture on the show alongside original host Jae Park from Korean band Day6.[25][26][27] The podcast won the "People's Choice" and "Entertainment" category at the Podcast Award in 2020.[28]
^Lee, Seul (October 31, 2022). "알렉사, 컴백 프로모션 연기…"갑작스러운 참변 깊은 애도" [공식입장]" [Alexa postpones comeback promotion... "Deep condolences for the sudden catastrophe" [Official position]] (in Korean). X-ports News. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 – via Naver.
Decoherence: "2020년 43주차 Album Chart" [Week 43 of 2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). October 29, 2020. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
Girls Gone Vogue: "Circle Album Chart – Week 44 of 2022". Circle Music Chart (in Korean). October 23–29, 2022. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
^"2020년 12월 Album Chart" [December 2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
"2021년 28주차 Retail Album Chart" [Week 28 of 2021 Retail Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
"07월 12일 Retail Album Chart" [July 12, 2021 Retail Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
^"01월 11일 Retail Album Chart" [January 11, 2022 Retail Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
^Kim Hyun-sik (March 24, 2022). "알렉사, '버추얼 가요톱텐' MC 발탁" [Alexa selected as MC for 'Virtual Gayo Top Ten] (in Korean). Edaily. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022 – via Naver.
^Jeong, Hee-yeon (September 21, 2022). "전역한 김명수(엘), '2022 창원 K-Pop 월드 페스티벌' MC [공식]" [Kim Myung-soo (L), discharged from military service, MC of '2022 Changwon K-Pop World Festival' [Official]] (in Korean). Sports Donga. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Naver.
^Foundation Special Report AAA (December 13, 2022). "이준호·임영웅·세븐틴→스키즈·아이브·뉴진스 AAA 대상..김선호 4관왕[2022 AAA][종합]" [Lee Jun-ho·Lim Young-woong·Seventeen → Skiz·Ive·New Jeans AAA Grand Prize..Kim Seon-ho wins 4 crowns[2022 AAA][Comprehensive]] (in Korean). MT Star News. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022 – via Naver.
