Sylvia Anne Ratonel, born June 14, 1988, is a Singaporeansinger and spokesmodel. She is best known as the runner-up of the third season of Singapore Idol. Ratonel was also the first female to make it to the finals. The program started her career in singing and entertainment. In January 2010, she signed a contract with broadcasterMediaCorp. Ratonel signed a recording contract with Universal Music Singapore in March of the same year. She was the first Singaporean celebrityambassador for cosmetic brand Maybelline. In 2010, Sylvia Ratonel was ranked as part of the "Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World" by FHM Magazine. She also won the "Breakout Star of the Year" ELLE Awards 2010.
Her self-titled debutalbum, Sylvia Ratonel was released on 27 October 2010. Four singles were released from the album. Three of these became Top 10 hits on Singapore radiocharts.
Early life
Sylvia comes from a family of five. She has two brothers; Bryan and Timothy. Her family was not wealthy in her early years. When she was 10, the family moved into a small apartment with no bedrooms. Sylvia later said that they "grew up sleeping together in one room, on mattresses".[1] Life was not easy for her family. They had to depend on food from their church. They would go to church every Sunday to get food.[2]
Sylvia studied at Fengshan Primary School and Bedok View Secondary School.[2] She chose an education at Temasek Polytechnic so she could start working quicker. Sylvia graduated with a diploma in Hospitality and TourismManagement. She worked while in school to help support her family.[1] After graduating, Sylvia decided to wait to go to college because her parents could not afford it. Instead, she went to work at the Conrad Centennial Hotel as a secretary.[3]
Growing up, Sylvia did not take part in school performances.[4] At the age of 18, Sylvia left home in what was a rebellious phase. She began visiting clubs and drinking alcohol. She now has a better relationship with her family. Ratonel says that she is "a good girl who likes bad boys".[5] With her family's support, Sylvia auditioned for Singapore Idol in 2009[6] even though she did not have any professionalvocaltraining.[7]
Singapore Idol
On 6 June 2009, Sylvia auditioned for the third season of Singapore Idol. Her audition impressed judge Ken Lim. He said that she could make it into the Top 10.[8] Sylvia made it through the auditions. The judges had different opinions about how talented she was. At the Piano Show round in September, she impressed the judges with her singing of Duffy’s "Mercy".
During the competition, Sylvia was one of the best and worst contestants. She was in the bottom two twice. Once she reached the Top 6 round, her support from the viewers grew. For the next 5 weeks she was not in the elimination group each week. After the last semi-final round on 8 December, Sylvia became the first female finalist on Singapore Idol. On 27 December 2009, she competed against Sezairi Sezali for the title of Singapore Idol. She did not win. Although she wanted to win, Sylvia has was happy to be in the finals. She said "my Idol journey has been wonderful. I would never change anything about it. It’s been a really long and tiring journey, but it’s so fulfilling.... I’m really glad that I managed to touch many people’s hearts, and their lives. I hope to continue doing that,"[9]
In an interview with both Ken Lim and Ratonel, Lim said that he "didn't think that [Sylvia] did well" when asked about his opinions about the results. He said her performances in the finals were weaker than those she had in the semi-final rounds.[10]
Sylvia's firstperformance after Singapore Idol was at the Celebrate 2010 Countdown Party at Marina Bay. She sang "Empire State of Mind"[11] with the rest of the Singapore Idol Top 13.
In January 2010, Ratonel signed a contract with broadcast station MediaCorp. She was also hired to promote the new Motorola Dextphone. Later in March, she signed a record deal with Universal Music Singapore.[12] Her appearance caught the attention of cosmetics company Maybelline. That same month, she became the new face of Maybelline New York. She was the first Singaporean celebrity for the cosmetics brand.[13][14]
Sylvia was a guest star in the MediaCorp televisionmovieSeven Days. In the movie, she performed "You and I" with Rai from the Singaporean pop duoJack & Rai.[15] In June, Sylvia made her debut as co-host with Michelle Chia in the MediaCorp weekly food program "Buffetlicious"[16]
She performed the National Anthem of Singapore before the start of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix race on September 26, 2010. In the same month, Sylvia made it to the Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World list of FHM.[17] Sylvia was on the cover of Cleo in March 2010[18] and November 2010.[19]
She was also on cover for Seventeen Magazine in June 2010.[20] Sylvia won the Breakout Star of the Year ELLE Awards 2010 in December 2010.[21] Later that month, Sylvia recorded a duet of "Come Home to 5" with Sezali.
Music career
Sylvia has released one studio album and four radio singles.
Her self-titled debut album Sylvia Ratonel was released in Singapore on 27 October 2010.[22] The musical style of the album was different from the acoustic genre she used during Singapore Idol.[23][24] Other than a cover of an 1980s song titled "Manic Monday" and a Malay language song "Mari Bersamaku", the album was all new music. It was co-written by Sylvia and Don Richmond. The album has many pop ballads and upbeat R&B songs.[25]
Singles
The album has had four singles. All of them were released only on radio format.
Discography
List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
