Sylvia Ratonel facts for kids

Sylvia Anne Ratonel (born 14 June 1988) is a singer and model from Singapore. She became famous as the first female finalist and runner-up in the third season of Singapore Idol. This TV show helped start her career in music and entertainment.

Soon after the competition, in January 2010, she signed a full-time contract with MediaCorp, a big national broadcaster. In March of the same year, she also got a record deal with Universal Music Singapore. Sylvia Ratonel also became the first Singaporean celebrity to represent the makeup brand Maybelline New York. She also won the Breakout Star of the Year award at the ELLE Awards in 2010.

Her first album, named Sylvia Ratonel, came out on 27 October 2010. Four songs from the album were released as singles. Three of these songs became Top 10 hits on Singapore radio charts. After Singapore Idol, Sylvia Ratonel became the most successful female singer from the show.

About Sylvia Ratonel

Growing Up Years (1988–2009)

Sylvia Ratonel grew up in a family of five with two brothers, Bryan and Timothy. Her family faced money problems when she was young. When she was 10, her family moved into a small apartment with only a living room and no separate bedrooms. Sylvia later shared that they "grew up sleeping together in one room, on mattresses."

Life was not easy for her family. Sometimes, they relied on food from their church. Sylvia and her family now live in a two-bedroom apartment. She has Filipino family roots.

Sylvia went to Fengshan Primary School. Then she went to Bedok View Secondary School. She later chose to study at Temasek Polytechnic so she could start working sooner. She earned a diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management. While studying, she worked part-time to help her family with money. After graduating, she decided to work instead of going straight to university. She worked as a secretary at the Conrad Centennial Hotel.

When she was younger, Sylvia thought of herself as shy. She did not join school performances. Her family had strict rules, like needing to be home before 8:00 pm every day. When she was 18, Sylvia went through a challenging time and made some choices that were different from her usual life. She has since improved her relationship with her family. With her family's encouragement, Sylvia decided to try out for Singapore Idol in 2009. She had never had professional singing lessons before.

Her Journey on Singapore Idol (2009)

On 6 June 2009, Sylvia Ratonel auditioned for the third season of Singapore Idol. This was held at The Cathay cineplex. Judge Ken Lim was impressed by her audition. He believed she had the potential to reach the Top 10. Sylvia passed the next rounds, even though the judges had different opinions about her talent.

However, during the Piano Show round in September, she really impressed the judges. She sang "Mercy" by Duffy. For several rounds, Sylvia was sometimes one of the strongest singers and sometimes one of the weakest. She was almost eliminated twice. But starting from the Top 6 round, more and more viewers supported her. She safely moved through each round for five weeks in a row.

After the last semi-final round on 8 December, Sylvia Ratonel became the first female finalist on Singapore Idol. On 27 December 2009, she competed against Sezairi Sezali for the title of Singapore Idol. She finished the competition as the runner-up. Even though she was disappointed, Sylvia was happy to reach 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."

After the show, in a TV interview with Ken Lim and Sylvia, Lim said he "didn't think that [Ratonel] did well" in the finals. He felt her performances in the finals were not as strong as her semi-final performances.

Here is a list of her performances on Singapore Idol:

• This episode was later announced as a non-elimination round. This is why the Top 4 round happened again the next week.

After Idol: Music and More (2009–2011)

Sylvia Ratonel's first public performance after Singapore Idol was at the Celebrate 2010 Countdown Party. She performed "Empire State of Mind" with the other Top 13 contestants from Singapore Idol.

In January 2010, Sylvia signed a full-time contract with MediaCorp. She also helped promote the new Motorola Dext phone. In March, she signed a record deal with Universal Music Singapore. Her look also caught the attention of Maybelline, a makeup brand. She became the first Singaporean celebrity ambassador for Maybelline New York.

Before Singapore Idol ended, Sylvia and Sezairi Sezali agreed to sing together on each other's first albums. When Sezairi's album, Take Two, came out in mid-2010, it included a duet called "A Woman and a Man" featuring Sylvia.

Sylvia appeared as a guest star in the MediaCorp TV movie Seven Days. In the movie, she sang a duet called "You and I" with Rai from the pop duo Jack & Rai. In June, Sylvia started co-hosting a weekly food show called "Buffetlicious" on MediaCorp Channel 5.

For the 45th National Day Parade of Singapore, she sang Stefanie Sun's "One United People." She also performed a dance version of the parade's theme song, "Song For Singapore," with Sezairi Sezali. Sylvia was honored to sing the National Anthem of Singapore before the Singapore F1 Grand Prix race on 26 September 2010.

In December, Sylvia won the Breakout Star of the Year award at the ELLE Awards 2010. Later that month, she recorded another duet with Sezairi Sezali called "Come Home to 5." This song was a promotion for Channel 5 and has been playing since 24 December 2010.

On 27 October 2010, Sylvia Ratonel released her first album, Sylvia Ratonel. Four songs from the album were released as singles: "Fly," "It's Raining," "Mari Bersamaku," and "Loving You." All singles except "Mari Bersamaku" reached the Top 10 on the 987FM Top 20 Chart. Her song "It's Raining" reached No. 3. Sylvia also released a music video for "It's Raining." To promote her album, Sylvia held a launch party in November 2010.

Musical Theatre and National Day (2011)

In 2011, Sylvia Ratonel was involved in charity events. She also announced that she successfully auditioned for a musical. This musical was a Singaporean version of Aladdin. Sylvia played the main female role of Jasmine. The show ran from 24 November to 17 December 2011.

Sylvia was also chosen to record the theme song, "In A Heartbeat," for the 2011 National Day Parade of Singapore. This made her the first female former contestant from Singapore Idol to record an original national theme song. A music video was made for the song and released on 4 July 2011.

Music Releases

Albums

Singles

Other Songs

These songs are not official singles and were not on an album by Sylvia Ratonel.

Music Videos

Awards