Ayla Brown may seem like your average college-aged girl, but she has accomplished many feats in such a short time. At only 20, Brown has been able to fulfill a wide variety of roles thanks to her tenacity and hard work.
The American Idol semifinalist
Brown embarked on her Idol journey in August 2005, standing in line with her mother, Gail Huff, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., for eighteen hours in the pouring rain in hopes of impressing the producers with her audition. After clearing the preliminary rounds, Brown faced the three celebrity judges later that year in Boston. She chose to sing Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s duet of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which sent her through to Hollywood.
After a grueling week in Hollywood, Brown was sent through to the coveted Top 24. In her first performance week Brown sang Christina Aguilera's "Reflection." Being declared safe from elimination the next night, Brown advanced to the Top 20. For that week she performed Celine Dion's ballad "I Want You to Need Me." The voting public liked what they saw, and gave Brown another week on the show. In the Top 16 week, she chose to sing up-and-coming British singer Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten."
When the votes came in on March 9, Brown did not qualify to move into the Top 12, but she held her head up high and sang a reprise of "Unwritten" for the show's 30 million viewers one last time.
The performer
Being from the Boston area, Brown has been fortunate to have performed at many local functions, both big and small. On May 20, 2006, Brown was asked to perform at Boston's Top 40 radio station Kiss 108 FM's annual Kiss Concert in Mansfield, Mass. At the concert she had the opportunity to introduce Natasha Bedingfield to the audience.
Brown has made countless local appearances over the past few years. Some of them include the Scooper Bowl ice cream extravaganza in June 2007 in Boston, Kiss 108's after party with Fergie at Rain nightclub in Malden, Mass., in May 2007 and two "Local Idols" concerts at the Orpheum Theatre in Foxboro, Mass., in 2007 and 2008 with Idol sixth-season semifinalist Nick Pedro and Girl Authority.
Outside of the Boston area, Brown has performed at Billboard magazine's New York City headquarters and at "An Evening With the Idols" in Suffern, N.Y., with fellow former Idol contestants including Kevin Covais and Gina Glocksen.
The recording artist
Upon the expiration of her contract with Idol in August 2006, Brown signed an exclusive record and distribution deal with New York-based Double Deal Brand Records and began recording her debut album Forward, which was released on Oct. 17. Prior to the album's release, Brown released a physical double single, "Know You Better" / "I Quit," on Sept. 12. She performed songs from Forward in a series of solo concerts at the Eastern States Exposition (or "Big E") from Sept. 15-17. On Sept. 29, Brown sang the title track from her album with a full accompaniment by the Boston Pops orchestra in front of an audience of 15,000 at the "Pops on the Heights" Scholarship Gala at Boston College.
Brown's album was met with praise from critics. A review from the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of American Idol magazine states that "Ayla's voice soars through Diane Warren's ballad "If I Was a River" and shows us her chops and range match anything that's on the air today." DJ Kenndawg, the manager of the online radio station Idol Waves, said of the title track, "'Forward,' which is filled with imagery to make it the most video-friendly song on the set, has the best potential to make a serious splash on the mainstream music charts. If she gets the right breaks, 'Forward' could be an adult contemporary chart-topper. There's something about this song that gives it the 'it' factor, as Simon would say."
Forward's first internet radio single, "Know You Better" peaked at No. 1 on Idol Waves' Top 20 Countdown, and finished at No. 12 for the year-end Top 50 countdown. Since then, three of Brown's other singles have made Idol Waves' countdown, including "Forward" (No. 1), "Falling Into You" (No. 7) and "If I Was a River" (No. 16). "Forward" was also released to adult contemporary radio in April 2007, where it peaked at No. 10 on the format's FMQB airplay chart and No. 34 on the format's Mediabase airplay chart
Brown also lent two of her Christmas tracks to the American Christmas compilation album of Christmas music by former Idol contestants. The compilation was released Nov. 21, 2007.
The athlete
In addition to Brown's budding music career, she is also making waves as a basketball phenomenon at Boston College. A member of the Division I Lady Eagles, Brown made her first start on Dec. 31, 2006 against the University of Massachusetts under the instruction of veteran coach Cathy Inglese. The Lady Eagles went on to win the game with a score of 70-64. After an exciting 2006-07 season, BC finished with a 13-16 record.
As a sophomore, Brown led the team to it's first victory of the 2007-08 season, scoring a record high 21 points with 10 rebounds. The 21-12 Lady Eagles went on to make the third round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament after failing to receive an invitation to the NCAA Championship tournament, where they were knocked out by St. John's. For the season, Brown averaged 7.3 points with a total of 240 and shot a .390 percentage for field goals.
Before coming to BC, Brown played hoops at the Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., for four years. A two-time "Gatorade Player of the Year" award-winner, Brown became the 20th female in Massachusetts state history to score 2,000 points in a high school career while at Nobles, scoring a total of 2,358 points.
Brown has been recognized for her basketball talents by Sports Illustrated magazine, as she was featured as the magazine's "Intern of the Week" in June 2008 for her wide array of activities in addition to her hoop skills. She was also featured as WCVB-5's "High 5" high school athlete of the week and has been profiled by New England Sports Network for its staple program SportsDesk.
> FRIEND Ayla on her official music MySpace page.
> BECOME a fan of Ayla on her official Facebook page.
> CREATE promotional buddy icons and graphics to use on your instant messaging profiles and elsewhere on the internet.
> POST messages on Ayla's MySpace/Facebook walls and various message boards and forums on the internet discussing Ayla and her music.
> WATCH Ayla and the Lady Eagles during their 2008-09 season by attending their games or watching the televised ones (full schedule here).
> GIVE copies of Ayla's album to friends and family members and encourage them to visit Ayla's official website.
> MENTION Ayla in your musical interest sections of your social networking profiles.
> SELECT one of Ayla's songs as your default song for your music players on MySpace.
> LINK to Ayla's official MySpace and other sites in your instant messaging profiles and elsewhere.
> REVIEW Ayla's music on digital retailers' sites such as iTunes and Amazon.
Hey Ayla, Love the new LIVE Album! Its amazing! Your so talented I love seeing you grow as an artist! Congrads on your release cannot wait for 'Circles'
do you think you could send us another autograph cd? the one you signed for us in southbridge got stolem. if so, here is the address" john smith, 460 margaret st.pt 251, plattsburgh, ny 12901..thanks... hope all is wellkeep in touch and we love your music...
Hey friend remember us we would like to think you because wit out you we couldn't of gotten so far, we started this account 3years ago and we never would expect to go so far wit the band
1 000 000 play on youtube & myspace
50 000 friend
myspace top 20 Canadian band
and now our first deal Soul Kiss Entertainment Inc/Universal Music Group Artist OUR VIDEO HERE when you look at peoples comments you know this band will have huge follow up CHECK VIDEO HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku4JapK-fEQ&feature=player_embedded
DOWNLOAD IT ON ITUNES NOW SUPPORT YOURGIRL!!! HERE http://www.apple.com/ca/search/?q=SPY+NATION
Hey Wassup! Please Check Out The Music On My Page And Tell Me What U Think! If You Are An Artist I Am Always Down To Work With New People So Hit Me Up ... Dont Be a Stranger and Stay Up!
~If You Haven't Download My New Mixtape For Free Here~ http://www.zshare.net/download/65732934698c5624/
Hello Ayla my name is Doug and thank you for the add and for the love and friendship on myspace your a very beautiful woman and I love your music and your songs there very good and your a great singer and could you please comment me back it would mean a lot to me and thanks again for the add and take care.
Hello Ayla Brown my Names Adam Its real nice to meet you on my space and that your Music is Awesome and the songs are so great Sweetie and wish you all the best in your music Carrer and please send me a friendly Com ment to me on my page thank you take care hope to hear from you real Soon.
WHATS UP AYLA? I THINK WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER. I GREW UP IN NORTH ATTLEBORO MY WHOLE LIFE. IM AN EMERGING ARTIST AND ATTEND THE NEW ENGLAND INSITUTE OF ART FOR AUDIO. CHECK OUT MY MUSIC AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A POSITIVE SONG TOGETHER.
hey aylaa...im on my school newspaper and i was wondering if i could do and interview with you for the paper we can do it over the phone cause i know you are way too busy to do it in person! ;)
hey aylaa...its zackk just wanted to tell you that this is my sixteenth birthday myspace :) all the info on my party in on this myspace!! :) Hope to hear from you soon
Just want to share this touching video with you...please check it out at -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G6QCKCQles
Cancer is the weapon of human destruction and so many people are diagnosed with this on a daily basis. Whether we like it or not we're all affected by this C word because every one of us am sure knows one or more people with some form of it right now or who had it - some lucky people are fortunate to survive it, but many unfortunately don't, sadly. For this reason it's sooo important that money is donated for cancer research so there are better treatments and even cures for the various forms of cancer. Stand Up To Cancer is a great cause that you should add, support and see what you can do to help. Personally, I'm already thinking about doing some sort of personal project to raise money myself so that I can donate to SUTC. I support many causes, but right now this one is close to my heart because recently I lost an old school friend of mine to it.
You can add Stand Up To Cancer on MySpace at - http:/www.myspace.com/standuptocancer
Hey Ayla...I had a question for you?! Do you know if the Circles LP is going to be a Physical Copy or a Digital Copy?! I hope its a Physical Copy loll let me know!!
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