Camile Velasco Biography:
Camile Velasco was born on September 1, 1985 in Makati City, Philippines. Her family migrated to Haiku, Maui in Hawaii when she was very young. She has been singing ever since she can remember, but started to perform publicly when she was 16 years old. Before coming on season 3 of American Idol, Camile had not received any training in music and was working on developing her talent in songwriting. Her parents own an IHOP restaurant, where she once worked. Her personal music idol is Lauryn Hill, but she also enjoys listening to the music of Beyonce and Prince. She defined an American Idol as a spiritual individual who is very musically driven.
Camile traveled from her hometown to Honolulu, Oahu in order to audition for season 3 of American Idol. She picked the Fugees' "Ready or Not" to sing, and her performance was greatly appreciated by the judges. Camile made it all the way to the semifinals, where she captured the attention of the audience with her rendition of Brian McKnight's "One Last Cry." The judges loved it, but
Randy asked her to put some of her hip-hop style in her following performances. Camile made it to the Finals, and although her talent was even compared to her idol Lauryn Hill, Camile was the fourth person to be eliminated after her performance of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
Since appearing on American Idol, Camile has achieved considerable success both in the United States and the Philippines. She has been known to treat her fans very well, always taking the time to meet and greet them. When she went to Philippines, she performed with popular Filipino artist Martin Nievera in a Christmas concert, and with other local music celebrities like South Border and Billy Crawford. When she returned to the US, Camile decided to live in Los Angeles, where she continued her studies at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood. She has also sung in a variety of events, such as the Hawaiian Pro Bowl Concert and 50th State Fair and the Yeah Baby Expo. In 2006, she ended her contract with Motown Records and has since then worked independently.