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Eva Avila (born Eva Gougeon Ávila) was born in Ottawa, Ontario on February 25, 1987. Being born of a mixed family, her father from Peru and mother from Quebec, led this songstress of unique singing abilities to become the Canadian Idol winner in 2006.

Eva le dragon (English: Eva the dragon), as affectionately nicknamed by her family, was raised in Gatineau, Quebec.  As a child, her father had a recording studio in the basement of the family home. She recalls her father always being down there practising and recording and it wasn’t long before Eva was knocking on the door to put her voice to tape. 

Her earliest public appearance was as a three year old at Ottawa’s lively Byward Market singing back up to her street-musician father in 1990. By the time she was seven, she had progressed to recording covers of pop and show tunes in the basement studio. Eva remembers the first song she performed with her father was a Portuguese song called La Lambada.  Even though she is fluent in English, French and Spanish, this didn’t help her much when it came to singing in Portuguese. Avila had no idea what she was singing and sometimes had to make up the words. Her first taste at competition came at the age of 9 when Eva became the winner on Homegrown Cafe, a talent show on CJOH-TV, in Ottawa.

By performing at countless community events including high-school assemblies, Latin festivals and regional TV shows, the young singer continued to perfect her stage skills as she entered her teens. At 16, Eva decided it was time to enter her first high-profile singing competition and successfully took the title of the prestigious, province-wide Jeune Diva du Quebec.

After graduating from high school she found herself working as a postal clerk and a beauty consultant, before eventually ending up on the Canadian Idol show in its fourth season. When the Canadian Idol auditions pulled into town in the summer of 2006, Eva was unexpectedly reluctant to enter regardless of her local success. Her friends and family were pushing her to audition but she was reluctant.  She had worked for so long and hard on her career that she wasn’t sure the going for ‘instant stardom’ was what she should do. 

Her humble beginning as a toddler in the Market was an about face of the composed, dynamic and professional vocalist Canadian audiences became mad about during the Canadian Idol competition. As Eva battled her way to the top of the Idol mountain, she displayed a series of risky performances that showed not only her incredible vocal range, but also her ability to literally own the stage and captivate her audience.

On this roller coaster of a ride, Eva had the opportunity to intermingle with numerous elite members of the record industry during the course of the Canadian Idol process. Chantal Kreviazuk and Cyndi Lauper are just two of those individuals that eventually contributed to Eva’s unveiling album, Somewhere Else.

Rumours flew concerning the winner of the competition when on the eve of revealing the Idol final results, September 16, 2006, Sony BMG Music Entertainment offered Avila's version of the first single, Meant to Fly, for sale on their website. During the final show, Judge Zack Werner said that Avila was the show's most obvious candidate for international stardom, but he thought Craig Sharpe would win the competition. Eva did go on to win the 2006 Canadian Idol honour despite having only 3% more of the total votes than the runner-up, Craig Sharpe.

Hours after Eva’s victory she found herself signing with the record label Sony-BMG and going on to record Meant to Fly, written by Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Gaby Morenoin.  The song quickly reached #1 on the single sales charts.  The hit single also earned her a 2007 Juno nomination for New Artist of the Year. Shortly thereafter she recorded another song, This Kind of Love, written and produced by Cyndi Lauper, and then went on to join Martina McBride's Canadian tour within a year. Her first album, Somewhere Else, debuted at #6 on the Canadian album charts.

As if she didn’t have enough on her plate with a very hectic music schedule, in October 2006, Eva was signed to FORD Models and proudly became the first ever Canadian face connected to the Maybelline New York brand and fronted high profile campaigns for Sony Electronics and the launch of Spring Shoes.

After hearing Eva's powerful vocals, Disney executives gave her the opportunity to be the voice for Canada; You're a Lifetime Journey, the music for the film O Canada! at Epcot's Canada Pavilion at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Avila kicked off the 2006 NHL Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators season opener game by performing the Canadian National Anthem. She has repeated this honour numerous times including at the Battle of Ontario games and the 94^th Grey Cup game in Winnipeg.

In December 2006, dates for Eva's debut tour where announced. The tour covered 30 cities across Canada over a 3-month period starting in February 2007.

The singer recently released her sophomore album, Give Me the Music, and is determined to prove that she has staying power in the music business.