Theresa Sokyrka
Encyclopedia
Theresa Sokyrka is a Canadian
singer-songwriter
. On the second season
of Canadian Idol
, she was the final runner-up to winner Kalan Porter
.
in Red Deer
, Alberta
. She is drawn to the blues and jazz
more than other musical genres, and sings with passion and vulnerability. She loves to scat
, adding flare and style to her songs. During an Idol taping, Lionel Richie
said there was "the soul of an old black woman living inside her". She comes from a very musical family, and she plays the violin, guitar, and piano.
Theresa attended the Ukrainian bilingual elementary school
in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She also attended St. Michael's elementary school in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She attended high school at Holy Cross High School (Saskatoon)
. Sokyrka currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.
during her songs, the grace she showed during the judges' critiques, and her friendly personality. Zack Werner
once said she was his favourite singer on the show from the first two seasons. A memorable comment made about Sokyrka came from judge Jake Gold
; he said "Your future is so bright, I've got to wear shades" as he put on his sunglasses. Kalan Porter said it was great ending the show with Theresa, and that she had something really special to offer. The duet they performed during the finale, "True Colors
", was arguably one of the most touching moments in Canadian Idol history.
Songs that Theresa performed during the season included:
Her standout songs on the show were "Summertime
", "Good Mother", "Song For A Winter's Night", "Cruisin", "Ready for Love", and "Come Away with Me".
In addition to the above mentioned, Sokyrka was featured on Kalan Porter's album "219 Days
" (2004).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. On the second season
Canadian Idol (season 2)
The second season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week.Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's...
of Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...
, she was the final runner-up to winner Kalan Porter
Kalan Porter
Richard Kalan Porter is a singer-songwriter from Medicine Hat, Alberta, and the winner of the reality television series Canadian Idol in season 2. He started to sing at an early age and is classically trained, playing several instruments, most notably, the violin and viola...
.
Biography
Sokyrka studied music at Red Deer CollegeRed Deer College
Red Deer College is a public comprehensive community college of approximately 7,000 students located in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1964, RDC was built for a smaller semi-rural community but, in the four and a half decades since its founding, the city has grown into the third largest...
in Red Deer
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. She is drawn to the blues and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
more than other musical genres, and sings with passion and vulnerability. She loves to scat
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
, adding flare and style to her songs. During an Idol taping, Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
said there was "the soul of an old black woman living inside her". She comes from a very musical family, and she plays the violin, guitar, and piano.
Theresa attended the Ukrainian bilingual elementary school
Canadian Ukrainian
Canadian Ukrainian is a variety of the Ukrainian language specific to the Ukrainian Canadian community descended from the first two waves of historical Ukrainian emigration to Western Canada.Canadian Ukrainian was widely spoken from the beginning of Ukrainian...
in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She also attended St. Michael's elementary school in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She attended high school at Holy Cross High School (Saskatoon)
Holy Cross High School (Saskatoon)
Holy Cross High School is a high school serving grades 9 to 12, located in south-eastern Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is part of the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division.-Sports:-Notable alumni:*Mike Babcock - NHL Head Coach for the Detroit Red Wings...
. Sokyrka currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Canadian Idol
On the second season of Canadian idol, Theresa Sokyrka was known for scattingScat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
during her songs, the grace she showed during the judges' critiques, and her friendly personality. Zack Werner
Zack Werner
Zack Werner has had a career in the music industry as an artist, producer, entertainment lawyer and manager. He is also president of Toronto-based Venus Management and Venus Records , where he spends his time finding and developing new talent across Canada.He attended the St...
once said she was his favourite singer on the show from the first two seasons. A memorable comment made about Sokyrka came from judge Jake Gold
Jake Gold
Jake Gold is an American-born Canadian musician manager. He was a judge on the Canadian Idol television program. In addition to Idol participants, he has managed popular Canadian artists like The Tragically Hip and The Watchmen. His management company, The Management Trust, currently works with a...
; he said "Your future is so bright, I've got to wear shades" as he put on his sunglasses. Kalan Porter said it was great ending the show with Theresa, and that she had something really special to offer. The duet they performed during the finale, "True Colors
True Colors (song)
"True Colors" is a song written by songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, additional lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. It was both the title track and the first single released from Cyndi Lauper's second album. It was the only original song on the album that Lauper did not help write...
", was arguably one of the most touching moments in Canadian Idol history.
Songs that Theresa performed during the season included:
| Week | Song Sung | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Audition | "God Bless the Child God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song) "God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in... " |
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing... |
| Toronto Audition #1 Group Performance |
"You've Got a Friend You've Got a Friend "You've Got a Friend" is a song from 1971, originally written and performed by Carole King. It was included in her album Tapestry of 1971, but was made famous by James Taylor's cover version the same year... " |
James Taylor James Taylor James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.... |
| Toronto Audition #2 Duet Performance with Mohanza Kelly |
"Unforgettable Unforgettable (song) "Unforgettable" is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song's original working title was "Uncomparable". The music publishing company asked Irving to change it to "Unforgettable". The song was published in 1951.... " |
Nat King Cole Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres... |
| Toronto Audition #3 Solo Performance |
"Try Try (Blue Rodeo song) "Try" is the title of a song written by Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy, and recorded by Canadian country rock group Blue Rodeo. Released in October 1987, it was the second single from their debut album, Outskirts. The song peaked at #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart... " |
Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987... |
| Top 32 | "Summertime Summertime (song) "Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP.... " |
Eva Cassidy Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996... |
| Top 10 | "Good Mother" | Jann Arden Jann Arden Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"... |
| Top 9 | "There's a Kind of Hush There's A Kind Of Hush "There's a Kind of Hush" is a popular song written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens which was a hit in 1967 for Herman's Hermits and again in 1976 for the Carpenters.-First recordings:... " |
Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers... |
| Top 8 | "Piece of My Heart Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns and originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. The song came to greater mainstream attention when Big Brother and the Holding Company covered the song in 1968 and had a hit with it... " |
Janis Joplin Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band... |
| Top 7 | "Hello" | Lionel Richie Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records... |
| Top 6 | "Song For a Winter's Night" | Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s... Sarah McLachlan Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four... |
| Top 5 | "Cruisin'" | Smokey Robinson Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy... |
| Top 4 | "It's Only a Paper Moon It's Only a Paper Moon (song) "It's Only a Paper Moon" is a popular song. Published in 1933, it was written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and Billy Rose. It was written originally for an unsuccessful Broadway play called The Great Magoo, set in Coney Island. It was subsequently used in the movie Take a Chance, in... " "Dream a Little Dream" |
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist... Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.... |
| Top 3 | "What The World Needs Now" "Ready For Love" |
Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :... India.Arie India.Arie India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado... |
| Top 2 | "Awake in a Dream Awake in a Dream "Awake in a Dream" was the debut single by Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter. It later also appeared on his 2004 album, 219 Days. The song was written for Canadian Idol by Rupert Gayle, Adam Alexander, and Chris Perry, with the intention of it being the first single for whoever became the second... " "Come Away With Me Come Away with Me Come Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001... " "Cruisin'" |
Idol Single Norah Jones Norah Jones Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies... Smokey Robinson |
Her standout songs on the show were "Summertime
Summertime (song)
"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....
", "Good Mother", "Song For A Winter's Night", "Cruisin", "Ready for Love", and "Come Away with Me".
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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| CA Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
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| 2005 | These Old Charms These Old Charms These Old Charms is the debut album by Canadian Idol finalist Theresa Sokyrka, released across Canada on April 26, 2005.-Album information:...
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| 2006 | Something Is Expected Something Is Expected Theresa Sokyrka's second album, Something Is Expected, was released on August 29, 2006.-Album information:Except for "Bluebird", the album contains all original songs. Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies and The New Pornographers members John Collins and David Carswell split the album's...
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| 2007 | Wrapped in Ribbon Wrapped in Ribbon Wrapped In Ribbon is Canadian Idol finalist Theresa Sokyrka's Christmas album, released for purchase online on November 5, 2007.-Album information:...
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| 2010 | Theresa Sokyrka
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In addition to the above mentioned, Sokyrka was featured on Kalan Porter's album "219 Days
219 Days
219 Days is the debut album of Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter. The album was released on November 23, 2004 through Sony Music Canada. The album title refers to the number of days from his first audition to the release of his debut CD...
" (2004).
Radio Singles
- "Turned My Back" (2005)
- "Waiting Song" (2006)
- "Sandy Eyes" (2007)
- "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (2007)
- "Everything" (2010)