Alexandria Maillot has plenty on her plate these days.
Not only is the Port Coquitlam resident a Top 20 finalist in the Peak Performance Project - an annual radio challenge by 100.5 The Peak to find new talent - but Maillot is also getting ready for a number of live shows this summer, including auditioning for The Voice.
The 19-year-old singer/songwriter will be travelling to Burbank, Calif., to play three songs before producers of the NBC hit TV program on Aug. 25; she has picked Duffy's Mercy, Rolling in the Deep by Adele and an original tune to highlight her voice.
"I was invited by one of the producers to perform at a closed audition," she said. "They want to get to know me as a person and find out my story. It's really exciting."
Still, she won't get much of an opportunity to tour the Hollywood sites as Maillot is due in Princeton on Aug. 28 for The Peak's week-long boot camp, where she and 19 other musicians/bands will grind down their work and publicity campaigns with professionals in the music industry.
After that, she'll be judged on her live gig at the Red Room in Vancouver, either in September or October, as well as how she does in her five challenges (marketing, branding, songwriting, etc.).
The Peak 2012 winner will be announced Nov. 2 at The Commodore Ballroom and will gain $100,500.
Maillot was thrilled to be selected out of 300 contest applicants. She got the news back in May. "I was a listening to the radio and they were down to the last five for the Top 20 and I thought, 'I'm not in it. Whatever,'" she recalled. "I kind of walked away but when I came back to the computer, The Peak had tweeted 'Congratulations, Alexandria, for making the Top 20.' I was like, 'Oh my God. No way.' I just screamed."
But competitions are nothing new for Maillot.
At the age of 10, she flew on an all-expenses paid trip to Bucharest, Romania, after her original song was accepted for a children's festival; the next year, she was in Cairo, Egypt, for a similar event.
"That really opened my eyes to what was out there," said Maillot, who splits her time between PoCo and Parksville. "I had never travelled anywhere before so they were both life-changing experiences."
Besides her hectic schedule, Maillot is also promoting her new extended EP, titled Just Another Girl, which was released last month.
It has her new single, Take Me Home, that won her a spot with The Peak competition (she may also perform it for The Voice producers, she said).
Meanwhile, until this Saturday, Maillot is donating 100% of the proceeds from the online purchases of Just Another Girl to Variety, the Children's Charity as part of 97.3 The Eagle's radiothon fundraiser. To support the cause, visit www.alexandriamaillotmusic.bandcamp.com.
