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BIOGRAPHY

Alexz Johnson
	BIOGRAPHY | GALLERY | GOSSIP | BLOG

Alexzandra Spencer Johnson, born November 4, 1986, in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, is a Canadian actress and singer/songwriter.

From the age of three, Johnson would frequently sing for her large extended family; and by the age of seven, she was receiving vocal training, participating in festivals with her local youth choir, and giving solo performances at school and community functions. She entered many talent contests and festivals, and won a National Anthem Contest at the age of 11, with her rendition of the National Anthem being heard on national television. This resulted in numerous radio and television interviews, and interest from management. That year, she was also voted Best Anthem singer of the season by the Vancouver Sun.

Locally, Johnson was often referred to as our "West Coast Celine", and sang the National Anthem at games for the Vancouver Canucks (NHL hockey) and Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA basketball team, now based in Memphis), as well as singing at charity events and fairs around the province, and also the B.C. Summer Games. She opened the Variety Club show singing a duet with Bob McGrath, sang the first set of songs at the Molson Indy (a major car race), and entertained on New Year's Eve at Planet Hollywood at the age of 12.

In 2004, Johnson sent in an audition tape to the producers of Degrassi: The Next Generation for their upcoming show Instant Star. They were specifically looking for a Canadian teen actress/vocalist to play the lead role, Jude Harrison. The first audition tape Stohn received was Alexz's, and he was convinced she was exactly the one who would be perfect for the role - but the auditioning continued, returning of course to Alexz in the end.

After its first season, Instant Star was nominated for three Gemini Awards (Canadian equivalent of the American Emmy Award) in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series. Nominations included: (1) Best Series; (2) Best Performance (Alexz Johnson); and (3) Best Direction (Graeme Campbell). The show won the award for Best Direction.

Johnson sings all of the songs that her character Jude sings on the show. She has recorded three soundtracks for Instant Star: Songs from Instant Star and Songs from Instant Star Two. She co-wrote five of the songs on the first album,including 24 Hours, Let Me Fall, Criminal, Skin, and That Girl. She did not write songs on the albums for the second and third seasons, focusing her songwriting instead on her solo CD.

Because of her early start in the music business, Johnson has been giving concerts for over a decade. She is at her best in front of an audience, as shown by her performance of four of the songs from seasons one and two of Instant Star at a preview event - Backstage Pass - on The-N, just before the broadcast of the second season of the show. From the first season CD, she sang Skin and Let Me Fall (both of which she co-wrote); and from the second season, she sang Another Thin Line and My Sweet Time. While they definitely like what they are hearing on the CD's, many fans would argue that the live versions of these songs are far better - more emotion and more power.

In the live performances, Johnson is accompanied by her band from the show, Spiederman Mind Explosion, which consists of three members who do double duty as actors and real-life musicians. They are: Tyler Kyte ("Vincent Spiederman" - "Speed") on lead guitar; Christopher Gaudet ("Wally") on bass; and Ian Blackwood ("Kyle"), on drums.

Johnson says that music is her "number one passion" and that she looks forward to the time when she can hopefully "step away from the acting industry and just focus on being a musician." Audio + Interview - Instant Star on Viva For her, acting is "a great job" that she works hard at six months of the year and that gives her the financial freedom she needs in order to be able to create her own music for the rest of the year. As reported in the Toronto Star, the show also provides her with much of what she wears. She is a “non-shopper” who wants to stay focused on the music.

In a sense, the choice of Johnson to play the lead in Instant Star was ironic, because her own career has been much more gradual: she has been working her way up in the business over a number of years. However, Instant Star has given a major boost to both her acting and musical career: people who like the music are tuning in to the show, and people who like the show are buying the music.

Johnson has also stated that working on both Instant Star as well as playing a part in Final Destination 3 was great acting experiences and she is very interested to continue her acting career along the road. She also had a role on the series So Weird as Annie Thelen.