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Lavina Williams

Lavina Rose Williams (born 13 June 1979) is a New Zealand musical artist and musical theatre performer.

Williams began her career as a member of the 1990s the girl group Ma-V-Elle.[1] The group had multiple songs in the New Zealand music charts, including Never Say Goodbye, Freedom, Show Me Heaven, and Three Flow.[2]

In 2006, Williams competed in the 4th season of Australian Idol, finishing in the top 8 of the competition.[3] Her younger sister, Emily Williams, was the runner-up in the prior third season (won by Kate DeAraugo).

Williams briefly joined her younger sister's girl group, Young Divas, in 2007, which also featured DeAraugo, Lavina's season four runner-up, Jessica Mauboy; season 1's Paulini; and season 2's Ricki-Lee Coulter.[4] She has since pursued a musical theatre career, performing in The Lion King,[5] Hairspray,[6] Dreamgirls,[7] and Sister Act.[8]

As a singer, she has been the backing vocalist for many New Zealand artists including Ginny Blackmore and Stan Walker.[9] She featured in her brother J. Williams's song Stand with You, which reached 6th in the New Zealand charts.[10]

Williams has also featured in some of Mika Haka's singles, including Coffee[11] and Loved Me A Man.[12]

Ma-V-Elle

The group formed at James Cook High School, Manurewa in the mid 1990s. Ma-V-Elle's name comes from the first names of the three members - Marina, Lavina and Maybelle.[13] The group was originally managed by Tim Mahon.[14] Their debut album Spoken To was released in 1997, with the trio touring nationally and internationally, including two performances at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London.[15]

Member Marina Davis left in 1998 for religious reasons, with Maybelle and Lavina continuing as a duo. The group released their second album, Angel in 1999, with a heavier, drum and bass-inspired sound.[16] Both Maybelle Galuvao and Lavina Williams were nominated for the Most Promising Female Vocalist award at the 2000 New Zealand Music Awards, losing to Vanessa Kelly of Deep Obsession.[17]

Ma-V-Elle performed together for the first time in 13 years with a surprise reunion at the 2013 Pacific Music Awards.[18] The group released new single "Let's Go (To the Sky)"[19] and performed at the Parachute music festival in January 2014.[20]

Australian Idol

Top 24: "(You Make Me Feel like) a Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin
Top 12: "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys Bottom 2
Top 11: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
Top 10: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston Bottom 3
Top 9: "Too Much Heaven" by The Bee Gees
Top 8: "Best of My Love" by The Emotions Eliminated

Notable performances

Williams has been a regular performer at Christmas in the Park. She performed in 2014,[21] and returned in 2015 to sing a solo of Joy to the World and perform Aotearoa with Stan Walker.[22][23] She also performed in 2016,[24] 2017,[25] 2018,[26] and 2019.[27]

She performed regularly at the Big Gay Out event at Coyle Park. She has performed in 2014,[28] 2015,[29] 2016[30] and 2017.[31]

Personal life

Williams is the older sister to J. Williams, Emily Williams and Ezra Williams.[32]

She was born in New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Fijian descent.[33]

Discography

with Ma-V-Elle

Albums

Singles

Featured on

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Throwback Thursday: Turns out the 'You Only Wanna Be With 2' ad is still an absolute banger". The Spin Off. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. ^ "MA-V-ELLE charts". NZ Charts. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Lavina Williams Out Of Australian Idol 2006". Alistair Lattimore. 9 October 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Divas pull out of gig". Herald Sun. 11 February 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  5. ^ "About the Mentor". New Zealand Music Commission. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. ^ "PRODUCTION INFORMATION: DOMINION RD THE MUSICAL". Theatre Review. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Lavina Willams – Vocal Coach for NZ's X-Factor Tutors our Students!". katikati college western bay of plenty. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Sister Act: POSTPONED". Eventfinda. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Singer shares her skills". Katikati Advertiser. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Stand by you charts". Charts NZ. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Mika - "Coffee"". Scoop. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Mika Haka – Loved Me A Man". Scoop. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Names -> Band Name Origins -> M". Am I Right. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  14. ^ "Blam Blam Blam Profile". Audio Culture. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  15. ^ "Ma-v-elle". Amplifier. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  16. ^ "Pair pressure". NZ Herald. 13 November 1999. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  17. ^ "2000 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  18. ^ "Pasefika Proud Pacific Music Awards Winners Announced". NZ Music Awards. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  19. ^ "Ma-v-elle". Facebook. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  20. ^ "MA-V-ELLE". Parachute. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  21. ^ "Broods headline Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park". NZ Herald. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Top 12 things to do in Auckland for Christmas". NZ Herald. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  23. ^ "Christchurch gets in the festive spirit". Stuff NZ. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Thousands defy the rain to attend Christmas in the Park". NZ Herald. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Christchurch gears up for annual Christmas in the Park". Stuff NZ. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Damp night ahead for Christchurch Christmas in the Park goers". Stuff NZ. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Christmas in the Park 2019: Rules, banned items, stage times and lineup". Stuff NZ. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  28. ^ "LYC Big Gay Out 2014 celebrates diversity and condom culture". Scoop. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  29. ^ "Lavina Williams, Emily Williams and J.Williams RATHER BE (cover) Clean Bandits". Youtube. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  30. ^ "Big Gay Out Auckland New Zealand 2016". Youtube. 5 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  31. ^ "ENDING HIV BIG GAY OUT". Auckland Pride. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  32. ^ "Kiwi singer Raze on her transition from dancer to soul singer". Newshub. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  33. ^ "About the Artist". New Zealand Music Commission. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  34. ^ "MA-V-ELLE IN NEW ZEALAND CHARTS". charts.nz. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  35. ^ "Gold / Platinum Singles". Radioscore. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  36. ^ "Aroha Collective". Spotify. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  37. ^ "AWARD HISTORY 2000". New Zealand Music Awards. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  38. ^ "AWARDS". The Variety Artists Club. Retrieved 4 April 2020.