User:Yovanni

YOVANNI is a brand new artist hitting the New York club scene with a larger-than-life stage presence, a strong set of pipes and a style that can both woo an audience and lift them out of their seats in excitement. With his Latin flair and urban R&B style, YOVANNI has wowed audiences in New York with a new fusion of music that is sure to inspire listeners across the globe.

YOVANNI was born in Havana, Cuba. At the age of six, he moved to the Miami, Florida along with his mother Daisy and older brother Robert. After settling in the “Sunshine State”, YOVANNI became involved in the thriving film and TV industry acting in bit parts and working as a PA. YOVANNI attended New World School of the Arts, a prestigious performing arts high school and college, where he majored in the theater program. One day while in the school's bathroom, a vocal instructor overheard him singing. So impressed with his raw talent, she encouraged him to transfer to the music theater department. The teacher agreed to give him one free lesson per week in preparation for his audition. He was later accepted into the musical theater program. YOVANNI submerged himself in music, taking inspiration from singers like George Michael and Meatloaf and Madonna, perfecting the craft of singing and writing an endless mountain of songs.

YOVANNI moved to New York City in 1997 and worked as a waiter at theme restaurants in Manhattan to make ends meet. After being fired from TGI Friday's, YOVANNI found himself penniless and on the brink of homelessness. Ready to return home defeated, he began singing in the subway for loose change. The song "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers became his crutch and, with it, YOVANNI lifted himself back out of the subway and into backup vocal gigs for recording artists such as Nia Mone't and other local bands. It was an appearance at Showtime at the Apollo that really set YOVANNI on his way. He took the song that was sustaining him underground and brought it with him to an audition in Harlem - one in a line of hundreds, YOVANNI won a spot on the show. Extremely nervous, he belted out a heartfelt rendition of the song he'd come to lean on, the audiences responded with thunderous applause.

As YOVANNI became a hot commodity as a backup vocalist, he returned to writing. He drew from his experiences in R&B and Funk and infused them with techno, creating a magical sound that we have not heard before.