Jasmine Trias

Jasmine Soriano Trias (born November 3, 1986) is an American and Philippine singer and entertainer who was the third place finalist on the third season of American Idol due in part to tremendous call-in support from her native state of Hawaii . She has released two albums one in the United States and one in Asia. Trias was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in the Central Oahu suburb of Mililani. She is the eldest daughter of Filipino immigrants to the state of Hawaii from Tanza, Cavite. Trias attended Maryknoll School, a Roman Catholic preparatory school of the Diocese of Honolulu. As a representative of Maryknoll School, she won the Brown Bags to Stardom 2001 state singing competition and the Road to Fame 2003 youth talent competition. Trias graduated from Maryknoll School in June 2004.

Jasmine is planning to move to Los Angeles, California to begin her professional singing career. As of July 2006, Jasmine Trias is currently dating Kris Lawrence, a singer in the Philippines.

JASMINE'S CAREER

After Trias' appearance on American Idol, her fanbase grew into a cult-like phenomenon. She won millions of fans in the United States and millions more in foreign countries where the show was aired: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan, among others. The Manila Times newspaper captured the mood of her ancestral country in an April headline, "Everybody Wants Jasmine." During the American Idol season, hundreds of internet fan sites from over a dozen countries were established in several Asian and European languages.

Managing Director of Honolulu Ben Lee summarized the mood in Trias' home state of Hawaii by saying, "Jasmine has enough votes in Hawai'i to become governor or mayor easily." Lieutenant Governor James Aiona, in his capacity as acting governor, declared Jasmine Trias Day by executive order.

In the Philippines, Trias has done television commercials and billboard ads for McDonald's, Smart Telecommunications, Happee Toothpaste, and Bench Clothing. She has also done various commercials in Hawaii discouraging smoking, drinking, and drug use.

On October 6, 2004, Trias released a promotional single for McDonald's entitled "Love Ko 'To" (translated to I'm Loving It, the McDonald's slogan at the time). McDonald's restaurants in the Philippines offered a promotional meal called the "Jasmine Trio", which consisted of a Strawberry Float, fries, and the McDonald's exclusive Love Ko 'To CD-Single.

Trias headlined tours in Manila, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Guam in 2004. To end her whirlwind visit to the Philippines, dubbed "Jasmania," she met President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

On February 27, 2005, Trias released a CD single entitled "Flying Home," which was sold exclusively in Pizza Hut and Taco Bell stores in Hawaii. The single was intended to capture her feelings of returning to Hawaii after months of working on tour and on her album.

Trias was a part of the JCPenney and Seventeen "Rock Your Prom" Fashion Show. She performed in Springfield, Missouri and Glendale, California in March 2005.

Trias signed a record deal with Clockwork Entertainment, a company which has worked with Dream and Bad Boy Records headed by P. Diddy), to record and produce her debut album. She also signed a record deal with Universal Records for the album's release in the Philippines. Her self-titled debut album with Clockwork Entertainment was released on July 12, 2005 in the U.S.. It has since sold 12,000 copies.

Trias also appeared on GMA 7's reality show Extra Challenge (hosted by Paolo Bediones and Ethel Booba) with former Miss World runner-up Ruffa Gutierrez and former MTV VJ Donita Rose.

Jasmine Trias visited the housemates of Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition on March 6 and stayed in the house overnight, leaving on March 7.

Musically, some have compared Trias to Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton. Trias has left Clockwork Entertainment due to poor management and promotion; and is now with Universal Records Philippines.

Jasmine topped the Idol Waves online radio Top 16 chart in July for two straight weeks with her latest single, "I'd Rather," a Luther Vandross cover. Both "Excuses" and "Sana Lagi" peaked at #6 on the popular Live 365 Internet station.

In July 2006, Jasmine was nominated for Favorite Hip-Hop and R&B video for her video "Lose Control" at the MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards.