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Marie-Josée Riel (born December 9, 1974) is a dance artist of French-Canadian descent. She originates from Rockland, just outside Ottawa and had a series of dance hits throughout the 1990s. Her style of dance music was Eurodance, typically with a high-energy techno beat and passionate female vocals. Her music was well-known to Canadian dance music fans. Career
[edit] Young Talent

Her passion for music began at age 12, with a 7 year stint singing as a backup vocalist with a local Ottawa band. She devoted virtually all her spare time practicing the many different choreographs, along with aerobic training to ensure she was in top shape for her live performances of non-stop singing and dancing. Even at that young age, Emjay was willing to work hard and do what it took to attain her dream; to one day become a lead singer. The effort was well recognized; the band won 8 American Guild Awards. Still with the band in 1993, Emjay won first place as Pop Solo Artist at the American Guild Awards.
[edit] First Success

In 1994 she recorded a solo project, resulting in her first recording contract with Primus, (composed and produced by Jean-Francois Laprise j.) and the song "Sound Of My Heartbeat", which charted at #7 on The Record's Dance chart. More singles followed, "Fascinated" (a cover of the 1986 hit by Company B) rose to #5, "Flying To The Moon" to #3, and her biggest success yet to come, "In Your Arms". In July 1995, she performed at the Théâtre du Forum in Montreal alongside Bananarama, Whigfield, Los Del Mar, BKS and others, in front of a 5000 capacity-crowd.
[edit] In Your Arms: The Album

In August 1995 Emjay's first album, entitled In Your Arms, was released. This debut earned her five hit singles in Canada, along with the honour of a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 26th Annual Juno Awards on January 29, 1997, and a MuchMusic Video Award. Emjay was an advanced voice student of Cantor Stephen Chaiet of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
[edit] In Your Arms Promotion

On August 24, 1996 Emjay performed live at the Kingswood Music Theatre at Canada's Wonderland in Toronto in front of an estimated 15000 capacity-crowd. The event, sponsored by Energy 108, also included artists Coolio, BKS, Ruffneck, Temperance, and many others. On December 1, 1996 she was nominated in The First Annual Cyberspace Euro-Energy Awards. On February 22, 1997 she performed for a second year in a row on the Parliament Hill at Ottawa's Winterlude. The event was broadcasted live across the nation on the MuchMusic's flagship dance show Electric Circus, as well as several reruns on CityTV and Musique Plus. On March 9, 1997 she was at the 26th Annual Juno Awards at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.
[edit] The Second Wave

In November 1997 Emjay signed with Tycoon Records. She had recorded her first new single "We All Need Love" (produced by Mark Ryan, which was Emjay's second single to be nominated for the Juno Awards as Best Dance Recording), and was working on the full album, scheduled for a later release in 1998. She was chosen as the opening act for the Backstreet Boys' Canadian Tour, starting in Halifax on December 27, 1997 and ending in Québec City on January 7, 1998. January 4, 1998 was the first filming date for Emjay's new music video. On June 27, 1998 she performed with various artists in front of 70000 people in Little Italy in Toronto for the World Cup soccer game. Throughout 1998 she continued to work on what was to have been her second album, releasing several singles including "Let It Go" and "Over & Over" (both produced by Mark Ryan. "Over & Over" was once again nominated at theJuno Awards as the Best Dance Recording). Further tracks from 1999 included "Love Will Keep Us Together" (a cover of the 1975 release by Captain and Tennille) and "Is It For Real?". In January 1999, her music video "We All Need Love" entered into light rotation on MuchMusic. In June 1999, the single "Over & Over" entered regular airplay on two of Toronto's radio stations, Power 88.5 and Z103.5. In July 1999, "Over & Over" made it to the Z103.5's weekly Top 40 countdown.