Now, Elise Estrada is nominated for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards this Sunday. If she wins, she can add it to her collection; she already received the 2008 Canadian Radio Music Award for Best New Solo Artist.
To mark her accomplishments, Estrada bought herself a 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK350 convertible a few months ago.
"It was a gift. Working hard, you think, 'Hey, let's treat myself' " says the singer from Vancouver.
"I don't know too much about cars. I know that it was really pretty. It was really cute. It's small and it rides fast. And it takes about 20 seconds to have the top go up and go down. I just decided I want this car because it's cute."
Her family had a lot to do with the decision. "My brothers are car lovers and they suggested, 'Why don't you get that?' I looked at it and I said: I want this car. I'm going to get it and it was a done deal," says Estrada, who is of Filipino descent.
"I will never forget the first day I drove that car. It's cool. I don't need a key to start the car. There's a button that you push and it starts. It's great" she says excitedly.
"There's nothing I don't like about it. Sometimes, when I'm driving, it goes way too fast and I don't realize that it's going really, really fast. But that's not something I dislike."
She dislikes the tickets, though. "I've had lots of speeding tickets. It's actually pretty bad.
"I got caught once going 90 in a 50 zone. It was really bad. But I almost got away with it but the officer decided, no, that was too much," says Estrada, who has headlined for concerts with Rihanna, Lady GaGa, Enrique Iglesias, Backstreet Boys and 50 Cent.
"I do get towed a lot," she adds. "I parked the car in a no-parking zone and I got it towed. It was like, 'I want my baby back Give it back' "
So what does a Benz say about Estrada?
"It says I'm high-maintenance," she laughs, before adding, "No. I don't know."
She does know it loves attention - just like a singer. "It likes the limelight. It likes to be clean and shiny. And it loves speed, going fast. I wish it was pink. If it were pink, then everything would be perfect."
Her drop top is black-on-black. "I chose this black Mercedes because there was nothing else there. There were no other colours available and I really didn't want to wait.
"I definitely wanted an automatic and it was just perfect. I can't drive a standard - oh goodness" she giggles. "I paid for it all by myself this time. Sometimes I do get help from my parents. Sometimes I'm a spoiled princess that way."
Estrada got her license at 16, on the first try. "I couldn't believe that I passed on my first try" she says excitedly. "I wasn't expecting to get that at all"
She drove her other car, a red Toyota Matrix, for the test. "I still have that and sometimes I still drive it. It's a good-luck car. I named it; it was Rosy," she laughs.
The Benz doesn't have a nickname. "If it were pink I would name it Pinky," says the former beauty queen, who held the title Miss Vancouver Princess in 2004.
She has many memories behind the wheel, but one tops the list. "The first time I heard my song on the radio was in my car.
"It was in the summertime and the sun was out and I heard my first single Insatiable. I put my top down and I blasted my music up, and I just started singing, 'Hey, that's me This is great'
"When I'm on the road, I sing a lot and sometimes people look at me like I'm really weird. 'What is this girl doing? Is she talking to herself or what?'
"I prepare for music videos as well. I like to look in the mirror and sing along to my songs and try to make some facial expressions. I like to know what I'm going to do for the music video so I'll watch myself - that's kind of embarrassing," says Estrada, who entered an international singing competition and travelled to Asia for three months to appear on Pinoy Pop Superstar, a Philippine television show similar to American Idol.
Shortly afterward, Disney cast her in a pilot television series based on her life and musical career, but it was later dropped.
Estrada listens to Beyoncé and top 40 music when driving. "My favourite is a road that has no cars in front of me and it's just me.
"At night time, when I drive from Vancouver to Surrey, there is absolutely no traffic and it's wonderful. I love it. I love the life. I love Vancouver. I love just driving in my car by myself and no one around."
As her career shifts into high gear, she may consider buying her dream car - a Ferrari or Bentley - in pink, of course.
"My manager and I, we always joke around and he says you're going to buy me a Bentley one day. And I'm like 'No, you're going to buy me a Bentley' "
pgentile@globeandmail.com
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