Sun Newspaper Article

[martyiviewer]

For everyone's reading enjoyment, the following Calgary Sun Article is provided below plus the link.

Mon, August 29, 2005

Idol dad bursting with pride
By MATTHEW HALLIDAY, CALGARY SUN


Calgary's Tim O'Neil has been living out of a suitcase for the last two months, but it's been worth it.

Tim is the proud father of 17-year-old Melissa O'Neil, who went from being a regular high school student, to a young woman shouldering the pride of Alberta, climbing the ranks to become one of the top four Canadian Idol hopefuls.

"How cool is it to be 17 and have a chance to do something like this?" asks O'Neil from the Toronto hotel room he's been living in.

O'Neil is Melissa's parental accompaniment in Toronto, but he doesn't get to see her much more than the rest of the country does.

"Besides the occasional lunch, I see her Tuesdays and Wednesdays with everybody else," he says. "They really live in a bubble, these kids. They're going at it seven days a week."

Melissa's singing ability has consistently impressed the judges and she landed in the Idol top four last week.

Her success, though sudden, isn't a surprise to those who know her best.


"I couldn't believe the enthusiasm of this kid," says Darren Dyck, her drama teacher at Calgary's Lester B. Pearson high school, remembering the first time he met her at a drama workshop.

"I said to her then, 'You've got everything the fine arts program at Pearson is looking for.' "

Dyck recalls her first theatre audition in Grade 9.

"She scared the Grade 12 kids," he says. "I've been teaching for 16 years, and you run into kids who are talented, but they've usually had training, years of practice. Melissa just comes by it naturally."

"It's true," says Tim. "I don't know where it comes from. Her mother and I can't carry a tune in a bucket."

O'Neil is also impressed with Melissa's maturity.

"You watch her deal with the fans on the street and in the theatre and she's just a real grounded, cool individual," says O'Neil. "She doesn't let it go to her head, doesn't believe her own press. If she wasn't my daughter, I'd still like her."

Back in Calgary, Melissa's family and friends will be gathering around the TV cheering her on.

But as Melissa's grandmother, Sherri Fujimagari, says, "a family never has any doubt."

Canadian Idol airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays on CTV.

[url]http://calsun.canoe.ca/Showbiz/MoviesTV/2005/08/29/1192414-sun.html[/url]

[CI_2111]

Thanks for sharing that!

[froggurl87]

very nice article Good Work Tim

MELISSA IS AMAZING