Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ava Nicole Frances of American Idol Season 22

Idol returns to ABC on Sunday, Feb. 18 with the coaching trio of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan back intact.

Here’s more about Ava Nicole.

* She’s a sophomore at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, studying musical theater with aspirations of becoming a Broadway performer.

* She’s also a two-time winner of a Broadway World Caberet Award, earning the honor as best junior performer in 2020 and for best debut show in 2022.

* The latter award came for a show called “Mutual Admiration” at 54 Below in New York in November 2022, featuring Ava and Charlotte Crossley as talented singers who form a close friendship in spite of their age difference.

* Oh, and talk about the interesting backstory. Ava was born in Phoenix, Ariz., of Native American and Mexican descent. Pancho Villa is a relative, according to her website.

* She was adopted at birth and raised in San Francisco by her two dads, who surrounded her with music. In an interview last spring, Ava, then 19, credited much of her success to them.

* “I owe my dads absolutely everything,” she told the Orinda (Calif.) News. “They were always very heavily involved with music. I did my first cabaret show at 10 in a duo with my father, Frank.”

* The interview was to promote her first West Coast solo concert, called “Here’s Looking at You Kid.” Her dad Frank Silletti was directing the show. Her other dad, Sonny Vukic, was one of the producers.

* Though she has been focused on musical theater, you can sample Ava’s music on Spotify. There’s a live recording from that “Mutual Admiration” show.

* She also released a dual single in 2020 at age 16, featuring the songs “One World” and “I Am Your Child.” Proceeds from the songs went to Save the Children. “One World” stemmed from her unique definition of “family.”

Ava on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube