As published on page A10 on March 11, 2006

Casey LeBlanc to begin recording sessions March 21 in Toronto
By Telegraph-Journal

New Brunswick teenager Casey LeBlanc, who last summer went from
supermarket checkout girl to Canadian Idol finalist in a matter of
months, is forming an all-girl group with two rivals from the hit
CTV television program.

LeBlanc, 18, will begin recording a CD in Ontario later this month
with Amber Fleury and Ashley Leitao.

The three have signed a contract with record producer and songwriter
Mark Lalama, the pianist who accompanied them on last year's show.

"I'm very excited," LeBlanc said Friday while babysitting in
Nackawic, the small mill town on the St. John River that named a
section of Route 105 Casey Way in her honour last September.

"I was kind of looking for something like this going into the
competition, and I am really happy to be working with Ashley and
Amber.

"We have similar personalities when it comes to the music we listen
to. We're totally not pop stars."

A paralegal from Calgary, Fleury, 26, wowed the show's judges with
her heartbreaking ballads and haunting voice before bowing out after
reaching the final eight. Leitao, a 19-year-old from Burnaby, B.C.
who works in her family's bakery, hyperventilated and nearly passed
out on stage at the John Bassett Theatre after learning she wouldn't
advance past the top nine.

LeBlanc, who missed her high school graduation and prom while
participating in the singing competition, reached the top five
before being eliminated.

Melissa O'Neil bested runner-up Rex Goudie to win the title of Idol,
and the two are performing at the Moncton Coliseum on March 27,
Harbour Station in Saint John on March 28 and the Aitken Centre in
Fredericton on April 1.

LeBlanc said she had been negotiating with Lalama since her contract
with Canadian Idol expired on Dec. 15.

She will travel to Toronto to begin recording sessions on March 21,
and three women will make their first live appearance as a group at
a club in Niagara on March 25.
(CTV PHOTOS)
Amber Fleury, left, and Ashley Leitao will record an album, and
perform in concert, with N.B.'s Casey LeBlanc.

Lalama said he hopes to have the CD ready for the market this
summer, but will not rush to get it on the shelves simply to
coincide with Canadian Idol which is currently in the midst of its
11-week cross-country audition tour. The program returns to CTV in
June.

Lalama said his admiration for LeBlanc grew during last year's
competition, when she earned her way into the top 10 with a soulful
rendition of Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home to Me.

Dogged by criticism from judges for several weeks, she made her last
two performances her best: The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You and
Timeless Love by The Guess Who.

"Casey is a natural, she always had the raw talent to do it," Lalama
said. "It's ironic: She got voted off after her two best
appearances. Her last two shows clearly were her best. She really
came out of her shell."

LeBlanc, Fleury and Letaio will collaborate on a handful of songs on
the CD and will also contribute solo numbers. They have yet to come
up with a name for their group.

Lalama credits his brother, Paul, with coming up with idea of
teaming LeBlanc with two other finalists in an all-girl group.

"I thought it would be cool to do a record with someone in the top
10, but who?," Lalama said.

"Then my brother called me and told me he had a dream Casey was
singing in a club and there were two other girls from the top 10
singing with her, that they had formed a trio.

"And I told him, 'That's it!'"