by Tom Sasvari
EVANSVILLE—Local singing sensation Ellie Maxwell of Evansville was nominated for three awards from a British-based organization contest, which accepts nominations from throughout the world. She finished in the top three in each category.
Ms. Maxwell had been nominated in three categories in the 2023 Fab Chart Music Awards.
“The results are in, and although Ellie did not win first place, she finished second (among 10 artists nominated) for best original song, ‘Lucky,’” said Mary Mendes de Franca, Ellie’s mother.
‘Lucky’ is Ellie’s second completely original song and was released on July 1, 2022. It tells the story of her being adopted at a very young age from a small town in South Africa and moving to Canada to live with her adopted family, Steve Maxwell and Mary Mendes de Franca and her siblings. Ellie was adopted and brought to Canada when she was eight months old.
“This song is about my adoption story and how it changed my life forever,” Ellie told The Expositor. The song actually started out as a poem written by her aunt Deb Medes de Franca. “It was written about me and my adoption, by my aunt Deb, and provides a look back at my life and the people of South Africa and Cedarville, the small town I am from, my biological parents and what they would have gone through and her move to Canada to be with my wonderful, loving family.”
Ellie was also nominated for best female artist, placing third (again among 10 nominated, including Diana Ross), and third for best cover song, for ‘Emotions.’
“Ellie did very well in the contest,” said Ms. Mendes de Franca. “The nominations were not singers in just one country, but worldwide. We are so happy that they nominated Ellie for these awards.” The Fab Chart awards are based in Britain, “and they have been supporting Ellie and her music for more than two years.”
“They are obviously listening to Ellie’s music and songs, playing her songs on their radio station and they are supporting up and coming artists,” said Ms. Mendes de Franca.
The contest took place from March 4-6.
“For those who need some kind of purpose or reason for the Fab Chart, it’s an interesting way of poking music fans in the ribs and saying ‘Hey, come and listen to these cool artists and songs,’” the Fab Chart website states. “When people put their songs online, we have a team who listen to new music each week, and the best of the best are put forward for the Fab top 30. We assume that musicians put their songs online because they want people to listen to them. The Fab Chart gets between 500-1,000 unique visits each week. We are only a small part of a massive music scene, but it only takes one listener with influence to put an artist on the better musical map.”
The first Fab Chart was in June 2006 and the first number one was “Sekai Ga Hitotsu Ni Narumade” by Ya Ya Yah.
