Jencarlos Canela (born April 21, 1988) is an American actor and singer. Canela starred in the telenovela Mi corazón insiste en Lola Volcán, and two other telenovelas.
In September 2013, he began a new project called "Scan Me" on his official Vevo account with a series of YouTube videos showing behind the scenes clips as he and his collaborators created his new album.
Canela won Artist of the Year in the 2013 awards show Premios Juventud, and his song "I Love It" won the Song of the Summer award. In the 2014 Lo Nuestro Awards show, Canela's "I Love It" music video was nominated for Video of the Year.
Early life
Canela was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents, Lisette and Heriberto Canela. He is the older brother of actor Jason Canela, and they also have two older siblings, Erick and Annette. Canela refused to follow his father's military footsteps and joined Disney Channel to pursue his dream of being the first Cuban Disney Singer.
Music career
At the age of 12, Canela began his musical career as the lead singer of the group "Boom Boom Pop". After two years of successful participation with the group, he decided to start his solo career in late 2002. Over the following five years, he appeared in several international events including the "Miss World" 2004 and 2005 beauty pageants, "The Latin Fiesta Festival" in Toronto, Canada, and "The CALLE OCHO Festival" in Miami. During this period, he continued his studies of music and acting at the New World School of the Arts (USA), from which he graduated with honors in May 2006.
Ford Motor Company chose Canela as model and singer for its "Ride it Like a Ford" ad campaign where he sang a jingle he'd written. This commercial was broadcast on television in the United States in 2006.
Canela's first two albums were produced by Rudy Pérez at his studio in Miami Beach under the independent label Bullseye Music Entertainment. His first album "Búscame" debuted at #2 in 2009, and in 2011 his second album "Un Nuevo Día" came in at #1 during the first week it was released.
In 2012, Canela, in collaboration with Emilio Estefan, recorded the song "Sueña" for Telemundo's coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics. It was also to be the official song of Miss America 2013, but a contract dispute with Telemundo led to the song being replaced by "Don't Stop the Party" by Pitbull. In 2012, Canela signed with Universal Music Latin Entertainment.
