Ailyn

Pilar María Del Carmen Mónica Giménez García (May 29, 1982)known professionally as Ailyn Giménez or simply Ailyn, is a Spanish singer, songwriter, best known as the former female vocalist of the Norwegian symphonic/gothic metal band Sirenia. She was the fourth singer and has sung on more full Sirenia albums than any other singer to date.

Before joining Sirenia, she was one of the contestants on Series 1 (2007) for Spain's version of The X Factor, and was eliminated in the fourth episode.

Her musical career started at the age of 15, when she studied solfege and classical singing at The Albéniz School of Music.

Her professional debut was in 2002 in Cornellà de Llobregat, in an annual benefit fashion show the city held to raise money for Alzheimer's sufferers.

Her first discographic contract was as part of the group Charm (a female vocal trio that played Japanese music). After their first album titled "Konnichiwa" and released in 2003, she wanted to try her luck as a solo artist, she began recording tracks on her own. In 2004, after completing some tunes for the "Kimagure Orange Road" anime series, she left the group.

Solo career

In September 2005, she was a contestant representing Spain in the International Pop Music Festival "Canzoni Dal Mondo", being among the 10 finalists. In October, she got the "Silver Tabaiba" to the Best Performance in the 5th Edition of the International Song Festival in the Canary Islands. In November, she got the "Gold Tabaiba" to the Best Singer Of A Published Song, in the 6th Edition of the International Song Festival in the Canary Islands. The song, "Puedo Sentir", was originally sung by Lena Park (Fall In Love).

In May 2007, she was selected as a member of the young team in the Spanish version of X Factor, where she sang "Time After Time", "Moonlight Shadow", "Bring Me to Life", and "Why". She was eliminated in the fourth episode.

With Sirenia (2008–2016)

On April 9, 2008 it was announced that Ailyn was chosen as the fourth singer of Sirenia out of over 500 women. "I got selected as Sirenia’s new vocalist as an accident," she later told an interviewer. "My sister added them to my Myspace’s friends, but we didn’t realize that if you wanted to audition for the band you had to send them your demo or add them as friends, so I was shocked when they wrote to me asking to go to Norway and audition for the new vocalist. I went there twice, the first time was a studio audition and the second one with all the band members. I think I was selected because I’m what Morten was looking for the band, and also since the first moment we connected all the members from Sirenia and me."

She was featured on Sirenia's fourth album The 13th Floor, which was released on January 23, 2009.

Sirenia's fifth album The Enigma of Life, was released on January 21, 2011. This made her the only singer who recorded two full-length albums with Sirenia, since Henriette Bordvik only performed vocals on one album, An Elixir for Existence and one EP, Sirenian Shores

In July 2013, Sirenia released their sixth album Perils of the Deep Blue.

On April 3, 2014, the band announced they had returned to Napalm Recordswith a pending album release for early 2015.The Seventh Life Path, Sirenia's seventh album was released on May 8, 2016.

On July 5, 2016, it was announced via the band's website that Sirenia and Ailyn were amicably separating "for personal reasons," and that the name of the new singer would be announced on September 8, 2016 ahead of the November release of their new albumDim Days of Dolor. The same day, Ailyn stated on her Facebook that she did not make the decision. Her replacement in Sirenia was the French mezzo-soprano singer Emmanuelle Zoldan.

Ailyn recorded four albums in eight years with Sirenia. Until the 2018 release of Arcane Astral Aeons, she was the only Sirenia singer to sing on more than one full Sirenia album.

Other works

In 2011 she contributed to the Austrian power metal band Serenity's album Death & Legacy, singing the songs "The Chevalier" and "Prayer". She is also featured the video "The Chevalier".

In 2014, she collaborated with several other bands such as the Spanish Metal band Diabulus in Musica, for whom she sang the song "Furia de Libertad" for their album Argia. For the Greek Symphonic Metal band Enemy of Reality, she was featured in the song "Needle Bites" and its music video, from their album Rejected Gods. She performed live with German/Norwegian symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes at their 10th anniversary show in Wieze, Belgium.

Ailyn Giménez is mentioned in the Dutch metal band The Gentle Storm's album The Diary booklet for useful advice she gave regarding the band's "Shores of India" music video.

In 2015, Ailyn's participation on the new album of the metal opera Melted Space was announced.

In 2017, Ailyn announced her collaboration with Italian metal band Secret Rule: she will be featured on their upcoming album The Key to the World and music video. She also hinted there are some more collaborations to be announced. She also is composing her solo music, but doesn't want to rush this process.

Ailyn has heterochromia iridis, her right eye is brown, her left one is green. She has Type 1 diabetes since the age of 7 and has recently struggled with depression.

Sirenia

Albums

• The 13th Floor (2009)
• The Enigma of Life (2011)
• Perils of the Deep Blue (2013)
• The Seventh Life Path (2015)

Singles

• "The Path to Decay" (2009)
• "The End of It All" (2011)
• "Seven Widows Weep" (2013)
• "Once My Light" (2015)

Music videos

• "The Path to Decay" (2009)
• "The End of It All" (2011)
• "Seven Widows Weep" (2013)
• "Once My Light" (2015)

Guest vocal appearances

• Serenity – Death & Legacy (2011)
• Diabulus in Musica – Argia (2014)
• Enemy of Reality – Rejected Gods (2014)
• Sebastien – Dark Chambers of Déjà Vu (2015)
• Melted Space – The Great Lie (2015)
• Magö de Oz – Finisterra Ópera Rock (2015)
• Vivaldi Metal Project – The Four Seasons (2016)
• Débler – Somnia (2017)
• Secret Rule – The Key to the World (2017)
• Melted Space – Darkening Light (2018)