Raffaëla Paton (born June 1, 1983 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch singer of Surinamese descent and the winner of the 2006 Dutch talent show Idols. Raffaëla moved to Assen when she was a little girl. Her mother was a famous singer in Suriname. Raffaëla's aunt is Ruth Jacott, also a famous Dutch singer who represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1993. Before she participated in Idols, she worked as a hostess in a restaurant in Emmen. March 11, 2006 was a big day for Raffaëla; The grand finale of "Idol 2006", the Dutch adaption of the hit reality TV show Pop Idol. Raffaëla won Idols with 58% of the total votes, beating favourite Floortje Smit. After the show, RTL 4, the broadcaster of Idols, reported that Floortje was winning the contest, until Raffaëla sung "Right Here, Right Now (My Heart Belongs to You)", which was going to be the debut single of the winner of Idols. The song is a cover of Agnes Carlsson, the Swedish Pop Idol. On April 21, 2006, Raffaëlla's debut album Raffaëla was released. The album contains 12 songs she sung during her Idols career and two new songs about pregnancy. The album debuted at #1 in the Dutch Album Top 100. On August 24, 2006, Raffaëla delivered her first daughter, named Beautiful Hope. After a time off to care for her daughter, Raffaëla reappeared as one-third of girlgroup Monroe. Their single "The Real Thing" peaked at #40 on the Dutch Singles Chart, and then dropped again. After this, Raffaëla decided to prove herself again in the TV smash The Voice of Holland, where she (as of November 2010) is in the liveshows, part of the final 24 contestants. She is mentored by Jeroen van der Boom. Raffaëla will participate in the Netherlands national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with her entry Chocolatte.[1] <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Raffaela+Paton">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.