It may be difficult to tell by looking at her, but Eva Avila loves to eat. She’s tiny in the way that only 21-year-old pop stars know how to be. However, Avila’s petite frame houses a voracious appetite for fine dining and its subsequent wine pairings.

“I’ve always appreciated food,” says the Canadian Idol winner from 2006. “But food for me now is an experience.

“If I had time on my hands, I would take a sommelier course.”

Culinary school is also one of Avila’s backup plans. That is if this whole stardom thing falls through. Although with her record to date of hit singles, a 2007 Juno nomination and a recently released sophomore album, Plan B probably won’t be necessary.

The title track from her latest effort Give Me The Music peaked at 21 on Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 in mid-November. And its video — featuring a much sexier Avila changing clothes in the back of a car — sits on the MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown.

“It feels really gratifying,” says the Gatineau-raised singer. “I worked really hard on this record.” Granted more input than on her first release Somewhere Else, Avila says this time she wrote background vocals and came up with “little licks and ear candy suggestions.” 

Living in Toronto now, Avila says her new compilation’s content reflects her personal growth since Somewhere Else. “I’m more mature, I’ve grown as a young woman.” This is evident, she says, in songs like You Don’t Say No, a “wake-up call” for women in poisonous relationships.

“I just want to make people feel emotions,” Avila says. She wants to make a difference too.

Avila is now a spokesperson for At My Best. The program encourages kids to exercise, eat well and achieve emotional balance.

“I’ve always been a healthy person,” Avila says. “I’m really proud and honoured to be associated with (At My Best).” Perhaps this new endeavor also ties in her other backup plans should her music career falter: A social worker or teacher.

But it’s unlikely Avila will be weighing these options any time soon. “Let’s say this album doesn’t do well, I’m not going to quit,” she says.

“I’ve always known this is what I was meant to do.”

That probably means Canada will be less one sommelier for some time.