Katelyn Strand

Katelyn Elena Strand Rubeynova (born 22 May 1992) is a Chenkoryan singer-songwriter, dancer and actress, who came to the world's attention by participating in NationStates X-Factor 2. Strand also participated in the Chenkoryan version of So You Think You Can Dance in 2009.

Early life
Strand was born in Trimos, close to Svobodata, in Chenkorya, to Alain Strand and Katarina Rubeynova. She grew up in the city of Svobodata. Her little brother Sven Strand died when Katelyn was 17 years old. When Strand reached the age of 16, she planned to study hard for her A Levels and attend a dancing school in Denmark. Strand studied for A Levels in theatre studies, classics and pscychology. Strand had been singing since the age of 6, taking singing lessons and participating in competitions, where she always finished last because of her controversial clothes, voice and song choice.

Music career
In 2011 Strand auditioned for the second season of NationStates X-Factor, singing "Just Hold Me" by Maria Mena, where Samantha Hills commented that the performance was "wonderful" and "full of confidence, Tim Wisham said it was a "great audition", Worth Ronting told her that she "smoked the song" and that it was one of the best auditions he had ever seen. Strand advanced to the liveshows, where she was mentored by Worth Ronting, together with Maria Gonzales and Sofia Aramova.

On her first liveshow, Strand sang Paloma Faith's song Stone Cold Sober. Hannah told her the performance was "absolutely amazing", Worth thought it was "not an all-star calibur performance that's gonna win the show", but "she worked it out".

In the second liveshow, Strand performed a Rihanna medley, consisting out of S&M, What's My Name and Only Girl. Hannah described her peformance as "sex appeal" and "definitely a performance", but her voice was a little bit shaky. Worth thought she was "hot" and "extremely good looking" but the elaborate act had affected her vocals a bit in his opinion.

The third week Katelyn performed Lissie's When I'm Alone, for which she received nothing but praise, some judges had tears falling on their cheeks, and the judges were even more moved with Angie, by the Rolling Stones. In the fifth liveshow, Strand performed E.T. by Katy Perry. Some judges thought she would finally come in danger, because of being "not very versatile". Despite the judges' comments, she made it through without any doubt. The sixth liveshow was a huge success for Strand; her version of "Sleigh Ride", by Ella Fitzgerald was praised by the judges, she had showed she was versatile and could do a lot of things. In the seventh liveshow, Katelyn performed You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrissette, and Shake It Out by Florence and the Machine, which she was allowed sing with her musical idol - Florence Welch.