Morissette's singing career was launched in 1987, when local Ottawa impresario Stephan Klovan showcased the 12-year-old Alanis in a children's musical revue for the city's spring Tulip Festival. Despite her inability to do a cartwheel (which was the audition test), Morissette proved beyond a doubt that she had an impressive set of pipes - after all, she had already succeeded in recording one of her own songs, "Fate Stay With Me," and was performing in a cover band called New York Fries. (She had also developed some name recognition on Nickelodeon's You Can't Do That on Television, a series for pre- pubescents, and had appeared in the role of an aspiring rock star in a minor film, co- starring with future Friends star Matt LeBlanc.) Klovan took an avid interest in the precocious young girl's raw talent, and set about securing other performance opportunities; his efforts yielded gigs singing a pumped-up version of "O Canada!" at major sporting and civic events, as well as an appearance on Star Search.
