Jessica Mauboy

Jessica Mauboy
Mauboy at the Sony Foundation Wharf4Ward fundraiser, October 2012
Background information
Birth name	Jessica Hilda Mauboy
Born	(1989-08-04) 4 August 1989
Origin	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Genres	R&B, pop, dance
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, actress
Instrument(s)	Vocals, piano
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Sony, Ministry of Sound
Website	jessicamauboy.com.au

Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian R&B and pop singer, songwriter, and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs, Northern Territory to pursue a recording career. Mauboy subsequently signed a contract with Sony Music Australia.

In February 2007, she released her debut live album, The Journey, which debuted at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Later that year, she briefly became a member of all-girl pop group Young Divas, before resuming her solo career early in 2008. Mauboy released her debut studio album, Been Waiting, in November 2008, which spawned her first number-one single, "Burn", as well as the top ten hits, "Running Back" and "Because". Been Waiting became the second highest-selling Australian album of 2009, and was certified double platinum. Her second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010), included the hit singles, "Saturday Night" and "Inescapable". Mauboy's third studio album, Beautiful, was released in 2013 and included her sixth top ten single, "Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up)".

Mauboy has received twelve ARIA Music Awards nominations; she has won one ARIA for 'Highest Selling Single' for "Running Back". In April 2013, she was ranked at number sixteen on Herald Sun's list of the "100 Greatest Australian Singers of All Time". Aside from her music career, Mauboy has also ventured into acting. She made her acting debut in the film adaptation of the 1990 Aboriginal musical, Bran Nue Dae (2010), and starred in the critically acclaimed film, The Sapphires (2012), which earned her the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Biography

1989–2006: Early life, beginnings, and Australian Idol

Jessica Hilda Mauboy was born on 4 August 1989 and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory. Her father, Ferdi, is of Indonesian descent who came from West Timor, and her mother, Therese, is an Indigenous Australian. Mauboy is the youngest of five children. From an early age, she was involved in the local church choir with her grandmother. Her home was described as the "noisiest house on the block", with her mother often singing, her father playing guitar and the rest of the family displaying their passion for music. Mauboy attended Wulagi Primary School and Sanderson High School in Darwin.

Mauboy with Damien Leith at the Australian Idol grand final.

At the age of fourteen, Mauboy's talents were exposed through the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition at the 2004 Tamworth Country Music Festival in Tamworth, New South Wales. As the first winner of the competition, Mauboy travelled to Sydney to perform and scored a recording deal with Sony Music Australia. She then released a country-inspired rendition of the Cyndi Lauper's hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". A video for her version of the song had a release; however, the song went nowhere and Mauboy returned to Darwin until auditioning for TV talent show, Australian Idol, in 2006.

She auditioned for the fourth season of Australian Idol in Alice Springs, Northern Territory singing Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing". Her audition impressed all three judges, and she progressed through to the semi-finals. Following the semi-final process, Mauboy had advanced through to the top twelve. The media cited her previous Sony contract as grounds for dismissal, but since the contract had expired, Australian Idol producers refused to remove her from the show. Throughout the series, Mauboy continued to impress the judges with her performances. In the final eleven week, following her rendition of Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away", judge Kyle Sandilands commented on Mauboy's weight, that if she wished to succeed in the music industry, she should "lose the jelly belly". Mauboy appeared stunned by the comment. In an interview with Who magazine's Alicia Neil, two years after the comment was made, Mauboy stated "I kind of took it as a joke ... I look back on it as a positive thing – it made me a stronger person." In the final ten-week, Mauboy received the first touchdown of the season from judge Mark Holden for her rendition of Christina Aguilera's hit, "Beautiful". During the final nine-week, Mauboy had a sore throat that resulted in a mediocre rendition of Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise" and near-elimination, which landed her in the bottom three. Following that week, she never landed in the bottom three again, and ended up progressing through to the final show with Damien Leith. The grand finale was held on 27 November at the Sydney Opera House. After the viewer votes had been tallied it was announced that Mauboy was runner-up to Leith.

2006–09: The Journey, Young Divas, and Been Waiting

A publicity shot of Mauboy in July 2009.

In December 2006, Jessica Mauboy signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia – two weeks after the fourth season of Australian Idol ended. In 2007, Mauboy appeared in advertisements for the shampoo product, Head & Shoulders. She released her debut live album, The Journey in Australia on 24 February 2007. The album was a two-disc package. Disc one contained re-recorded covers of the selected songs Mauboy performed as part of the top twelve on Australian Idol, while disc two included a DVD of her performances on the series. The Journey debuted at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In September, Mauboy joined as the new member of the girl group Young Divas, replacing one of the group's original members, Ricki-Lee Coulter, who had left in June to resume her solo career. Their second studio album, New Attitude, was released on 24 November. Its lead single, "Turn Me Loose", was released on 3 November, and reached number 15 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The album debuted at number 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold.

Meanwhile in March 2008, Mauboy signed on to the Australian Government In2Oz program, designed to promote closer ties with Indonesia. As a part of the program, she travelled to Indonesia for a three-day trip performing around the country, including an appearance on Indonesian Idol, singing Beyoncé Knowles' "Crazy in Love" and "Sempurna" with former Indonesian Idol contestants Mike, Judika and Lucky. It was during this time that Mauboy had begun to work on her first solo studio album. Following her three-day trip from Indonesia, she returned to Sydney for a week-long recording session. In August, Mauboy announced that after a year with the Young Divas, she had decided to quit in order to concentrate on her solo career. Founding member Paulini had also decided to depart, leaving Kate DeAraugo and Emily Williams as the only remaining members. Their manager David Champion stated that the group would undergo a third line-up change following the departures of Mauboy and Curuenavuli, with a third album to be released later in the year. However both DeAraugo and Williams subsequently resumed their solo careers, and the group officially disbanded.

In late 2008, Mauboy re-located from Darwin to Sydney and prepared for the release of her debut studio album, Been Waiting. The album was released on 22 November; it peaked at number 11 and was certified double platinum for shipments of 140,000 units. Mauboy co-wrote six of the album's songs, which were produced by Audius Mtawarira, Israel Cruz, Jonas Jeberg, Cutfather, Adam Reily, Fingaz and Kwamé. The album received positive reviews from critics. Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that it was an "impressive debut which suggests that there could indeed be quality music to look forward to in the future as she matures and gains experience". "Running Back", featuring American rapper Flo Rida, was released as the album's lead single on 19 September. It peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. The album's second single, "Burn", became Mauboy's first number-one single, and was certified platinum. In February 2009, Mauboy signed with UK record label Ministry of Sound. The album's title track was released as the third single on 6 March. The song peaked at number 12 and was certified gold. The following singles, "Because" and "Up/Down", peaked at numbers nine and 11, respectively, and both were certified gold.

In April 2009, Mauboy teamed up with Bloom Cosmetics to create two designer collection nail polishes, which included shades of sangria red and metallic green. Two dollars from the sale of each of the nail polish bottles was donated to Children's Hospital Foundations Australia to support the research into childhood illness. Been Waiting was released in Japan on 22 April, and reached number 138 on the Japanese Albums Chart. At the 2009 Deadly Awards, Mauboy won three awards in the categories of 'Female Artist of the Year', 'Album of the Year' for Been Waiting, and 'Single Release of the Year' for "Burn". Along with Flo Rida, Mauboy served as a support act for Beyoncé Knowles on the Australian leg of her I Am... World Tour in September. At the 2009 ARIA Music Awards, Mauboy earned seven nominations for the album and singles; she was nominated for 'Highest Selling Album', 'Best Pop Release', 'Breakthrough Artist Album', Best Female Artist, 'Breakthrough Artist Single' for "Running Back", and 'Highest Selling Single' for "Running Back" and "Burn". Eventually, Mauboy won 'Highest Selling Single' for "Running Back".

2010–12: Films and Get 'Em Girls

Mauboy performing during the Galaxy Tour in January 2012.

In January 2010, Jessica Mauboy had a starring role in the film adaptation of the 1990 Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae. The film was directed by Rachel Perkins and also starred Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Missy Higgins, and Deborah Mailman. In the film, Mauboy played the role of Rosie, a local church singer who has a love interest for a school boy named Willie (played by Rocky McKenzie). Five days after Bran Nue Dae was issued, Mauboy signed to Universal Music for an exclusive worldwide long-term publishing agreement. In April, Mauboy was part of the Bluesfest along with many other national and international acts in Byron Bay, New South Wales. In May, she collaborated with four other international artists representing their continents—Sean Kingston representing America, Jody Williams representing Africa, Tabitha Nauser (Asia), Steve Appleton (Europe), with Mauboy representing Oceania—on a song titled "Everyone". The song was initially recorded to be used as the theme song for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. Mauboy, Williams, Nauser and Appleton performed the song at the opening of the Youth Olympics held in Singapore on 14 August. Kingston was unable to attend the performance, due to a passport mix-up.

Mauboy released her second studio album, Get 'Em Girls, on 5 November 2010. She had travelled to the United States in February of that year to work on the album in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta with a wide range of American songwriters and producers, most of whom she had not worked with previously. Mauboy co-wrote three of the album's songs. The album debuted at number six and was certified gold. It received mixed reviews from critics. Majhid Heath of ABC Online Indigenous gave the album two-and-a-half out of five stars, writing that it's a "non-cohesive mess of similar sounding, auto-tuned ravaged pop/R&B that diminishes the talent of this brilliant young songstress". The album's title track, featuring American rapper Snoop Dogg, was released as its lead single on 17 September, and peaked at number 19. Mauboy performed "Get 'Em Girls" at the 2010 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards on 8 October, where she co-hosted the award ceremony with Liam Hemsworth and Jerry Trainor, and took home the award for 'Fave Aussie Muso'. "Saturday Night", featuring American rapper Ludacris, was released as the album's second single on 25 October, and peaked at number seven and was certified double platinum. "What Happened to Us", featuring English singer Jay Sean, and "Inescapable" were released as the third and fourth singles, respectively. The latter peaked at number four and was certified double platinum.

Mauboy at The Sapphires' Australian premiere in August 2012.

At the 2010 Australian of the Year Awards, Mauboy received her first nomination for Young Australian of the Year. On 10 December 2010, Mauboy performed in front of an audience of 92,000 at the Federation Square in Melbourne, ahead of Oprah Winfrey's visit to the place. Mauboy's performance was shown in the first of the four Australian specials of The Oprah Winfrey Show on 18 January 2011. In April 2011, she served as a support act for American singer Chris Brown on the Australian leg of his F.A.M.E. Tour. In October, Mauboy became the new face of the video game, Nintendogs + Cats 3DS, and joined forces with RSPCA and Nintendo to help promote the game. The following month, she made a guest appearance in the final episode of the television mini-series, Underbelly: Razor, and played the role of a nightclub singer named Gloria Starr. In December, Mauboy teamed up with clothing label KuKu to launch her five-dress fashion range, which were made available to buy at Myer stores across Australia. From January to February 2012, Mauboy and Stan Walker embarked on their Galaxy Tour across Australia, to celebrate the release of their duet "Galaxy", the fifth single from Get 'Em Girls. The song peaked at number 13 and was certified platinum.

Mauboy secured a lead role in The Sapphires, a film based on the stage show of the same name. It was directed by Wayne Blair and also starred Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens, and Miranda Tapsell. Mauboy played the role of Julie McCrae, one of four Indigenous Australian singers "who travel from a mission in Victoria to Vietnam to sing for American troops". Mauboy and the cast attended the film's premiere at the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on 20 May 2012. She recorded 15 songs for The Sapphires' soundtrack album, which debuted at number one and was certified platinum. Mauboy released "Gotcha" as the album's lead single, which peaked at number 43 and was certified gold. She received several awards for her performance in The Sapphires, including the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and the Australian Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress. At the 2012 ARIA Music Awards, Mauboy was nominated for 'Best Female Artist', 'Best Pop Release' for "Gotcha", and 'Song of the Year' for "Galaxy".

2013: Beautiful and To the End of the Earth Tour

Jessica Mauboy received two nominations at the 2013 Australian of the Year Awards; she was nominated for Young Australian of the Year and Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year, and won the latter award. In February 2013, it was announced that Mauboy's recorded version of Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me" would be used as the theme song for the 2013 NRL season. The song was released as a single on 27 February, and peaked at number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The following month, Mauboy became the ambassador of the 2013 Woolworths Earn & Learn program, which enables primary and secondary schools in Australia as well as early learning centres to earn educational resources through the school community shopping at Woolworths. She appeared in two television commercials for the program, featuring students from Wulagi Primary School in Darwin.

On 23 March, Mauboy took part in a singing quiz segment at Ellen DeGeneres' first Australian show at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. She also appeared at Degeneres' second Australian show at Birrarung Marr, Melbourne on 26 March, for the same singing quiz segment. Mauboy made a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 18 April, to discuss her upbringing and promote The Sapphires in the United States. Mauboy became a mentor for the second series of The Voice (Australia) later that month, and paired up with coach Ricky Martin to prepare the contestants in his team for the show's battle rounds. In September, she made a guest appearance in the third and final season of Dance Academy as herself.

Mauboy revealed that at first, it was difficult to be an actress and singer at the same time, stating that "I missed the studio and being able to go in and write. It was hard to step away from music and do something I wasn’t very comfortable in". Mauboy's third studio album Beautiful was released on 4 October, which debuted at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart and became her highest-charting album to date. The lead single "To the End of the Earth" was released on 17 July, peaked at number 21 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold. At the end of September 2013, Mauboy performed at the Emmys Governors Ball in Los Angeles, which was described as her "most star-studded audience" to date. Mauboy wore a metallic lace gown by Alex Perry with Sarina Suriano accessories for the performance. The album's second single "Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up)" was released on 27 September, debuted at number two and was certified platinum. On 6 October, Mauboy performed a medley of "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and "Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up)", along with the Australian national anthem, at the 2013 NRL Grand Final. She also performed "Livin' la Vida Loca" with Ricky Martin. Mauboy will embark on the To the End of the Earth Tour, her first solo headlining tour, from November 2013 to January 2014. Of her first show in Adelaide, Matt Gilbertson from Adelaide Now stated, "Jessica Mauboy proves that she has more than what it takes to compete on the international pop scene delivering a truly world class performance", before noting that Mauboy's energy, extraordinary vocals and endearing personality spoke for itself.

Artistry

Mauboy's music is generally R&B and pop, but she also incorporates hip hop into some of her songs. Mauboy's debut album, Been Waiting, has been described as "a blend of electro beats, heartfelt pop tunes and R&B bass lines." Most of the themes on the album deal with boys, love and break-ups. Jarrad Bevan from The Mercury noted that the album also contains themes about everyday life, family issues, and friendship. Alasdair Duncan from Rave magazine, described Mauboy's second album, Get 'Em Girls, as "a more hard-edged take on R&B and pop than her debut, pumped full of hip hop beats, jagged synths and futuristic vocal effects." Mauboy said that she wanted each song on the album to talk about a "woman's needs", and that the album's theme was "very much about the empowerment of women and the domination of women."

Aside from her vocals and piano work, Mauboy has also co-written some of her material. She co-wrote six songs on her first album, three on her second album and 10 tracks on her third album. Although Mauboy had no writing credits for the songs "Fight for You" and "Here for Me" on the album Get 'Em Girls, she stated in an interview that while working with American producer Harvey Mason, Jr., they came up with the melodies and hooks for these songs. She also experimented with an operatic-type voice on her song "Scariest Part". In 2010, Mauboy was nominated for 'Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year' at the APRA Awards.

Mauboy grew up listening to country singers Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, as well as rappers Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. She likes to play the piano while singing songs by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and the Bee Gees. Mauboy cites Carey and Houston as her musical inspirations, and has said she is a fan of Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé Knowles. Mauboy is often labelled Australia's answer to Beyoncé.

Discography

Main article: Jessica Mauboy discography

• Been Waiting (2008)
• Get 'Em Girls (2010)
• Beautiful (2013)

Tours

Headlining

• Galaxy Tour (with Stan Walker) (2012)
• To the End of the Earth Tour (2013–2014)

Supporting act

• Beyoncé Knowles' I Am... World Tour: Australian leg (2009)
• Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour: Australian leg (2011)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Awards and nominations
2010	Bran Nue Dae	Rosie	Nominated—Deadly Award for 'Female Actress of the Year'
2012	The Sapphires	Julie McCrae	AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Australian Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Oprah Winfrey Show	Herself; guest	Season 25 special, Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure: Part 1
	Underbelly: Razor	Gloria Starr	"Armageddon" (Episode 13)
2013	The Voice	Herself; mentor	Season 2, mentor working with Ricky Martin
	The Ellen DeGeneres Show	Herself; guest	Season 10, episode 1636 Season 10 special, Ellen in Melbourne
	Dance Academy	Herself; guest	"Start of an Era" (Season 3, episode 11)

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Mauboy
• Young Divas discography

External links

• Official website