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Damien Leith

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Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Damien Leith (b. 18 January 1976, Dublin, Republic of Ireland) is an Irish/Australian singer/songwriter. He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest Australian Idol 2006.

He was born in Ireland and now lives in Australia with his Australian wife, Eileen Stapleton, their son Jarvis (and another child on the way).[1] Leith became an Australian citizen on 26 January 2007 taking the pledge from the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, in a nationally televised broadcast on Network Ten.[2]

Early life

Leith was born in Dublin and raised in County Kildare, Ireland. His father travelled as part of his work as an engineer, and their family lived in countries including Libya and Botswana.[3]

As a teenager he formed a family band, Leaf, with his sister Aine and brothers Paul and Darren. Leaf recorded in New York and then again later under the new name Releaf, which made an appearance in the Irish Top 100.

After moving to Sydney, he played in a number of high profile venues, as front-man for the band, Revelate. His first Australian performance was at The Basement in Sydney's Circular Quay.

Before auditioning for Australian Idol, Leith worked in Sydney as a chemist with Pharmalab utilising the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry he obtained from University College, Dublin and postgraduate experience within the Metallosupramolecular Research Group in the Chemistry Department of Trinity College, Dublin.

Australian Idol

Only following determined coaxing by friends, Leith auditioned for the 4th series of Network Ten's Australian Idol along with some 25,000 other contestants.

Leith was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 contestants, and was the first person voted into the competition's top 12 as the result of a nationwide viewer vote. He was praised by the show's judges for his falsetto technique, which he used regularly in performances.

For the first time, Australian Idol 2006 permitted contestants to perform with instruments, and Leith accompanied himself on guitar for his renditions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Alex Lloyd's "Never Meant to Fail" and Ben Harper's "Waiting On an Angel", and on piano for his rendition of Split Enz's "Message to My Girl". Leith also played piano for the non-competition round "Up Close and Personal" night, when he performed his original song "Sky".

Despite adverse comments from judges Mark Holden and Kyle Sandilands in relation to Leith's appearance, Irish origin [citation needed], and a performance of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" on the "Disco" theme night, which drew ridicule from Holden, the judges' assessments of Leith's performances were usually positive with Holden labelling him a 'darkhorse' early in the competition. His renditions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", Roy Orbison's "Crying", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" each earned Leith a "Touchdown" from Mark Holden, a gesture which has come to be regarded as Holden's ultimate accolade for an excellent performance. Sandilands also stated that the family of Roy Orbison had contacted the Australian Idol producers requesting a copy of Leith's performance of "Crying". He, however, was not expected by betting agency Centrebet, to win.

Leith was the last contestant in the 2006 season to be in the bottom 3, until the top 5 verdict night on October 30.

On Sunday, November 26, during a live broadcast from the Sydney Opera House, Leith was announced the winner, over runner-up Jessica Mauboy.

At age 30, Leith became the second oldest winner (The oldest known Idol winner is Steeve Estatof of France who won at age 31 years old in 2004) of any Idol series in the World, and in respect of the Australian contest, the only non-Australian citizen to have won.

Australian Idol Performances

Post-Idol

Leith signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and his debut single, "Night of My Life", was released as a paid digital download from Bigpondmusic soon after the conclusion of the grand finale, with an official CD release on November 28, which included an original composition written and produced by Leith titled "Come to Me".

The single was certified "Gold" (35,000 copies sold) within 72 hours of its release.[4] On December 3, 2006, the single debuted at #1 and continued to stay in that position for 4 weeks, having Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies shipped) awarded in the first week of release.

It was the fastest-selling debut single released during 2006, and also the most added song to radio.[5]

The video of "Night of My Life" debuted on national television on Saturday December 9, 2006. Set in the urban streets of Chippendale, Sydney, the video was produced by Cutting Edge Productions.

Although with an official release date of December 9, on December 6, 2006, Leith's CD/DVD pack entitled The Winner's Journey with all his Idol performances and two original tracks began appearing in non-ARIA accredited stores. The release debuted at #3 with Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies shipped) on the ARIA Album Charts released on Sunday, December 10, 2006, and rose to #1 on the following week, with 89,000 units sold and certified platinum four times (280,000 copies shipped). It sold a 2006 record of 101,206 units in the pre-Christmas week and continued to stay in the same position of #1 for the next four weeks.

In late December 2006, Leith signed with Sony BMG Ireland and on January 18 2007 Night of My Life entered the Top 10 singles chart in Ireland.[6] The next week it rose up two spots to the position of #8.

Leith performed in a nationally televised concert, Australia Day Live, on the eve of Australia Day 2007, in the nation's capital, Canberra. Leith performed two songs, Peter Allen's Tenterfield Saddler with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and Night of My Life.

In March, Damien was nominated for 2 awards; including "Spankin' New Artist" and "Best Male Artist" at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007. It has been reported that Leith's debut studio album will be released in April 2007.[3]

Discography

Albums

Cover Album information
File:88697047942.jpg
 The Winner's Journey

Singles

Cover Track information
File:NOMLcover.jpg
 Night of My Life

Awards and recognition

Year Award-giving Body Award Result
2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007 Spankin' New Artist TBA
2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007 Best Male Artist TBA

Trivia

  • At the time of winning Australian Idol, Leith was a permanent resident of Australia and not yet an Australian citizen. The 2003 winner, Guy Sebastian, was born in Malaysia before emigrating to Australia as a six (6) year-old child. In addition to Leith, four other members of the Top 12 from the 2006 series were born outside Australia, including Dean Geyer (South Africa), Lavina Williams (New Zealand), Lisa Mitchell and Guy Mutton (England).

References

  1. ^ "Oz Idol Damien Leith's baby joy". Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ AAP (2006). Irish Leith enjoying life as Aussie Idol. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
  3. ^ a b "Damien Leith Biography". Retrieved November 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "'Night Of My Life' Goes Gold!". Retrieved November 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Damien Leith - Latest News". Retrieved December 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Ireland - Top Singles Chart". Retrieved January 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
Preceded by Australian Idol
Winner
Season 4 (2006) 		Succeeded by
TBA
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