Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Mauboy |
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Jessica Mauboy (born August 4, 1989 in Darwin, Northern Territory) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the runner-up of the fourth season of Australian Idol in 2006. She is also a former member of the Australian multi-platinum selling girlgroup the Young Divas.
Biography
Early Life
Mauboy was born to a father of Indonesian origin and a mother of Indigenous Australian, Native American and English descent.[1]
At the age of 14 she won the Road to Tamworth Talent Search, with the grand prize being a single recording contract with Sony BMG. She then recorded a country version of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Years later during Australian Idol this contract became a source of controversy, with certain media reports stating that already having a recording contract was against the rules of Idol, but Grundy Television said Mauboy's experiences in Tamworth had no bearing on her involvement in Australian Idol and that she no longer had a contract with Sony, allowing her to participate in the competition.
Australian Idol
In the summer of 2006, Jessica auditioned for the fourth season of Australian Idol in Alice Springs. She sand the Whitney Houston hit I Have Nothing and her powerful vocals impressed all three judges Matk Holden, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands. Marcia stated that Mauboy was one of the most natually blessed singers she had ever come across. She made it through to the theatre rounds with a unanimous "yes" and performed at the Kimberley Moon Experience, in Kununurra, to announce the news to her family and friends.
Having travelled to Sydney for the theatre rounds of Idol, Mauboy made it through to the live, televised semi-finals and then advanced to the final 12 with 32% of her semi-final group's votes. On September 24, Jessica was given the first coveted "touchdown" of the entire season from judge Mark Holden after her performance of Christina Aguilera's hit, "Beautiful", which received a huge appluase from the audience. On October 1, she suffered a sore throat and was unable to hit the high notes whilst performaning the Phil Colins hit "Another Day in Paradise". She subsequently placed in the bottom 3 the following night but managed to escape elimination. She received her second "touchdown" for her rendition of "Words" by The Bee Gees on 29th October.
Towards the final stages of the competition, Mauboy was widely considered a favourite to win. Much speculation was also made that she would win because, like the first three Australian Idol winners, she appeared in the middle of the top 12 group photo - a conspiracy theory initially promoted tongue-in-cheek by host Josh Zepps in an episode of Idol Backstage and later taken seriously by some fans. On November 13 2006, Mauboy made it into the final 2, securing a place in the Grand Finale at the Sydney Opera House. On November 26 2006, she was declared runner-up, with Damien Leith winning the title of fourth Australian Idol.
Australian Idol Performances
- Alice Springs Auditions - "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston
- Top 100 - "Soar" by Christina Aguilera
- Top 24 - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston
- Top 12 - Contestant's Choice: "Stickwitu" by Pussycat Dolls
- Top 11 - Rock: "Walk Away" by Kelly Clarkson
- Top 10 - #1 Hits: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera - TOUCHDOWN
- Top 9 - Contestant's Year Of Birth: "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins Bottom 3
- Top 8 - Disco: "On the Radio" by Donna Summer
- Top 7 - Acoustic: "Have You Ever" by Brandy
- Up Close & Personal: "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Dionne Warwick
- Top 6 - Rock Swings: "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles
- Top 5 - ARIA Hall of Fame: "Words" by The Bee Gees - TOUCHDOWN
- Top 4 - Audience Choice: "Karma" by Alicia Keys
- Top 4 - Audience Choice: "Butterfly" by Mariah Carey
- Top 3 - Judge's Choice: "When You Believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
- Top 3 - Idol's Choice: "To Sir, with Love" by Lulu - Bottom 2
- Top 2 - Winner's Single: "Night of My Life"
- Top 2 - Contestant's Choice: "Impossible" by Christina Aguilera
- Top 2 - Contestant's Choice: "Together Again" by Janet Jackson
- Top 2 - Grand Finale: "When You Believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston - Declared Runner Up
Post-Idol Career
2007: The Journey
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Jessica_Mauboy_The_Journey_Album_Cover.jpg)
On December 10, 2006 it was announced that Mauboy had secured a recording contract with Sony BMG, with company spokesman Denis Handlin stating that her debut album would be released in mid-2007.[2] On December 24, Mauboy performed "When a Child Is Born" and "All I Want For Christmas" at the annual Carols by Candlelight event in Melbourne.[3]
On February 24 2007, Mauboy released The Journey, a live album of all her Idol performances. The album debuted and peaked at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart and was quickly certified gold for the sale of 35,000 copies.
On March 1, Mauboy appeared at her first post-Idol public performance on Channel Seven's, Sunrise. She sang "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, which had been her most highly praised performance during Australian Idol. She also recorded the song "Right Up Higher", which was used as the opening theme of The Catch-Up, a daytime talk show on channel nine.
2007-2008: Young Divas and New Attitude
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/YoungDivasNewAttitude.jpg/200px-YoungDivasNewAttitude.jpg)
On September 26 2007, after much speculation, Mauboy was introduced to the public as the new member of the Young Divas during the Top 12 performance night of Australian Idols fifth season. Mauboy replaced one of the group's founding members, Ricki-Lee Coulter, who had featured on the group's debut album but departed in June 2007 in order to concentrate on her solo career. The first Young Divas single to feature vocals from Mauboy, "Turn Me Loose" was released on November 17 2007, and after debuting at number 21, the song peaked at number fifteen. The group's second studio album (and first with with Mauboy) New Attitude was released a week later on November 24 and debuted at #10. The album was qquickly certified gold for that sale of 35,000 copies
On March 28 2008, after six months of apparent inactivity, the Young Divas' record label, Sony BMG announced in The Daily Telegraph that due to the underperformance of Turn Me Loose, a second single would not be released from New Attitude. However, it was also stated that the group were not being dropped from the record label's line-up of artists and would continue to record music.[4]
In early June 2008, Mauboy signed on to the Australian Government 'In2Oz'[2] program, designed to promote closer ties with Indonesia. As a part of this program, she travelled to Indonesia for a week long trip performing around the country. She also performed on Indonesian Idol, singing "Crazy In Love" from her live album The Journey, and also performing "Sempurna" (Perfect) with with former Indonesian Idol stars Mike, Judika and Lucky.
On August 24 2008, following months of rumours, it was officially announced that after a year with the group, Mauboy had decided to quit the Young Divas in order to concentrate on her solo career.[5] Founding member Paulini Curuenavuli had also decided to depart, leaving Kate DeAraugo and Emily Williams as the only remaining members of the group, though their manager David Champion stated that the Divas would undergo a third line-up change following the departures of Mauboy and Paulini, with a third album to be released later in the year. Mauboy stressed that she had gained valuable experience during her short time with the Divas and would remain good friends with all of her former bandmates.
2008-Present: Debut Solo Album
Having been working on her highly anticipated and overdue debut solo album since June 2008, Mauboy stated in August that she planned to release her debut single in August, with the album following in September. She also said that there would be fourteen or fifteen tracks on the album, eight of which she had either wrote or co-wrote.[6] Jessica's first debut single is titled 'Running Back' and will be released to radio mid-September, with a commercial release in October.
Discography
Jessica Mauboy discography | |
---|---|
Live albums | 1 |
Tours | 1 |
The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Australian Pop/RnB music artist Jessica Mauboy.
Albums
Year | Information | Australia | Sales and Certifications |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | The Journey
|
Australian sales: 35,000 | |
2008 | Been Waiting | Australian sales: TBA
ARIA: TBA |
Singles
Year | Song | Australia | Certification | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | "Running Back" | October 2008 | — | TBA |
References
- ^ Jessica Explains Her Heritage
- ^ "Sony snaps up Dean and Jess". Retrieved December 10.
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suggested) (help) - ^ 2006 Song List in Carols by Candlelight (Word document)
- ^ Divas left in label limbo | The Daily Telegraph
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24230201-27258,00.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2007Albums.htm
External links
- Official Website
- Official Forum
- Official Myspace
- Jessica Mauboy on SonyBMG.com.au
- http://www.dfat.gov.au/in2oz/ in2oz Creative Australia]
- Australian Idol Profile
- Interview with Jessica on WHO.com