Jessica Mauboy is an Australian singer and songwriter who rose to prominence on the fourth season of Australian Idol in 2006, placing second behind winner Damien Leith. Since Idol she has released two solo albums that have been certified gold and platinum respectively, and has had multiple singles that have charted extremely well, including the number one hit "Burn". From 2007 to 2008 she was also a member of Australian multi-platinum selling girl group, Young Divas. Due to her commercial success and community work across towns of Australia, she has been nominated for the 2009 NT Young Australian of the Year and seven 2009 ARIA Award nominations.
Contents
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* 1 Early life
* 2 Influences
* 3 Australian Idol 2006
* 4 Recording and film career
o 4.1 2007–2008: New Attitude with the Young Divas
o 4.2 2008–present: Been Waiting
* 5 Discography
* 6 Filmography
* 7 Awards and nominations
* 8 References
* 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Mauboy was born in Darwin. Her father has a Timorese Indonesian background, while her mother is an Aboriginal. Mauboy was in a Big Sister and Little Sister program. Mauboy's older sister heard her sing and called it a "hair-raising experience" and that she was in tears afterwards.

Encouraged by her big sister and her father, Mauboy auditioned for the fourth season of Australian Idol at the show's Alice Springs auditions. After proving immensely popular, and a favourite to win with audiences, she became runner-up to Damien Leith. Her performances over the course of the season included particularly popular renditions of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" and The Bee Gees' "Words".
[edit] Influences

Jessica Mauboy has stated she has been inspired by a number of musicians. These include Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey & Christina Aguilera.
[edit] Australian Idol 2006
Week Theme Song choice Original artist Result
Audition Contestant's Choice I Have Nothing Whitney Houston Advanced
Theatre Week First Solo Impossible Christina Aguilera Advanced
Theatre Week Group Performance Advanced
Theatre Week Second Solo Soar Christina Aguilera Advanced
Top 24 none "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" Whitney Houston Advanced
Top 12 Contestant's Choice "Stickwitu" Pussycat Dolls Safe
Top 11 Rock "Walk Away" Kelly Clarkson Safe
Top 10 Number Ones "Beautiful" Christina Aguilera Safe
Top 9 The Year They Were Born "Another Day in Paradise" Phil Collins Bottom 3
Top 8 Disco "On the Radio" Donna Summer Safe
Top 7 Acoustic "Have You Ever?" Brandy Safe
SPECIAL Up Close & Personal "What the World Needs Now" Burt Bacharach & Hal David Safe
Top 6 Rock Swings "Crazy in Love" Beyoncé Knowles Safe
Top 5 ARIA Hall of Fame "Words" Bee Gees Safe
Top 4 Viewer's Choice "Butterfly"
"Karma" Mariah Carey
Alicia Keys Safe
Top 3 Judges' Choice
Contestant's Choice "When You Believe"
"To Sir, with Love" Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston
Lulu Safe
Top 2 Contestant's Choice
Contestant's Choice
Winner's Single "Impossible"
"Together Again"
"Night of My Life" Christina Aguilera
Janet Jackson
Damien Leith Runner-up

On 10 December 2006, two weeks after the conclusion of the 4th series of Australian Idol, 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.[1]
[edit] Recording and film career

On 24 December, Mauboy performed "When a Child Is Born" and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" at the annual Carols by Candlelight event in Melbourne.[2]

On 24 February 2007, Mauboy released The Journey, a live album containing her Idol performances. The album debuted and peaked at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart.[3] and was certified gold for the sale of 35,000 copies[4]

On 1 March, Mauboy appeared on Channel Seven's, Sunrise. She sang "Beautiful".[5] 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.[6] Also in 2007 Mauboy appeared in advertisements for shampoo product Head & Shoulders.[7]
[edit] 2007–2008: New Attitude with the Young Divas

On 26 September 2007, after much speculation, Mauboy was introduced to the public as the new member of the Young Divas. 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.[8] The first Young Divas single to feature vocals from Mauboy, "Turn Me Loose" was released on 17 November 2007, and after debuting at number 21, the song peaked at number fifteen.[9] The group's second studio album (and first with Mauboy) New Attitude was released a week later on 24 November and debuted at #10.[10] The album was quickly certified gold for sales of 35,000 copies.[11]

On 28 March 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.[12]

In early June 2008, Mauboy signed on to the Australian Government 'In2Oz'[13] 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" and "Sempurna" (Perfect) with former Indonesian Idol stars Mike, Judika and Lucky.[14]

On 24 August 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.[15] 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.[16]
[edit] 2008–present: Been Waiting

Mauboy's debut solo single "Running Back" featuring guest vocals from American rapper Flo Rida was released for download on 23 September 2008 and physical sales commenced on 11 October 2008.[17] The single peaked at number 3, spent nineteen weeks on the singles chart and achieved double platinum status for sales of over 140,000 copies. It has also peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Urban Charts.[18] Her debut studio album Been Waiting was released on 22 November and debuted at number 16 peaking at number 11 on the ARIA Album Charts in its ninth week. It peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Urban Charts and was certified platinum for sales of over 70,000 copies.[19] The album was released in Japan on April 22, 2009 and she will promote the album there later in the year.[20] In March 2009, it was announced that Mauboy would release her debut album in the UK and would start promotion in June after signing a contract with the Ministry of Sound label. The deal made Mauboy the second Australian Idol contestant ever to sign a UK record deal, after Ricki-Lee.[21]

Towards the end of 2008, Mauboy filmed a starring role in the film adaptation of 1990 Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae.[22] The film was directed by Rachel Perkins and also stars Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Missy Higgins and Deborah Mailman.[23][24] The movie will premiere on 8 August 2009 at the closing night of the Melbourne International Film Festival.[25]

Mauboy's second single, "Burn" was released on December 6, 2008 and debuted at number 30 but after 7 weeks of rising up the ARIA singles chart it hit the number 1 spot, making it Mauboy's first number one single. It spent over twenty weeks on the chart and achieved platinum status.[26] Like her first single, it too peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Urban Charts. The single made its debut on the Japan Hot 100 at number ninety-two on April 25, 2009.[27]

The third single from the album was the title track "Been Waiting" which was rushed to radio due to Burn being removed from most radio playlists in light of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.[28] The single was officially released on 14 March 2009 and peaked at number 12 achieving Gold sales.[29]

In the week of 25 May 2009, her fourth single "Because" was the number-one most added track on Australian radio.[30] The single was released on June 12 and debuted on the ARIA Charts at #9 and has since certified Gold.[31]

Also in 2009, Mauboy signed with cosmetic company Bloom to create a range of designer nail-polishes and in June performed at the Sydney launch of video game The Sims 3.[32][33][34]

Jessica Mauboy's debut album, "Been Waiting" was re-released on August 21, 2009. The re-release, titled "Been Waiting: Deluxe Edition", will have the main album with 3 new songs and 3 remixes and a DVD containing the four music videos and 3 live performances.

The albums fifth single, "Up/Down" was released on August 28[35]. Up/Down debuted on the charts at #22 and currently peaked at #11[36] and reached #9 on iTunes. Up/Down has since received Gold Status. The albums sixth and final single will be "Let Me Be Me" and it will be released on 27 November 2009.

Along with Flo Rida, Jessica was a supporting act for Beyoncé during the Australian leg of her I Am… Tour in September 2009[37].

On October 8 2009, Jessica was nominated for seven ARIA music awards: Highest Selling Single (Burn & Running Back), Highest Selling Album, Best Pop Release, Breakthrough Artist Single (Running Back), Breakthrough Artist Album & Best Female Artist[38]

Mauboy performed Burn at the ARIA Awards on November 26th, and won the award for Highest Selling Single. (Running Back)

As of 8th of November, 2009 the album has spent 50 weeks in the ARIA Albums Chart.
[edit] Discography
Main article: Jessica Mauboy discography

* The Journey (2007)
* Been Waiting (200
* Jessica Mauboy's Second Studio Album (2010)

[edit] Filmography

* 2010: Bran Nue Dae