Mauboy, Jessica

1989-2006: Early Life, Early Career, and Australian Idol

Jessica Hilda Mauboy was born on August 4, 1989 and raised in Darwin , Northern Territory . ^[3] Her father is of Indonesian descent, and her mother is an Australian native . ^{[4] [5] [6]} Mauboy is the youngest of five children. From an early age, she sang in a local church choir with her grandmother. ^{[5] [7]} Her house was described as “the noisiest house in the quarter,” with her often singing mother, her father playing the guitar, and other family members showing their passion for music. ^[5] Mauboy attended Wulagi Primary School and Sanderson High School in Darwin. ^[eight]

In 2004, at the age of 14, Mauboy showed her talents at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in Tamworth, New South Wales . ^[9] As a contest winner, Mauboy traveled to Sydney to perform and sign a contract with Sony Music Australia . She then recorded a country cover for Cindy Loper 's hit Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. A video clip for its version was released; however, the song didn't hit any charts and Mauboy returned to Darwin before heading out to audition for the Australian Idol talent show in 2006.

She auditioned for Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" in the fourth season of Australian Idol in Alice Springs . Her audition impressed all three judges and she reached the semifinals. After the semifinals, Mauboy got into the Top 12. The media cited her previous contract with Sony as the basis for her suspension, but since the contract expired, Australian Idol refused to remove the girl from the show. Throughout the editions, Mauboy continued to impress the judges with her performances. At the end of the eleventh week, after her singing Kelly Clarkson 's song “ Walk Away, ” Judge Kyle Sandilands spoke about the weight of Mauba, saying that if she wants to succeed in the music industry, she must “lose her belly-jelly”. ^[10] Mauboy was stunned by this statement. In an interview with Alicia Neil from Who magazine, two years after this remark, the singer said: “I kind of took it as a joke ... I look back at it as a positive moment - it made me a stronger person.” At the end of the tenth week, Mauboy received the first goal from referee Mark Holden for performing Christina Aguilera 's hit “ Beautiful ”. During the final of the ninth week, Mauboy fell ill with a sore throat, which led to a mediocre performance of Phil Collins' song “ Another Day in Paradise ” and the girl was almost eliminated, falling into the top three. After that week, she never hit the top three again, and ultimately reached the finals with Damien Leith. The grand finale took place on November 27 at the Sydney Opera House . ^[6] After counting the audience votes, it was announced that Mauboy took second place after Leith. ^[eleven]

2006-2009: The Journey , Young Divas, and Been Waiting

In December 2006, two weeks after the end of the Australian Idol show, Jessica signed with Sony Music Australia. ^[12] In 2007, Mauboy appeared in an advertisement for Head & Shoulders brand shampoo. ^[13] On February 24, 2007, she released her debut live album, The Journey, in Australia. ^[14] The album consisted of two discs: the first disc contained rewritten covers that the singer performed during the Australian Idol show , and the second disc included a DVD from her performances on the same show. In September, Mauboy joined the girl group Young Divas, replacing one of the original members, Ricky Lee Colter, who left the group in June to begin her solo career. ^[15] Their second studio album, New Attitude, was released on November 24. ^[sixteen]

Meanwhile, in March 2008, Mauboy signed a contract with the Australian Government In2Oz program, which aims to maintain closer ties with Indonesia. ^[17] As part of the program, she went on a three-day trip around the country, speaking at various events, including Indonesian Idol , where she sang Beyoncé 's song “ Crazy in Love ” and the song “Sempurna” with former contestants Mike, Judith and Lucky. ^[18] It was at this time that the singer began working on her first solo album. After a three-day trip to Indonesia, she returned to Sydney for a week-long recording session. In August, Mauboy announced that after a year with the group, she decided to leave her to concentrate on her solo career. ^[19] The group's founder Paulini also decided to leave, leaving Kate Dearaugo and Emily Williams as the only remaining members. ^[19] Their manager, David Champion, said that due to the departure of Jessica and Paulini, the group will have a third line-up change, and a third album will be released a little later this year. However, both remaining members subsequently resumed their solo career and the group officially broke up.

At the end of 2008, Mauboy relocated from Darwin to Sydney and was preparing to release her debut studio album Been Waiting . ^[20] The album was released on November 22; it reached # 11 and was certified double platinum with sales of 140,000 copies. ^{[21] [22]}

2010-2012: Movies and Get 'Em Girls

In January 2010, Jessica Mauboy starred in the film adaptation of the 1990 Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae . ^{[23] The} director was Rachel Perkins; Ernie Dingo, Jeffrey Rush , Missy Higgins and Debora Mailman also starred in the film. ^[24] Mauboy played the role of Rosie, a local church singer who has a love interest in a schoolboy named Willie (played by Rocky Mackenzie). ^[23] Five days after Bran Nue Dae 's release, Mauboy signed with Universal Music . ^[25]

On November 5, 2010, the singer released her second studio album, Get 'Em Girls . ^[26] In February of that year, Mauboy traveled to the United States to work on an album in Los Angeles , New York and Atlanta with American songwriters and producers, most of whom she had not previously worked with. The album debuted under # 6 and received gold certification. ^[27]

2013 — present Time: Beautiful

Singer Beautiful's third studio album was released on October 4 and debuted at # 3 on ARIA's Australian album chart; To date, this is her most successful chart album. ^[28]

On October 6, 2013, NRL Grand Final, Mauba performed a medley of songs from “Something's Got a Hold on Me” and “Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up)”, the Australian anthem and “Livin 'la Vida Loca” with Ricky Martin . ^[29] In November 2013, the singer embarked on her first solo concert tour, To the End of the Earth Tour . It consisted of 27 concerts and received positive reviews from music critics. ^{[30] [31]}

On January 24, 2014, Mauba released an I Am Australian cover with Dame Ime, Justice Crew, Nathaniel Willemsem, Samantha Jade and Taylor Henderson to support Australia Day celebrations. ^{[32] [33]} The song reached # 51 on the Australian ARIA single chart. ^[34] In February 2014, it was announced that Mauboy had become the NRL brand ambassador and signed a long-term contract. ^[35]

In 2018, Jessica became the winner of the National Eurovision Song Contest selection and got the opportunity to go to Portugal . On May 10, she will perform in Lisbon in the second semifinal of the show with the song “We Got Love” ^[2] .

In 2019, Jessica released two singles “Sunday” and “Little Things” and one promotional single “Blessing” for the fourth studio album “Hilda”. The album will be released on October 18, 2019.

Music and Songs

Mauba’s music is typically written in R&B and pop genres, ^[36] but some of her songs also include hip hop . ^[37]

In addition to vocal work, the singer is also a co-author of some tracks. Mauboy took part in writing six songs for the debut album, three for the second and ten for the third.

Influences

Mauba grew up listening to country singers Patsy Kline and Dolly Parton , ^[38] as well as rappers Tupac Shakur , Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg . ^[39] She enjoys playing the piano while performing songs by Mariah Carey , Whitney Houston and Bee Gees . ^[40] Mauboy calls Carey and Houston his musical inspirers, ^[41] and also refers to John Farnham, calling him the largest Australian singer who influenced her work. ^[42] She admires actress Deborah Mailman for her play, and Olympic champion Katie Freeman , about whom she said: “She had a great influence on my life.” ^[43] Mauba is a fan of Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé . ^{[41] [44]}

Studio albums

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

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

Supporting other artists

• Beyonce - I Am ... World Tour (2009)
• Chris Brown - FAME Tour (2011)