Casey Donovan (singer)
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Casey Donovan (born May 13, 1988) is an Australian singer and was the youngest winner of the Australian Idol series, winning the second season of Australian Idol, at the age of 16.
Biography
Early life
Casey Donovan came from a family of musicians, with several of her relatives pursuing musical careers, including her father, a member of indigenous country band The Donovans. After her parents split, her mother and siblings moved in with stepfather Norm Axford. Growing up, Casey was always interested in singing and was lucky enough to be able to stay in touch with cousins Shalena and Jaleesa as well as occasional contact with Emma Donovan. This contact with the Donovan cousins fostered interest in both singing and playing guitar, which led to busking on the streets of Tamworth during the Country Music Festival when she was 10. Casey's musical interest was noticed at Bass Hill Public School and Georges Hall Primary, but was not enough to have any public notice. It was not until high school that her talent became noticed, and was supported especially by both her mother and stepfather.
Australian Idol 2004
Donovan moved to the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2004, and it was in this year that her stepfather encouraged her into auditioning for the second season of Australian Idol. While Donovan performed well throughout the Australian Idol competition, receiving countless praise from all three judges of her flawless performances and studio standard vocals,she was not widely considered a favorite to win. During the competition, she received some outside success, winning the Most Promising New Talent Award at the 2004 The Deadlys, which honor indigenous talent in Australia. Nevertheless, she surprised many by being the first making it to the 2004 final, and then defeating widespread favorite Anthony Callea in the grand final. To this date, she is still the youngest Idol winner in the world, having won the competition whilst still only 16.
Australian Idol Performances
- Sydney Auditions: "A Million Tears" by Kasey Chambers
- Theatre Round (Day Two): "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder (with Emelia Rusciano, Liza Schulberg and Yasmine Abeydeera)
- Theatre Round (Day Three): "Exodus" by Evanescence
- Top 30 - Group 3: "Here's Where I Stand" by Tiffany Taylor
- Top 12 (Australian Made): "Symphony of Life" by Tina Arena
- Top 11 (Pop): "Don't Speak" by No Doubt
- Top 10 (The '60's): "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane
- Top 9 (Disco): "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb - Bottom 3
- Top 8 (Idol's Choice): "Special Ones" by George
- Top 7 (The Beatles): "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles
- Top 6 (The '80's): "The Flame" by Cheap Trick - Bottom 2
- Up Close and Personal Show: "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica
- Top 5 (R&B): "Beautiful" by India.Arie
- Top 4 (Big Band): "Why Don't You Do Right?" by Peggy Lee - Bottom 2
- Top 4 (Big Band): "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra
- Top 3 (The '70's): "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon
- Top 3 (The '70's): "Misty Blue" by Dorothy Moore
- Top 2 "Take Me as I Am" by Vanessa Amorosi
- Top 2 "Hello" by Evanescence
- Top 2 "Listen with Your Heart" - Idol winner's single (originally by CeCe Winans) - Declared Australian Idol 2004
Post-Idol Career
2004-2006: For You
Donovan's post-Idol debut single, Listen With Your Heart was released digitally on November 21, 2004 and officially in stores on November 29, 2004 and it debuted at #1 on the ARIAnet singles chart. She then released her debut album For You on December 13, which debuted at #2 on the album charts. Her second single "What's Going On?"* peaked at number 18 in February 2005, and her third single "Flow" was released on July 24, 2005 but only managed to reach number 51.
- "What's Going On?" is a song that was written by Australian band 'The Veronicas', and covered in Swedish "Vad Hände Sen", by Swedish singer Linda Bengtzing for her 2006 album "Ingenting Att Förlora".
In 2005 Casey was nominated for three Deadly awards, winning two for Best Album and Best Single. Previously Casey had won a Deadly for Most Promising New Talent in 2004. Also in 2005 she received two ARIA nominations for Highest Selling Album and Highest Selling Single and was awarded an ARIA NO.1 award for "Listen With Your Heart".
On March 26 2006, she performed at the Closing Ceremony for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. In June 2006, SonyBMG dropped Casey from their record lineup, stating that she did not fit the image they want to promote.
2007-Present: Eye2Eye and Comeback Album
After Donovan faded from the limelight following her release from Sony BMG, she spent two years writing her own songs with her band. As well as this, she has performed at numerous intimate gigs, mainly in Sydney, but also a show in Melbourne, and appearing twice at the Dreaming Festival on the Sunshine Coast. In April 2007 Donovan teamed up with the former iron man Guy Leech in an effort to shed her excess weight and restore her singing career[1]. In an interview on the 29th of August 2007 on Channel 7's "The Morning Show", Casey said that she had lost 15 kg, and more than 30cm off her waistline, and hopes to reduce this further in the coming months to her own set goal.
Her contract with Karma management ended on November 22, 2007, with no plans to resign another contract. As such, Norm Axford, Casey's stepfather assigned himself as her manager. Shortly following this, Casey released an independent EP, Eye 2 Eye, which she aims to use as a stepping stone to recording a second album, with plans to release it toward the end of 2008.
Discography
| Casey Donovan discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 1 |
| Music videos | 3 |
| Singles | 3 |
| B-sides | 3 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Tours | 1 |
The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Australian pop music artist Casey Donovan.
Albums
| Year | Information | Australia | Sales and Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | For You
|
Australian sales: 210,000 |
EPs
| Year | Information | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Eye 2 Eye |
1. Shattered |
Singles
| Year | Song | Australia[3] | Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Listen With Your Heart" | 1 | 2xPlatinum (ARIA) | For You |
| 2005 | "What's Going On?" | 18 | — | |
| "Flow" | 51 | — |
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Deadlys | Best New Artist | Winner |
| 2005 | ARIA Award | Highest Selling Single (Listen With Your Heart) | Nominated |
| 2005 | ARIA Award | Highest Selling Album (For You) | Nominated |
| 2005 | Deadlys | Best Single (Listen With Your Heart) | Winner |
| 2005 | Deadlys | Best Album (For You) | Winner |
Controversies
- In June 2006, SonyBMG dropped Casey from their record lineup, stating that she did not fit the image they want to promote.
- In an interview for the Sydney Morning Herald, Casey was quoted as saying that she smoked excessively and ate several Cherry ripe bars for breakfast. Her publicist intervened shortly after to state that certain parts of the interview were taken out of context.
- Some publications and concerned groups also criticised Donovan for her size and heavy smoking, noting that she was a potentially influential public figure and role model.[citation needed]
- The day after Casey Donovan's victory in the Idol finals, Telstra's website inadvertently linked to http://www.caseydonovan.com/, at the time a gay porn site, rather than http://www.caseydonovan.com.au/. The mistake was repeated in a full page advertisement in The Age the next day.