Damien Leith

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Damien Leith
Background information
Born January 18, 1976 (age 30)
Origin County Kildare, Ireland
Genre(s) Acoustic
Pop
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Years active 2006–present
Label(s) Sony BMG (2006–present)
Website DamienLeith.com.au

Damien Leith (born 18 January 1976) is a 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, and son Jarvis.

Contents

[edit] 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.[1]

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

Leith worked in Sydney as a chemist with Pharmalab prior to auditioning for Australian Idol, utilising the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry he obtained from Trinity College, Dublin and his work with the Metallosupramolecular Research Group in the College's Chemistry Department.

[edit] 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, 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. His renditions of Roy Orbison's "Crying", Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", 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".

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 oldest winner of any Idol series in the World, and in respect of the Australian contest, the oldest contestant to win, and the only non-Australian citizen to have won.

[edit] Australian Idol Performances

[edit] 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 and outsold the rest of the Top 10 singles combined at some record stores.[citation needed] On December 3, 2006, the single debuted at number 1 with Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies sold) on the ARIA Charts. It was the fastest-selling debut single released during 2006, and also the most added song to radio.[2]. The single was again no. 1 on the ARIA Chart released on December 10, 2006.

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.

There is a planned release of "Night of My Life" in Ireland.

It has been stated that his debut studio album will be released in early 2007.[1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Cover Album information
Damien Leith - The Winner's Journey

[edit] Singles

Cover Track information
Night Of My Life

[edit] Trivia

  • Leith never had vocal training before auditioning for Australian Idol.[citation needed]
  • Leith is a permanent resident of Australia. He will soon be receiving Australian citizenship.[3] The 2003 winner, Guy Sebastian, was born in Malaysia before emigrating to Australia as a 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).
  • In addition to his songwriting, Leith has written an unpublished novel "The Trek", about a man's journey through Tibet, as well as four plays.[citation needed]
  • Leith has green eyes, and likes eggs.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Damien Leith Biography. Retrieved on November 27, 2006.
  2. ^ Damien Leith - Latest News. Retrieved on December 5, 2006.
  3. ^ AAP (2006). Irish Leith enjoying life as Aussie Idol. Retrieved November 28, 2006.

[edit] External links

Australian Idol Season Four (2006)
 Damien Leith • Jessica Mauboy • Dean Geyer • Chris Murphy
Ricky Muscat • Lisa Mitchell • Bobby Flynn • Lavina Williams
Guy "Mutto" Mutton • Klancie Keough • Reigan Derry • Joseph Gatehau
Australian Idol
Hosts and Judges
Andrew G | James Mathison
Mark Holden | Marcia Hines | Ian "Dicko" Dickson | Kyle Sandilands
Winners
Guy Sebastian | Casey Donovan | Kate DeAraugo | Damien Leith
Runners-Up
Shannon Noll | Anthony Callea | Emily Williams | Jessica Mauboy
Seasons
Idol 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006
Other
List of semi finalists | Young Divas | Australian Made: The Hits | List of commercial releases
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