Vanessa Amorosi is an Australian singer and recording artist. To date she has sold over 1.6 million albums.
Life and career
Early life
Amorosi was born in Beaconsfield, Melbourne, Australia. When Amorosi was 4, along with her younger sisters, she would go to tap, jazz and classical ballet classes, which were being run by her uncle. She attended Emerald Primary and Emerald Secondary School.[1] At the age of 12 Amorosi started to perform in shopping centers and local council concerts under the supervision of her family. Amorosi was discovered performing at Matrioshka[2], a Russian restaurant in Carnegie, by Jack Strom and signed a recording contract in 1997. After being signed to MarJac Productions (co-owned by managers Mark Holden and Jack Strom) and recording a promo CD titled "Get Here", she secured a deal with Transistor Music Australia. Amorosi also spent a short period training with the army. Amorosi was also a judge on the Channel 9 TV show, Starstruck.
Amorosi is a vegetarian.[3]
Voice and vocal range
Amorosi is known for her versatile vocal ability. She is able to vocally cover many genres of music including, pop, rock, blues, jazz, and gospel. Amorosi is also known for her vocal range which reaches Soprano C6 in what is perceived to be full chest voice. Amorosi's ability to connect chest voice and head voice is one of her trademark talents. Amorosi's effortless approach to singing in her upper registry is what helped her become well known in both Australia and Germany. She is also noted for her ability to sing in the whistle registry as well, hitting notes above E6. Amorosi's most powerful vocals can be heard in her song "Start It" from her 2008 album Somewhere in the Real World, in which she can be heard belting two A5's and two B5's in mixed/chest voice and an E6 in the whistle registry. Also in "I Am Woman", performed at the ARIA Hall of Fame tribute for Helen Reddy in 2006, Amorosi can be heard belting a sustained C6. Amorosi is also noted for her very strong low register, sounding like a contralto or even a tenor, such as in the song "Off on My Kiss" from her album Hazardous, in which she sings many B2's.
The Power
In 1999, Amorosi released her debut single "Have a Look" which became a Top 20 hit. Second single "Absolutely Everybody", an anthemic dance song, reached the Top 10 and became the longest charting Australian single by an Australian female artist[4]. It remained in the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart for over six months after its release[5]. "Absolutely Everybody" was released internationally and reached the Top 10 in many European countries including the United Kingdom and Germany where it received a gold certification. Amorosi performed at many large events such as the NRL Grand Final, the opening of the Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island and the new millennium on "New Year's Eve" at Darling Harbour.
In 2000 two more singles "Shine" and "The Power" became major Australian hits, and her album The Power reached number one on the Australian album charts. Amorosi received six ARIA nominations[6] in the year 2000 awards and The Power was nominated[7] for "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Release" in the ARIA Music Awards of 2001. Her largest audience came in September 2000 with performances at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and at the Paralympic Games. At the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics she sang the Olympic song titled "Heroes Live Forever". Amorosi won the APRA Award[8] in 2001 for "Most Played Song" on Australian Radio with "Shine" and received international acclaim in Germany where she won "Best International Newcomer"[9] at the 2001 VIVA Comet Awards. Later that year she also made a special appearance at the Goodwill Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Brisbane. In 2001 she performed at the AFL Grand Final.
In August 2002 Amorosi traveled to Manchester where she was one of the stars of the Commonwealth Games Hand-Over Ceremony, performing her hit "Shine" and a new song written especially for the event, "I’ll always be a Melbourne girl".
In February 2003, Amorosi performed her "Blues" set[10] for the first time at the Melbourne International Music And Blues Festival and traveled to Germany to perform her latest European single "True to Yourself" on "Top of the Pops" and the hugely successful long-running show "Wetten, dass..?" which screens throughout Europe[11].
Somewhere in the Real World
On 25 January 2006, it was revealed that Amorosi signed with Manager Ralph Carr, having completed her seven year management with MarJac Productions. She is quoted on the website as saying, "I have been with my previous management for seven years and thought both parties had gone as far as we could together... Moving over to Ralph Carr Management seemed like a natural progression, given the acts he has successfully managed. I am excited and enthused." On November 22, 2006 it was announced that Amorosi had signed to Universal Music Australia. Amorosi’s charity work predates her fame, and her involvement with Kids Help Line and the Variety Club led to a number of honours, including a 2003 nomination for Australian of the Year. She still has the farm where endangered animals can find refuge, although she doesn’t get to visit much; her friends run it for her. She supported Kiss on their 2008 tour of Australia. In 2008 Amorosi released the album Somewhere in the Real World, through Universal Music Australia, on 24 May 2008[12][13]. The album tracks "Perfect" and "Start It" have both been used in promotions for the Seven Network. "Start It" is Channel 7's AFL song for 2008 and will be used again in 2009. Released digitally and in stores on 24 May 2008, Somewhere in the Real World was already sitting at Number 3 on the national iTunes chart within hours of its release and climbing to number 2 within the first 24 hours and finally hitting the number 1 spot on the charts after just 4 days of release. Somewhere in the Real World reached Gold sales in Australia.
Singles
"Kiss Your Mama"
The single "Kiss Your Mama!" was serviced to radio on 3 August and released 8 September 2007[14]. On a special edition of Australian Idol she sang her hit song "Kiss Your Mama!".[15]
"Perfect"
Amorosi released her second single "Perfect" digitally on 5 April and physically on 26 April 2008.[16] The single made it to number 1 on the digital iTunes charts on the 7th of June 2008. "Perfect" reached Platinum sales in Australia and was the most played Australian song on Australian radio for 2008. "Perfect" was nominated for the 2009 APRA awards for 'Most Played Australian Work'.
"The Simple Things"
The song "The Simple Things (Something Emotional)" was released as the third single on 20 September 2008. In December 2008, a video for the song "My House" was released onto her website, but never released as a single.
"The Letter"
On 20 April 2009, a Vanessa fan website revealed details of a collaboration with U.S. band Hoobastank on a single titled "The Letter". The website, VanessaAmorosi.net, also provided the duet to be streamed in full.[17] Amorosi also appears in the video which was shot in Los Angeles at Lacy Street Studio with director Paul Brown (Alicia Keys, Jack White). The video and single was serviced to Australian media on May 4. The single was released in Australia on June 19, 2009.[18]
Hazardous
Vanessa Amorosi's highly anticipated album Hazardous, became her third ARIA Top 10 album debuting at #7. It was also the week’s highest album debut by an Australian artist and has reached GOLD sales.
Singles
"This Is Who I Am"
On 28 August 2009 Amorosi's new song "This Is Who I Am" was serviced to Australian radio. On 31 August 2009 Universal Music Australia released a press release for Amorosi's new single with details of new single and album.
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The first single to spawn from her forthcoming album is the fierce pop-rock song “This Is Who I Am”. The undoubtable hit single was produced by MachoPsycho (Pink) and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day) and was serviced to Australian radio this week. The video for “This Is Who I Am” was recently shot in Los Angeles and directed by Christopher R Watson who is better known for his work on the international hit TV series "CSI New York" and horror film “Hostel”. The video was predominately shot on green screen and will launch on September 14. |
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—Universal Music Australia
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"This Is Who I Am" debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Charts for the week beginning October 18, 2009. This is Amorosi's first number 1 single. The single holds the top spot for the second week in a row - becoming the first Australian artist to debut at #1 and hold #1 single since Silverchair's "Straight Lines" in 2007. "This Is Who I Am" has achieved Platinum sales in Australia.
"Hazardous"
With the success of her album and first single "This Is Who I Am", Amorosi is set to release her second single and title track from the album Hazardous. "Hazardous" is released on 11 December 2009. Amorosi flew to Los Angeles to film the video for "Hazardous" with director Paul Brown (Prince, Alicia Keys), which will be serviced Monday, 14 December 2009.
Awards and nominations
| Year |
Ceremony |
Category |
Nominated for |
Result |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Highest Selling Single[19] |
"Absolutely Everybody" |
Nominated |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Best Female Artist[19] |
Nominated |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Best Pop Release[19] |
Nominated |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Breakthrough Artist Single[19] |
"Have a Look" |
Nominated |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Highest Selling Album[19] |
The Power |
Nominated |
| 2000 |
ARIA Awards |
Breakthrough Artist Album[19] |
Nominated |
| 2001 |
ARIA Awards |
Best Female Artist[20] |
Nominated |
| 2001 |
ARIA Awards |
Best Pop Release[20] |
Nominated |
| 2001 |
APRA Awards |
Most Performed Australian Work[21] |
"Shine" |
Won |
| 2009 |
APRA Awards |
Most Played Australian Work[22] |
"Perfect" |
Nominated |
Discography
Management
References
Sources
External links
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Vanessa Amorosi |
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| Studio albums |
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| Compilation albums |
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| Singles |
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| Related articles |
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