Guy Sebastian: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 01:39, 25 August 2006

Guy Theodore Sebastian (born October 26, 1981) was the winner of the first series of Australian Idol in 2003. Since winning the competition he has released two albums and several singles, which have all achieved success on the Australian music charts, and he has established himself as a popular Australian performer and celebrity.

Australian Idol

Guy Sebastian was born in Klang, Malaysia to a Ceylonese and Malaysian father, and a mother of Anglo Indian and English descent. [1] He moved to Adelaide, South Australia as a child. He started singing at the age of fourteen. After moving to Adelaide, he attended school at King's Baptist Grammar School, a Christian private school. He also attended the Paradise Community Church, one of the largest in Australia with over 5,000 people in attendance, associated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. While at Paradise, he joined their youth conference band, Planetshakers, and sang as one of the lead singers, touring around Australia and the United States. Sebastian never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as Michael W. Smith and Stevie Wonder.

In the Australian Idol, Guy Sebastian also sought assistance from his girlfriend Julie Egan, his brother Ollie Sebastian and Paul Zaia in discussions as to what songs to sing in the competition.

Guy was known as the "supreme interpreter" and "sublime talent" during the show, but unfortunately due to harassment by critics of the show, it appears fans will never get an album of Guy's interpretations and arrangements of songs - something he excels in, without taking away from the original version.

While working as a recording engineer and a singing teacher, he decided to enter Australian Idol establishing a fanbase and winning praise from the judges, who also made reference to his afro hairstyle, which became a focal part of his image. The final of Australian Idol in which he competed against Shannon Noll was the most popular program broadcast in Australia during 2003 and the second most popular non-sporting broadcast in Australian television history.

In World Idol he sang "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong which is also on the Australian Idol Final 12 CD and his debut album Just As I Am. He was ranked 7th out of the 10 competitors. There were questions over his song selection for the competition as many fans felt that his dance reggae version "What A Wonderful World" was his weakest performance during the earlier Australian Idol series. He was planning to use his rendition of Prince's "When Doves Cry", but there were legal issues with that choice.

Sebastian has been public about his strong Christian beliefs and has spoken of plans to release a gospel album for the American market in 2006. He has a strong involvement with several large Australian charitable organisations and was a nominee for the "Young Australian of the Year".

He recently became an Ambassador for World Vision and presented a Network Ten television special, "An Idol in Africa", in which he travelled within Africa with World Vision to highlight the issues of poverty and civil war and its effect on the population.

The following lists Sebastian's Australian Idol performances.

Adelaide Audition - "Ribbon in the Sky"
(Stevie Wonder)
Top 100 - "Back at One"
(Brian McKnight)
Top 75 - "Over the Rainbow"
(Judy Garland)
Semi Final Group 2 - "What a Wonderful World"
(Louis Armstrong)
Top 12 (70's) - "The Love You Save"
(Jackson Five)
Top 10 (#1 Hits) - "Everything I Do"
(Bryan Adams)
Top 8 (Aussie Hits) - "You’re the Voice"
(John Farnham)
Top 6 (80's) - "When Doves Cry"
(Prince)
Up, Close & Personal - "When I Get You Alone" (Thicke)
Top 5 (R&B/Soul) - "Hidden Agenda"
(Craig David)
Top 5 (R&B/Soul) - "Hello"
(Lionel Richie)
Top 4 (Big Band) - "The Way You Look Tonight"
(Frank Sinatra)
Top 4 (Big Band) - "Hit the Road Jack"
(Ray Charles)
Top 3 (60's) "Can’t Take My Eyes Off You"
(Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons)
Top 3 (60's) "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
(Julie Andrews)
Final 2 "I’ll Be There"
(Jackson Five)
Final 2 "Crazy in Love"
(Beyonce Knowles)
"Angels Brought Me Here" – (Finale)

Just As I Am

Given the popularity of Australian Idol, BMG signed up Guy Sebastian for a record before Christmas, 2003. His first single "Angels Brought Me Here" debuted at number one having set an Australian record for first week single sales for a debut artist and for an Australian artist. Only the Princess Diana tribute by Elton John sold more singles in its first week of release in Australia. It was certified four times platinum selling in excess of 280,000 copies. However, many people considered the album to be rushed (it was recorded in two weeks, in order to comply with the Christmas rush) and lacking any real substance.

Just As I Am was released in December 2003 and debuted at number one on the charts being the best selling album in Australia during the Christmas of 2003 however "Innocent Eyes" by Delta Goodrem knocked him off the #1 position and became the best selling Christmas album of 2003. So far it has been certified six times platinum, selling in excess of 420,000 copies.

The second single "All I Need Is You" also debuted at number one in the Australian charts. He wrote the song himself which was very important to him, saying on his web page "I think the credibility in having your own stuff makes you as an artist. Credibility is what I've always strived for and I couldn't imagine my first record not having one of my songs on it." He also wrote "I 4 U" and "Something Don't Feel Right" on the record.

His first single "Angels Brought Me Here" reached No. 1 in 4 Asian countries and New Zealand, whilst "All I Need is You" reached no. 2 in Malaysia and No. 1 in New Zealand. He was invited to sing the single as a guest at American Idol in 2004, singing "Angels Brought Me Here" (2005 winner Carrie Underwood sang this song as well). Rumours have it that Angels was unofficially used in a film in the Philippines (advised by a filmgoer). "Kryptonite" also reached Malaysia in 2005 but management never pursued any overseas releases of any later songs.

Beautiful Life

In October 2004, Sebastian released his second album with included the number one song "Out With My Baby" and the top 20 hits "Kryptonite", and "Oh Oh" (the latter having to be released 2 weeks before planned time, due to its radio popularity.

In support of the Album, Guy Sebastian performed at the 20th Anniversary SAFM Sky Show in Adelaide in front of over approximately 150,000 people along with Slinkee Minx. This was one of the largest open air concerts held in Australia in 2005.

It Takes Two

In 2006 Sebastian is a performer on the Seven Network's weekly musical competition program, "It Takes Two", in which performers from non-musical fields are teamed with professional singers, to perform a duet each week. A panel of four judges score each performance, and viewers vote by phone or SMS for their favourite duet. Guy Sebastian's partner is three-time Australian Olympic swimmer Sarah Ryan.

On 30 July, the celebrities chose a song that their partners were famous for. Sarah Ryan chose Guy Sebastian's debut hit Angels Brought Me Here to perform on the night. On 6 August, they participated in the final of the competition where they were the runners up, behind Erika and David. Guy also performed a new song titled "Taller, Stronger, Better" from his upcoming third album which is to be expected to be released in a few weeks. He hinted that the album may share the same name as the song.

Discography

Albums:

Just as I Am (2003) #1 (6x Platinum)
Beautiful Life (2004) #2 (2x Platinum)

Singles

"Angels Brought Me Here" (2003) #1 Australia (4x Platinum), #1 New Zealand, #1 Malaysia
"All I Need Is You" (2004) #1 Australia (Platinum), #1 New Zealand, #2 Malaysia
"Out With My Baby" (2004) #1 Australia (Platinum)
"Kryptonite" (2004) #15 Australia
"Oh Oh" (2005) #11 Australia

While these are albums released since his win, further music available as:

"No More" - PilotPen competition Award winning song produced and sung by Guy 2003

2004 Three tracks on "Paradise Live 'Adore' " Album - available through Word Bookshops, Australia

2006 One track on "Paradise Live 'Set Me Free' " Album & DVD - available through Word Bookshops, Australia

Prior to his competition win in 2003 Several albums and DVDs - The Planetshakers, and South Australia Youth Alive

Trivia

Guy Sebastian was in the bottom 2 once on Australian Idol, when Paulini was eliminated.
He was one of the lead singers in the Christian band PlanetShakers for several years.
Has publicly declared his virginity.
The runner-up of the 2003 series, Shannon Noll, has outsold Guy Sebastian (and indeed all other Idols).

External links

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 == ''Australian Idol'' ==
-Guy Sebastian was born in [[Klang]], [[Malaysia]] to a [[Ceylonese]] and [[Malaysia]] father, and a mother of [[Anglo Indian]] and [[United Kingdom|English]] descent. [http://allmalaysia.info/news/story.asp?file=/2003/12/22/msiansabroad/6951322&sec=mi_msiansabroad] He moved to Adelaide, South Australia as a [[child]]. He started singing at the age of fourteen. After moving to Adelaide, he attended school at King's Baptist Grammar School, a Christian private school. He also attended the [[Paradise Community Church]], one of the largest in Australia with over 5,000 people in attendance, associated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. While at Paradise, he joined their youth conference [[band]], [[Planetshakers]], and [[sang]] as one of the lead singers, touring around Australia and the [[United States]]. Sebastian never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as [[Michael W. Smith]] and [[Stevie Wonder]].
+Guy Sebastian was born in [[Klang]], [[Malaysia]] to a [[Ceylonese]] and Malaysian father, and a mother of [[Anglo Indian]] and [[United Kingdom|English]] descent. [http://allmalaysia.info/news/story.asp?file=/2003/12/22/msiansabroad/6951322&sec=mi_msiansabroad] He moved to Adelaide, South Australia as a [[child]]. He started singing at the age of fourteen. After moving to Adelaide, he attended school at King's Baptist Grammar School, a Christian private school. He also attended the [[Paradise Community Church]], one of the largest in Australia with over 5,000 people in attendance, associated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. While at Paradise, he joined their youth conference [[band]], [[Planetshakers]], and [[sang]] as one of the lead singers, touring around Australia and the [[United States]]. Sebastian never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as [[Michael W. Smith]] and [[Stevie Wonder]].
 In the Australian Idol, Guy Sebastian also sought assistance from his girlfriend Julie Egan, his brother Ollie Sebastian and [[Paul Zaia]] in discussions as to what songs to sing in the competition.