Guy Sebastian (born October 26, 1981) was the winner of the first series of Australian Idol. So far he has released his first album which has proven to be very popular in the Australian music charts.

Contents

1 Australian Idol 2 Just as I am 3 Future 4 Discography 5 External links

Australian Idol

Guy Sebastian was born in Malaysia and moved to Adelaide, South Australia as a child.

Guy Sebastian started singing at the age of fourteen. Ever since he moved to Adelaide, he was at the pentacostal assembly of god Paradise Community Church, one of the largest in Australia, with over 5,000 people in attendance. While at Paradise, he joint their youth conference band, Planetshakers, and sung as one of the lead singers. While working at Planetshakers, he was known for what some people refer to as his "wierd" voice his afro. Guy Sebastian never had any official training but followed the people he adored and copied move by move, Michael W. Smith, a Christian artist, in particular, he admits in an interview with home radio station 107.9 Life FM. (http://www.life.on.net/audio.htm to download the interviews) While working as a recording engineer and a singing teacher, he decided to enter Australian idol. Throughout the competition the judges have made reference to his afro hairstyle, with such catchphrases as "Go the 'Fro", and such, driving his popularity. The final of Australian Idol where 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 impressed many of the World Idol judges with this performance but finished 7th out of the 10 finalists. 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 on using his rendition of Prince's "When Doves Cry", but there were legal issues with that choice.

He is now currently working on his second album. The first single will be released in September and the album will come out in October.

Sebastian has been public about his strong Christian beliefs. This may have helped to win the Idol competition, as a strong campaign to encourage voting for him was organised within his church. Regardless, his win was popular with most viewers and his subsequent commercial success has extended far beyond the evangelical Christian community in Australia.

Just as I am

Given the obvious popularity of Australian Idol, BMG signed up Guy Sebastian for a record before Christmas. His first single "Angels Brought Me Here" debuted at number one having set a record for first week single sales for a debut artist and for an Australian artist. Only the Diana, Princess of Wales tribute by Elton John sold more singles in its first week of release. It went on to go platinum forty four times.

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. So far it has gone platinum six times which means that it has sold over 400,000 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 incredibly 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. As well, he wrote I 4 U and Something don't feel right on the record.

Future

Guy Sebastian is planning to release another three debut album, of which one will be Christian, and the other a Christmas album. He also said he prioritized the Christian album before the Christmas one, in an interview (http://www.life.on.net/audio.htm).

Discography

• Just as I am (2003)
• Beautiful life (2004)

External links

• Official Australian Idol Guy Sebastian Biography http://au.australianidol.yahoo.com/show_info/whereare/guy/
• Official Website http://www.guysebastian.com.au/
• Guy Sebastian interview http://www.life.on.net/audio.htm
• Guy Sebastian's x-band http://www.planetshakers.com/