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Casey Donovan (born 13 May 1988) is 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 divorced, her mother and siblings moved in with stepfather Norm Axford. Growing up, Casey was always interested in singing and was lucky enough to stay in touch with cousins Shalena and Jaleesa as well as occasional contact with Emma. 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 her life at Condell Park High that her talent became noticed and was supported especially by both her mother and stepfather.

Australian Idol 2004

Donovan transferred to the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2004 and it was in this year that her stepfather encouraged her to audition for the second season of Australian Idol. While Donovan performed well throughout the Australian Idol competition and received countless praise from all three judges for her flawless performances and studio standard vocals, she was not widely considered a favorite to win. During the competition she received some outside success and won the Most Promising New Talent Award at the 2004 The Deadlys, which honours indigenous talent in Australia. Nevertheless, she surprised many by being the first to get through to the 2004 final where she defeated widespread favorite Anthony Callea.

Australian Idol Performances

Career

Donovan's post-Idol debut single, Listen With Your Heart was released digitally on 21 November 2004 and officially in stores on 29 November 2004 and it debuted at #1 on the ARIAnet singles chart. Her album For You was released on 13 December and 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 24 July 2005 and reached number 51.

In 2005 Casey was nominated for three Deadly awards and won two for Best Album and Best Single. In that year she also 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". She appeared in several TV Shows and did a voiceover for a Fred Hollows commercial. Casey also performed at several Festivals throughout the year as well as frequent gigs across the nation. An Auto-biography was also released during the year about Casey's Life titled Something Beautiful

On 26 March 2006, she performed at the Closing Ceremony for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Casey also made appearances on Australia's Brainiest Idol & John Foreman's Big Night In during the year and featured in a short film "Happy Birthday" which was entered into TropFest. In June 2006, SonyBMG dropped Casey from their record lineup stating that she did not fit the image they want to promote. Throughout the remainder of the year Casey continued performing at live venues across NSW and continued to establish herself as an independent artist in her own right.

After Donovan faded from the limelight following her release from Sony BMG, she spent much time writing her own songs with her band. As well as this she has performed at numerous gigs, mainly in Sydney, but also a show in Melbourne and appeared twice at the Dreaming Festival on the Sunshine Coast. Casey also performed at several Festivals such as the Yuban Festival, Bunbary Festival, Woodford Festival, Danks Festival amongst others, an appearance on The Susie Show and the MCG IR Rally. Her contract with Karma management ended on 22 November 2007 and Norm Axford, Casey's stepfather, assigned himself as her manager. Shortly following this, Casey released an independent EP Eye 2 Eyewhich she aims to use as a stepping stone to recording a second album with plans to release it in 2010.

In 2008 Casey became Involved with Vibe Australia and was featured in their campaign which aired on SBS promoting their cultural festival. In March 2008, Casey shaved her hair to raise awareness for Cancer research. While on a break from the Vibe tour, Casey took some time to travel to Bunbary to play at the Woodford Festival where she would showcase music from her album & an EP as well as some old faves and covers. Casey also signed with a leading publication magazine to follow her weightloss journey. She would feature in the mag and write blogs about her experience. With the help of Guy Leech it was reported Casey lost over 25 kg. Throughout the year Casey also performed at several gigs across NSW. In the second half of the year, Casey became involved in a Koori Radio program "Deadly Sounds" July 2008 saw Casey perform at the televised event World Youth Day and later in the year go on to become an Ambassador for NAIDOC Awareness Day. Towards the end of the year, Casey appeared at various markets across NSW to perform and sell her artwork and music. This venture became quite successful for Casey. In December 2008, Casey performed at the Live Well Christmas Spectacular which was televised.

Early in 2009, Casey Donovan featured in a cover version of the (Estelle, Kanye West) Hit "American Boy" with Australian hip hop singer Kid Mac. The cover version titled "Australian Boy" will be featured on Kid Mac's upcoming album. Casey was also involved in Kid Mac's Tour promoting his music earlier in the year. As of May 2009, Casey is now represented by Williamson Management. In mid 2009, Casey joined the cover band "Women of Soul" with former Series 6 Australian Idol Finalists Roshani Priddis and Madam Parker Together they paid homage to the soul/motown era and embraced music from the 60’s to present and performed at live venues around NSW in May-June 2009 with good reviews. In July 2009 Roshani Priddis left the group and was replaced by Prinnie Stevens. As she did in 2008, Casey was again apart of the Vibe Alive tour in 2009. Also throughout the year Casey made appearances on Kerry-Anne, Message Stick & The Barefoot Footy Show. In August 2009, Casey was Nominated for Best Female Artist in the 2009 Deadly Awards. Casey also performed & presented an award at the event, which took place on October 15 in Sydney NSW. In October 2009 Casey featured alongside Deborah Mailman amongst others in the contemporary opera "Miracle In Brisbane" at the Brisbane Arts Festival. Women of Soul also returned for another series this time paying tribute to Michael Jackson. The band performed 8 shows across NSW throughout October & November 2009 and at The Entrance, Mardi Gras in December with great reviews. In November 2009, Casey filmed a segment of popular Nine Network show 20-1. Also in November Casey began rehearsals for a new production The Sapphires which tours in 2010. Casey returned to Sydney at Christmas & finished the year with a spectacular performance at "The Lord Mayor's New Years Eve".

In 2010 Casey will tour with the stage production of The Sapphires. The Tour will commence in Perth on January 28, 2010 and tour South Australia, Regional Victoria, Sydney & Wollongong to finish in June 2010. In March and April 2010 while on production break, Casey will join the band "Urban Stone" for a series of gigs across New South Wales. Casey will play some new tunes as well as some old faves while Urban Stone will perform music from their debut album. Each Week they will be joined by a new guest performer.

TV Appearances - Ordered from Most Recent

• 2010 - Yarramundi Kids Exclusive to NITV (Foxtel)
• 2010 - The Morning Show - Herself, Interview about Sapphires
• 2009 - Lord Mayors New Years Eve- Performance
• 2009 - 20-1 - Herself
• 2009 - Deadly Awards- Performance, Award Presenter
• 2009 - Message Stick 10th Birthday- Performance
• 2009 - Message Stick - Herself
• 2009 - Barefoot Football Show- Performance
• 2009 - Mornings with Kerry-Anne- Women of Soul Performance
• 2008 - Live Well Christmas Spectacular- Performance
• 2008 - World Youth Day - Performance
• 2008 - Deadly Awards - Performance
• 2008 - Vibe Alive - Commercial
• 2008 - Jack Newton - Golf Classic
• 2007 - MCG Rally - Performance
• 2007 - The Morning Show - Herself
• 2007 - Susie - Herself
• 2006 - Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony Performance
• 2006 - Australia's Brainiest Idol- Herself
• 2006 - John Foreman's Big Night In- Herself
• 2005 - Spicks & Specks- Herself
• 2005 - Australian Idol Grand Finale- Herself
• 2005 - Dynasties Documentary- Herself
• 2005 - Foxtel's 10th Birthday Celebration- Herself
• 2005 - Fred Hollows Foundation- Voiceover Commercial
• 2005 - Deadly Awards- Herself, Presenter, Performance
• 2005 - Mornings with Kerry-Anne- Herself
• 2005 - Disney Channel "Studio D"- Herself
• 2005 - Australian Idol Auditions- Herself
• 2005 - Goodmorning Australia - Herself
• 2005 - TV Week Logie Awards- Herself
• 2005 - Message Stick- Herself
• 2005 - Channel V- Herself
• 2005 - TRL MTV- Herself
• 2004 - Rove Live - Herself
• 2004 - Sunrise - Herself
• 2004 - Carols by the domain- Herself

Theatre

• 2010 - The Sapphires as "Cynthia Macrae" -Touring January-June 2010
• 2009 - Miracle in Brisbane as Mary-Curly May - Brisbane Arts Festival

Filmography

• 2005 - Happy Birthday Short Film

Discography

The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Australian pop music artist Casey Donovan.

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

• Perth Festival theatre perth festival website. Arts Schedule, 2010

External links

• Official Myspace
• Official Casey Donovan Forum
• Undercover article on the true sales of 'For You'