Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwide. Arena is multilingual, singing and recording in English, Italian, French and Spanish.
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of indigenous and Western styles are exemplified in the works of Yothu Yindi, No Fixed Address, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Christine Anu, and mark distinctly Australian contributions to world music.
Australian Idol is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Australian Idol was televised on Network Ten for its first seven series and was broadcast on the Southern Cross Austereo Radio Network between 2005 and 2007. The series returned in 2023 after Seven Network announced they would be picking up the show.
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete and Lucia Field. The Wiggles were founded in 1991 by Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher. Wilcher left the group after their first album. Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Cook, Fatt and Page retired and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce and Emma Watkins. Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and all three continued to have input into its creative and production aspects, while engaging in occasional reunion performances. Watkins departed the group in 2021, with Hawkins taking her place.
Shannon Noll is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of Australian Idol in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top-ten albums, including two number-one multi-platinum sellers. Noll's first ten singles all peaked inside the ARIA top ten, including three that reached number one. He is the only Australian male artist in Australian chart history to have ten consecutive top-ten singles. Noll's debut single, "What About Me?", was certified 4× platinum and became the highest-selling single of 2004 in Australia.
Christine Anu is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home". Anu won an Aria for Best Female Artist and has been nominated for 17 ARIA Awards.
Marcia Elaine Hines AM is an American-born Australian singer and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Robert Mills is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show The Mint with his childhood idol, J-Dawg, the two would go on to star in the hit show Young Talent Time, and was a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network. Mills took part in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, and appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. In 2008, Mills won the lead male role of Fiyero in a production of Wicked, and continued the role when it moved around Australia. He has since starred in a number of popular large scale musical theatre productions. In 2012, Mills was announced as the host of Network Ten's revamped Young Talent Time. He played teacher Finn Kelly on Neighbours from 2017 until 2022.
Pauline Curuenavuli, known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. Born in Suva, Paulini moved to Sydney with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the first season of Australian Idol and placed fourth in the competition. After Idol, Paulini signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Australia and released her debut studio album One Determined Heart (2004), which debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum. The album included the platinum single "Angel Eyes", which spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. Paulini received two ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for both the album and single.
Christine Joy Amphlett was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Divinyls. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews.
Anthony Cosmo Callea is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's song "The Prayer", is the fastest-selling single by an Australian artist; it held the number-one spot on the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks, a record for the debut single of an Australian Idol contestant, and was the second-highest-selling Australian single of the 2000s.
John Gregory Foreman is an Australian musician and television personality. From 1992 to 2004, he was the music director for Network Ten's Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton. From 2003 until 2008 he was musical director of Australian Idol. He is the chair of the National Australia Day Council.
"Angels Brought Me Here" is a pop song by Australian singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian. It was released in Australia on 24 November 2003 as the lead single from his debut album, Just as I Am (2003). The song was written by Jörgen Elofsson and John Reid for Network Ten's TV talent competition, Australian Idol's inaugural season. Recorded versions were made for both grand finalists, Sebastian and Shannon Noll, with only Sebastian's version officially released by BMG. On 22 November the promotional video had premiered on the same network's Video Hits – produced by Australian Idol's Stephen Tate and directed by its musical director, John Foreman.
Australia Day Live is a concert which is hosted each year on Australia Day, on 26 January at the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour. The concert features music from Australian artists and musicians.
Jackie James Barnes is an Australian drummer and singer. He has been performing since the age of four and has appeared on over 60 releases since 1990. He is the third child and only son of Jimmy Barnes and his wife Jane.
The first season of Australian Idol was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV, and was broadcast on Network Ten for 19 weeks in the latter half of 2003. The judges were Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony Imagesoft and Sony Electronic Publishing Europe until 1995.
Emma Olivia Watkins is an Australian children's entertainer, singer, actress, and dancer, best known as a former member of the children's group the Wiggles from 2013 to 2021. She replaced Greg Page after the group's lineup changes and was the first female member of the group. Due to her popularity as a Wiggle, she received her own spinoff children's show called Emma!, which featured her in her yellow Wiggles outfit as a solo performer. She debuted her own children's entertainment character, Emma Memma, in 2022, releasing her first solo children's music album in September 2022. In early 2023, she released a book titled Hello, Emma Memma. An accompanying television series titled Emma Memma: Sing. Dance. Sign. is in development.
Tsehay Hawkins is an Australian dancer and singer, best known as a member of The Wiggles. She was the second female to be a member of the group and is the first member of African heritage, as well as the youngest to have ever joined, joining at age sixteen.
