Young Divas

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Young Divas


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Origin = Australia
Instrument =
Genre = Pop, Dance, Disco
Occupation =
Years_active = 2006–Present
Label = Sony BMG (2006–present)
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.youngdivas.com.au/ YoungDivas.com.au]
Current_members = Kate DeAraugo (2006 – present) Emily Williams (2006 – present)
Past_members = Ricki-Lee Coulter (2006 – 2007)
Jessica Mauboy (2007 – 2008)
Paulini Curuenavuli (2006 – 2008)

Young Divas are a multi-platinum selling Australian girl group currently consisting of "Australian Idol" Season 3 winner Kate DeAraugo and runner-up Emily Williams. Former "Idol" contestants Paulini Curuenavuli and Ricki-Lee Coulter completed the original quartet line-up, with Jessica Mauboy, [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22487830-5012974,00.html "Jessica Mauboy is the new Young Diva"] . "News.com.au". Retrieved September 27 2007.] replacing Ricki-Lee in 2007. All three members have since left the group to concentrate on their solo careers.

Career

2006-2007: "Young Divas"

In early 2006, Ricki-Lee Coulter, Paulini Curuenavuli, Kate DeAraugo and Emily Williams recorded a version of the Donna Summer song "This Time I Know It's for Real". The demo recording was originally intended only as an experiment to see how the girls voices worked together. This proved to be a successful session so a follow up recording session was planned and a version of Mousse T single "Right About Now" was recorded. The song was planned and commissioned for a Network Ten promotion. This was the first time they were referred to as the 'Young Divas'.

Positive response came from the Network 10 promotion and Sony BMG decided to release "This Time I Know It's For Real" as a single under the 'Young Divas'. This was not intended to be permanent, just a single to promote the label and the four singers. The single turned out to be extremely successful and stayed in the Top 100 for almost a year and peaked at number two. The single eventually went platinum. Following the release of the single, the girls embarked on the "Young Divas Live!" tour around Australia to promote the single and their solo music. Originally planned to last only two weeks, the tour was so hugely successful that extra dates were added and it ran for three months, causing Ricki-Lee to postpone her wedding.

As the Divas' tour went from strength to strength, fans wre eager for the girls to release a second single together. In the wake of this hugely positive public reaction, Sony BMG decided that the Divas would not only release a cover of Lonnie Gordon's classic "Happenin' All Over Again", they would also record a full length album of disco and pop covers.

When "Happenin' All Over Again" was released in early November of 2006 the single debuted at number twelve on the charts. It eventually reached number nine, was certified gold and became a massive dance hit. Their self-titled debut album "Young Divas" was released on November 18 and peaked at number four. The album was quickly certified double platinum for the sale of 140,000 copies.

The third and final single from the album, "Searchin'" was released on March 17 2007. Mainly due to limited promotion, the single was not as successful as its two predecessors, peaking at number forty on the singles chart.

2007-2008: "New Attitude"

On June 22 2007 it was announced that band member Ricki-Lee Coulter had decided to leave the group in order to concentrate on her solo career [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,21948738-10388,00.html "Ricki-Lee goes solo"] . "News.com.au". Retrieved July 3 2007.] . She stated "I will not be appearing any more with the Young Divas. I just couldn't do it all - I really had to get back to doing what I love doing, and that's my solo career". Four months later, in October 2007, it was announced that Coulter had been replaced with "Australian Idol" Season 4 runner-up Jessica Mauboy. It was also announced on their revamped official website that a new single and sophomore album were to be released in November. Once again a quartet, the group performed a selection of songs including Maraiah Carey and Whitney Houston's "When You Believe" at the fortieth anniversary of Channel 7's Telethon Western Australia.

On November 17, the Divas released their fourth single, "Turn Me Loose", which debuted at number 21 on the Australian ARIA singles chart and peaked at number 15. The song failed to match the success of their first two singles, but was still a huge hit on the Dance Chart, where it peaked at number 2. On November 24 2007, a week after the release of their fourth single, the Divas released their sophomore album "New Attitude" which debuted and peaked at number 10 and was certified gold for the sale of 35,000 copies. Both the single and album were heavily promoted on the nation's top shows such as "Dancing with the Stars" and particularly "Australian Idol", where they performed "Turn Me Loose" twice.

On March 28 2008, after six months of inactivity, the Divas' record label, Sony BMG announced in The Daily Telegraph that due to the underperformance of "Turn Me Loose", a second single would not be released from "New Attitude". However, it was also stated that the group were not being dropped from the record label's line-up of artists and would continue to record music. [ [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23442430-5012327,00.html Divas left in label limbo | The Daily Telegraph ] ]

2008-Present: Third Incarnation and Third Album

On August 24 2008 it was officially announced that founding member Paulini Curuenavuli and newest Diva Jessica Mauboy had both decided to leave the group in order to concentrate on their solo careers. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24230201-27258,00.html]

Discography

Infobox Artist Discography
Artist = Young Divas
Logo =


Caption =
Studio = 2
Compilation =
Live =
Video =
Music videos = 4
Singles = 4
Option = 1
Option name = B-sides
Option color = crimson
1Option = 2
1Option name = Other Appearances
1Option color = chartreuse
2Option = 1
2Option name = Collaborations
2Option color = violet
3Option = 1
3Option name = Tours
3Option color = orange
References =
Ref link = Notes and references

Albums

ingles

Other

*"2000 Miles" on
*"Amazing Grace" on The Spirit of Christmas 2006

Band members

*Kate DeAraugo - vocals (2006–present)
*Emily Williams - vocals (2006–present)

Former members

*Paulini Curuenavuli - vocals (2006–2008)
*Ricki-Lee Coulter - vocals (2006–2007)
*Jessica Mauboy - vocals (2007–2008)

External links

* [http://www.youngdivas.com.au/ Official Young Divas Website]
* [http://forums.youngdivas.com.au/ Official Young Divas Forum]
* [http://www.sonybmg.com.au/artist/artistBiography.do?artistId=107463 Sony BMG, Young Divas Biography]

References