Young Divas
are a multi-platinum selling Australian girl group currently consisting of previous Australian Idol
contestants. The original line up consisted of Season 1 finalist Paulini Curuenavuli, Season 2 finalist Ricki-Lee Coulter, Season 3 winner Kate DeAraugo and Season 3 runner up Emily Williams. After their first album Coulter left the group and was replaced by Season 4 runner up Jessica Mauboy. Since their recent release of their second album both Mauboy and Curuenavuli have left the group. Their places are yet to be filled.
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THE YOUNG DIVAS TICKETS
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Career
2006-2007: Young Divas
In early 2006,
Paulini Curuenavuli,
Ricki-Lee Coulter,
Kate DeAraugo and
Emily Williams recorded a cover version of the
Donna Summer song "
This Time I Know It's for Real". This 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' banner. This release was intended to be a promotion of the four individual singers and the Young Divas as a group was not meant to be permanent. The single proved extremely successful and stayed in the Top 100 for almost a year peaking at number two. The single was eventually certified 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 for only a two week period, the tour was so successful that extra dates were added and it ran for three months to sell out audiences, causing band member
Ricki-Lee to postpone her wedding.
As the Divas' tour went from strength to strength, fans were eager for the girls to release a second Young Divas single. In the wake of this hugely positive public reaction, Sony BMG decided that the Young Divas would not only release a cover of Lonnie Gordon's classic "
Happenin' All Over Again", they would also record a full album of classic disco and pop covers.
Happenin' All Over Again was released in early November 2006, debuting at number twelve on the ARIA 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, peaked at number four in the Album Charts and rapidly achieved double platinum Certification 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 a mere forty on the singles chart.
Despite the limited success of the third single, Sony BMG continued with the Young Divas project and would release the groups second album in late 2007.
2007-2008: New Attitude
and new members
By early 2007 rumours were spreading that band member Coulter was not getting along with other members of the band and was planning to leave the group.
[1] However, these rumours were denied by
Sony BMG, Coulter and her management.
[2]
In February 2007
Sony BMG announced that the Young Divas had pulled out of their scheduled national tour with visiting band
Westlife. The official announcement stated that the cancellation was due to a "scheduling clash" with band member
Ricki Lee Coulter. Rumours again circulated that this cancellation was in fact due to the rift that had been developing for months between Coulter and certain other band members but Coulter insisted she would be back with the Young Divas in time for a national tour in April 2007.
[3]
At this time Coulter headed overseas for a few weeks and was temporarily replaced for live gigs by
Emily Williams' older sister and another ex-Idol contestant,
Lavina Williams.
On
June 22 2007 the rumours were finally proven to be correct and it was announced that band member
Ricki-Lee Coulter was leaving the group to concentrate on her solo career
[4]. 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"
.
On 26 September 2007, the Young Divas performed as guests on Season 5 of
Australian Idol and used this event to introduce Season 4 runner-up Jessica Mauboy as their newest band member.
[5].
On 9 October 2007, the Young Divas performed on the
Australian Idol special, 'Doing It For the Kids ', and announced that their second album
New Attitude was scheduled for release in November.
The group also performed a selection of songs including
Mariah Carey and
Whitney Houston's "
When You Believe" at the fortieth anniversary of Channel 7's Telethon Western Australia.
On
November 17, the Young Divas released their fourth single, "
Turn Me Loose" (featuring NZ rapper
Savage), 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.
2008-present: Line-up changes and hiatus
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.
[6]
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 more solidly on their solo careers. Paulini's manager, Nicole Hart stated that Paulini's decision to leave was "totally amicable" with "no animosity" toward the other girls and that Paulini "just wants to continue on with her solo career.
[7]
Discography
- Young Divas
(2006)
- New Attitude
(2007)
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)