news article - 2 July

[MaybeNext]

The Manila Bulletin Online



Scuttlebutt
Shirley Pizarro

‘Night of the Champions’ is all about blending of artistry

It seems to me that the entertainment scene is replete with "singing idols" left and right.

This weekend, Manila is quite lucky to play host to Australian Idol Guy Sebastian (believe me, the kids know him!) who planed in last Wednesday.

Guy Sebastian, the Afro-haired guy who was also featured in the "American Idol" episode when our loveable Jasmine Trias was booted out of the competition, is here as part of his Asian tour to promote his new album "Just As I Am" under BMG Records.

Anyway, the 22-year-old singer who works as a vocal teacher and record engineer in Adelaide, Australia will be at SM Megamall on July 3, 4 p.m. for a show and autograph-signing after.

Guy was part of last night’s "MTV Pilipinas Awards" at the Ultra covered court and will be here until July 4, we believe.

The album "Just As I Am" features the single "Angels Brought Me Here" which debuted at no. 1 at the Australian charts and onto its second week of release, became the highest selling Australian single ever on record.

The album also showcases Guy’s unique interpretative talents allowing him to cover iconic songs as stylistically diverse as Prince’s "When Doves Cry" or Louis Armstrong’s "What A Wonderful World" and transform them into tracks unmistakeably his own. His original compositions, "All I Need Is You," "Something Don’t Feel Right," and "I 4 U" are also included in this album.

* * *

[MaybeNext]

Ok, Guy is making waves over there. So the "... the kids know him!" Woohoo!

Go Guy!

But not fair that they get him before we do .

[Divine FRO at WorkPl agn]

wow good for Guy! ;D ... he's so admirable
(breathes deeply-haaaaaa

it's nice to share him with the world, ... so proud of him ... sharing is caring but pls bring him back safely heehee ... we miss him

[prinia]

Miss him!!

I'm desperate..... but I'm holding.... how long can this holding pattern last?


Hope they fully appreciate the wonderful person they've go.

[HairBear]

Guy is getting good press in Manila and he gets good press internationally in this very competitive industry "wherever his album takes him" (A Guy quote).

He is just so so lovely and talented - he takes my breath away.

It is just wonderful to see him getting this kind of recognition and praise everywhere he goes...he is earning respect... and deservedly so...

Just had to repeat this from a news article posted here a couple of days ago...

Skip said:

Double treat

HERE is your chance to catch the Malaysian-born internationa superstar Guy Sebastian, live plus have dinner with him

Warm and hairy I feel right now ;D

[prinia]

That sounds sooo good.

Actually, although not to do with Manila, there was a thing on Paulini in one of our local mags, and in it she said she would like to do a duet in the future, and names some big names and of course Guy Sebastian - and it was so nice to see his name coupled with the others. Wish I could find the mag.

I mean we know she would like to because of Idol - but... it was nice.

[MaybeNext]

ninemsn

Paulini becoming a household name
21:46 AEST Fri Jul 2 2004


Paulini is one of only a few Australian singers who is instantly recognisable to the nation's youth by their first name.

"I think it is a bit hard to say my last name so that might be why people always just say Paulini," the 22-year-old said.

The Fijian-born singer, whose last name is Curuenevuli, has become a household name over the past year since finishing fourth in the last series of Australian Idol.

Though knocked out of the competition just weeks before Guy Sebastian took the top spot and won a recording contract with BMG, Paulini went on to secure a four-album deal with Sony Music Australia.

She is about to release her first album, having waited for the Idol days to settle.

"It is all rhythm and blues based," Paulini said of the album entitled One Determined Heart.




"I try and make it very R&B with a few leaks here and there just to keep it as R&B as possible."

The first single on the album is a cover of Jeff Healey's 1988 classic, Angel Eyes, that also featured in Hollywood movie Roadhouse starring Patrick Swayze.

The single has been likened to some of Delta Goodrem's work.

Paulini and Delta are now label buddies but are yet to meet properly.

"I would love to maybe even do a duet with her," she said.

Paulini also worked with producer Audieus Mtawarira, who has penned some of Goodrem's biggest hits.

Mtawarira wrote We Can Try which features on the album.

The other songs, with the exception of an original written by Chris Palser, were covers of Paulini's favourite tunes.

"If it is a good song, it is a good song and that is one of the things I tried to kind of really get out in this album," she said.

[prinia]

Nah, she definitely listed a few she'd like to duet with, and included our Guy.

I'll have another look.

[locomotive]

i reckon she sounds like Beyonce!

[Inside Australian Idol]

Fantasia's off to 'idolic' start
From correspondents in Los Angeles
July 02, 2004


REIGNING American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino is off to a fantastic start as her first single, I Believe, opens at Number One on the American Billboard's Hot 100 singles.


Fantastic ... Fantasia hits number 1 / File

The feat is also notable as it ends Usher's record-setting 19-week hold on the chart's top slot.

I Believe becomes the Hot 100's first Number One debut since second season Idol runner-up Clay Aiken's This Is the Night almost a year ago.

Co-written by first season Idol finisher Tamyra Gray, the song also jumps from Number 14 to Number One on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, having moved 142,000 copies in the US in its first full sales week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Fantasia's sales figures pale in comparison to previous Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Kelly Clarkson, however, whose debut tracks sold 286,000 and 236,000, respectively.

Despite ending his run on top, Usher still boasts three singles in the Hot 100's Top 10.

Burn slides to Number Two after eight weeks at Number One, Confessions Part II drops one space to Number Three, and Yeah! featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris rebounds to Number 7.

All three tracks are on Usher's hit album Confessions.

The Associated Press

entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,10018567%255E7484%255E%255Enbv,00.html