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| One of Australian’s most loved artists and nominated by revered music legends as one of the great voices of Australia, Guy Sebastian was born in Malaysia to a multicultural Sri Lankan family, which moved to Australia where all sons became involved in music through their Para |
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One of Australian’s most loved artists and nominated by revered music legends as one of the great voices of Australia, Guy Sebastian was born in Malaysia to a multicultural Sri Lankan family, which moved to Australia where all sons became involved in music through their Paradise church in Adelaide. Guy’s elder brother Oliver Sebastian has written many recorded gospel songs, while Chris, a younger brother has also commenced his musical career.
At 4, Guy taped and sang along to his favourite songs. Eventually, despite several setbacks in his teens, he became a drummer in a band and only after a couple of years when he found the band another drummer was he permitted to sing. Finally the urge to make his own music became so strong that despite his own familys disapproval he gave up university and commenced classes as a vocal coach, while he also studied music and music technology. During this time he was also part of the great Australian band, The Planetshakers, with whom he travelled Australia and overseas and also recorded. There is also a track or two available with SA Youth Alive albums. Early in 2003 Guy Sebastian submitted the song “NO MORE” for an Australia wide competition held by PilotPen and was awarded the winner’s prize.
In 2003 he was talked into attempting to try out for the inaugural Australian Idol contest, which format was completely new to Australia. During the competition, when he re-arranged songs into his own unique format which also displayed his almost 4 octave range, musicians and critics of reality shows – and the judges – were vocal in their appreciation of his superb musical talent and it was no real surprise when he won, despite the very great talents displayed by the other competitors. Some comments included “I think your voice is the most beautiful instrument I have ever heard” (Marcia Hines, celebrated US/Australian artist), “I simply never tire of hearing you sing, a true joy and privilege - you are a sublime talent” (Mark Holden, musician/singer and writer of numerous No. 1 hits), “You’re the best unsigned talent I’ve ever heard – you’re destined for enormous success” (Ian Dickson former marketing director of BMG record company).
Guy Sebastian was given “Angels Brought Me Here” as his debut limited edition single, which almost broke all speed barriers in sales, and his DEBUT ALBUM “JUST AS I AM” , which features three of his own original songs, reached almost 7 platinum, due to the frenzy of obtaining something of his voice. It sold over 2 ½ platinum in the first week. (However, there are many other tracks available from pre-competition, including two solos and of course “No More” for those lucky enough to obtain that). He not only had no.1s in Australia but also in New Zealand and several Asian countries, where other singles reached the top 3.
It appears that no-one was quite prepared for the incredible whirl of fame that continued in 2004. Guy toured with the group to huge sell-out crowds in entertainment centres and theatres, he appeared in Asia and New Zealand to continuous accolades, took part in his church’s recording of GOSPEL ALBUM “PARADISE LIVE – ADORE” cd/dvd album (in which he sings the major part in three tracks, on of which he wrote with his Pastor). He even flew back from Malaysia to take part in an Easter Gospel Festival at Toowoomba, before flying back again to Malaysia the same day. He was then sent overseas to write for the 2nd album, writing with such well knowns as Robin Thicke, Beau Dozier, David Ryan Harris, Brian McKnight etc. Unfortunately, the timing for the 2ND ALBUM BEAUTIFUL LIFE (October 2004) coincided with the amalgamation of Sony/BMG record labels and while the launch was tremendous, and overseas interest was immense (see www.alexa.com), that very successful tour was rushed and lost momentum (only 4 weeks from the announcement of the tour and its start, and the album), with New Zealand and Asia ignored, they felt snubbed.
Guy continued to tour and write for his 3rd album, and meanwhile he was in huge demand for private corporate gigs and TV appearances, barely able to field everything that was offered. Guy again took part in the recording of the 2nd Paradise GOSPEL ALBUM – PARADISE – SET ME FREE (cd/DVD) and toured Asia with that group.
He also became a World Vision Ambassador as well as being a McDonalds ambassador, and was nominated for Young Australian of the Year.
In 2006 Guy Sebastian’s star was continuing to rise even higher and he was asked to appear in the series “It Takes Two”, where he showed Australia once again why he is considered such an innate artist. A well known journalist penned an article, the gist of which was while Guy brought his extraordinary talents to the show which was greatly enhanced by his presence on it, he was simply too ‘big’ and ‘too popular’ to take part in such competitions. The TV media however continued to ask him to appear whenever they could.
At the finale of that show Guy sang an inspirational song penned by him, Gary Pinto and Phil Turcio, “Taller Stronger Better” which received such huge acclamation that it was decided to make it the first single off the 3RD ALBUM (CLOSER TO THE SUN). However, while it may have been cool to play similar songs by ‘gritty bands’, radio was loath to play it as Guy is a committed Christian and has a major ‘nice guy’ image which they apparently felt was not cool enough. And yet during this same period those same stations might play “My Sweet Lord” by the late George Harrison. However, even despite the lack of airplay the single went gold and is generally considered around the world as one of the true anthems of recent years. It is available on the World Youth Day Album 2008
So much is he in demand that quite often around the busier parts of the year he will be doing two gigs per night, especially at Christmas time.
Guy Sebastian’s stunning shows early in 2007 set a new height for artistic and musical integrity, pulling in even more fans. The Australian Philharmonic Orchestra approached him and he had two shows at the Sydney Opera House and one in Melbourne, which again showed his continued evolution as a musician / singer. UK conductor Gavin Sutherland accorded him the highest label of ‘a musician’s musician’ as an artist, and gave him the accolade of ‘streets ahead of the rest!’ During these shows different groups and individuals in the audience would simply be overcome and gave standing ovations, with finales reaching a peak of seven standing ovations by the entire audience at the end of the shows in Sydney. Unfortunately due to new prior commitments Guy was unable to do more of these shows, as after a world wide search by the WYD organisation, his song written with Gary Pinto had been applauded as the theme song for the World Youth Day 2008, with all the recording, filming and appearances that was thereby entailed. The song “Receive the Power” is available from the WYD08 site and Itunes, and the song and video are open to the public on many sites. The WYD 2008 ALBUM, “RECEIVE THE POWER” is available from Sanity.
Guy travelled to the US, and was accorded the absolute honour of recording with (Booker T and) the MGs house band at Ardent Studios, where they recorded with 14 tracks out of the 15 as first takes, including his own “I’d Like to Get to Know You”; jammed with Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn at BB Kings Restaurant, following Sheryl Crow and her father; sang in New York to an explosion of applause as people rushed the stage and tours with his legendary band the MGs. Steve Cropper describes Guy (see youtube) as “mind boggling”. John Fry of Ardent Studios is so impressed with his 4TH ALBUM “THE MEMPHIS ALBUM” and Guy that he is already suggesting that it be placed in the Stax Museum in the Here and Now. The Memphis Album has already gone 2P in 10 weeks.
Spoken fondly of as “the coolest guy”, “the nicest guy on the planet”, the “most beautiful person I’ve ever met”, and “my favourite person in the whole world” by the cool media, Guy Sebastian has only just started to soar! We look forward to his own 5TH ALBUM (expected around mid 2008) and he has been writing with David Ryan Harris.
THE MEMPHIS ALBUM has been reviewed as astonishing and authentic, oozing freshness and excitement, technically amazing, fresh, electrifying, an awesome jam session and superb, while Guy’s supreme talent and gravelly voice shows joyous individuality. Even the Memphis Flyer bowed down!
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Discussion Topic
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Creator
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Guy Sebastian sings like an
Angel
Personality: This Guy sings like an angel
Faridul Anwar Farinordin
Mar 6:
---------------------------------------------
-------------------------
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Look beyond Australian Guy Sebastian's big
Afro-style hair and
cherubic face and you'll find a swell
singer with soul. FARIDUL ANWAR
FARINORDIN writes.
WHEN Australian singer Guy Sebastian, 23,
walked into a room full of
reporters during a Press conference in
Singapore recently, the one
thing that commanded everybody's instant
attention was his hair. Big,
voluminous, Afro-styled hair.
The crowd was also drawn to his cherubic face
and that oh-so-adorable
smile exuding innocence and warmth. So it was
only natural to find
out if he � the winner of the first
Australian Idol reality TV talent
contest � had the voice of an angel.
And so he sang... and almost immediately the
audience gasped in
wonder. His voice, rich and resonant, carried
so much soul that it
pierced even the hearts of the most cynical
journalists. Right smack
in the middle of his performance, a reporter
from one Malaysian
magazine was so enchanted with it that he
inevitably sighed out aloud!
Apparently, Sebastian's voice is known to
have a certain kind of
effect on listeners.
At 14, his performance of One Sweet Day
(popularised by Mariah Carey
and Boyz II Men) in school reduced his
listeners to tears.
"I was looking at my shoes the whole
time during the performance
because I was so nervous. When I finished the
song and looked up,
everybody was crying. That's when I
thought that I should pursue
singing. The performance was a turning point
in my life," he said in
an interview with Life & Times prior to the
Press conference.
However, Sebastian explained, his first-ever
performance before a big
audience was a disaster.
"When I was 10, I totally freaked out
while singing Everything I Do I
Do It For You at my cousin's wedding. I
was so bad that no words came
out of my mouth. People were just laughing
and they told me not to
sing again. It took a few years for me to
build up the courage to
sing again," he recalled.
Following his win in Australian Idol,
Sebastian released his debut
single Angels Brought Me Here which sold more
than 128,000 copies in
just one week. It became the highest-selling
single ever and debuted
at No. 1 on Australia's ARIA charts.
Following the massive success, his debut
album Just As I Am was
released. It comprises soul, funk and R&B
tunes, and features
Sebastian's song-writing collaboration on
numbers including All I
Need Is You, Something Don't Feel Right
and I 4 U.
"The album is basically who I really
am. In fact, I had creative
freedom which allowed me to reject some songs
which I didn't think
suit my personality. In the process, I really
stressed some people
out. You know, some of the songs were about
sex and stuff and that is
not what I'm about. I needed to be
me," he explained.
Also included in the album are cover versions
of Prince's When Doves
Cry and Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful
World � performed in a
unique vocal styling that is unmistakably
Sebastian's.
"Both songs are very important to me
because they helped me get into
the final rounds of the (Australian Idol)
competition � you know,
getting from being in the top 40 to the top
10. Another song that
means a lot to me was Climb Ev'ry Mountain
from The Sound of Music
musical, which I released in my latest single
All I Need Is You."
He grew up listening to old-school R&B by
artistes such as Stevie
Wonder and Donnie Hathaway, and plays the
guitar, drums and
piano. "My next album is going to be
more soul. I am currently
writing some songs and I really hope to
collaborate with Brian
McKnight."
On his exotic good looks, Sebastian said:
"My father Ivan, of Sri
Lankan-Portuguese descent, was born and
raised in Malaysia and my mum
Nellie was born in India with an
English-Portuguese background.
Actually, my mum is very fair with blue eyes
and my dad is really
dark. As far as the culture goes, I got the
Indian side from my
mother and the Malaysian from my
dad."
Sebastian was born in Klang, but his family
moved to Melbourne,
Australia when he was seven. After graduating
from high school,
Sebastian pursued his studies in medical
radiation with a major in
radiotherapy when opportunity knocked.
"My best friend told me to give it a
go. I had no idea what
Australian Idol was about, so I was really
hesitant at first. I
didn't want to be in a show that is a
`beauty' contest more than
anything else. I wanted to be judged based on
my musical credibility.
"I later realised that contestants had
to sing to a live audience and
that the competition was based on musical
talent," he said, adding
that he was actually sick on the day of the
audition.
"We had our own version of Simon
Cowell. He was not an awful guy
actually, but he had a role to play that
could be ruthless because he
was not afraid to voice out his opinions. In
fact, he told me (after
my performance) `you have a good voice, but
you look like crap'."
It was probably the hair, which has, since
then, been in vogue Down
Under.
"Back home, people are now sticking up
posters that say `go the
Afro!' People also have turned up at my
show in Afro wigs. But I
won't be having this for long. I used to
shave my head bald when I
was in school and I think I will shave it
again next year or so,
maybe for charity," said the singer,
who is currently involved in
several charitable organisations.
Opening act
GUY Sebastian's record label BMG Music has
confirmed that the
Australian singer is scheduled to perform as
the opening act for
British pop idol Gareth Gates' maiden
concert in the country.
This double-bill show, to be held on April 8
at Bukit Kiara
Equestrian and Country Club Indoor Arena in
Sri Hartamas, Kuala
Lumpur, is brought to you by Live Audience
(M) Sdn Bhd.
Tickets, priced at RM68 and RM98, are
available at Ticketcharge
(www.ticketcharge.com.my) or call
03-7726-2002.
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