The sultry brunette seems to have resonance in the Idol competitions around the world. The latest winner of Australian Idol is following the path blazed by Katharine and Eva Avila. Natalie Gauci doesn't quite have as a big a voice as Kat, and she's not as attractive, but is maybe a little more versatile. Thoughts?

Top 6: Umbrella (Rihanna) - "Your bum looks fantastic!"

Top 5: Boys In Town (DiVinyls) - from playing the piano to singing atop it.

Top 4: How High the Moon (Ella Fitzgerald) - finally a contestant who can pull off the scatting!

I'm usually ambivalent about people plugging other artists on this site, but I can't help myself - I love Natalie Gauci! She can seemingly sing any genre, from disco to pop, rock, standards, and jazz, while maintaining her own distinctive style. I also love how Nat can croon from behind a piano, but is just as comfortable working the camera and the audience with just a mic, unlike the current crop of AI contestants (*cough* Brooke *cough* Jason Castro). She shined while performing many recent (21st century) hits on Australian Idol, but hit her peak on top 4 big band night, hiding her jazz background before upstaging a trumpet-playing scat competitor.

Nat also had to endure repeated criticism about her appearance from a judge, who even told her that her butt looks too big on TV; this guy makes Simon Cowell sound diplomatic. (I included the judges' comments where possible - at least they're more insightful and entertaining than the 3 stooges in the US version.) Natalie had a wonderful sense of humor about it all, though, wryly asking "Does my bum look alright?" after she was complimented for the way she looked in the Umbrella performance. I'd agree that she didn't always present herself right, but at her best, she is cute as all get out.

Apparently there are a couple of big Kat fans in Natalie Gauci's fan forum. I wonder if they're members of KMF?
Idols from other countries
SEXY HAIR Nat + Kat!

Please, Natalie, come to the US soon!

Top 10: I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor) - disco queen brings down the house!

Non-Competition Show Special: Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) - working the piano again.

Top 4: Orange-Coloured Sky (Nat King Cole) - great interpretation of a somewhat schmaltzy standard; try to ignore the dress, though .

Top 2: Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush) - no judge comments are given on Top 2 night.

There is nothing wrong with plugging in other artists on this site, I think. News spreads around and if it came from this site, this site would be known, and Katharine would be paid homage to, as an AI alum. I do believe in networking. If we become too exclusive, we would come across as too limited. Our goal should be for this site to be as circulated as can be. Any good news about Katharine and other idols or artists is just as good as eating a freshly baked apple pie. I feel proud to be writing on these forums. It makes me feel close to Katharine.

Thanks for your support, mattsie. The Kat discussions have been quiet recently, so I feel guilty about increasing the number of threads devoted to other singers.

Some of Natalie's pre-Idol singing has shown up on YouTube. It's interesting to see the decidedly unglamourous gigs Gauci had to play. I would hate to be performing, in cramped quarters, for people who primarily are not there to listen to you, but Natalie did them enthusiastically. She's really had to pay her dues. But I love how the bandleader says "look out for her, she's going to be a star, ... when you see her, remember you saw her here first."

Singing with a guitarist in a teahouse: Autumn Leaves, Have You Met Miss Jones, and Over the Rainbow

Singing with a local big band at a swing dancing event: Orange-Coloured Sky

I don't know if I'd want Natalie and Kat to sing together. They're both incredible, but I think you need a contrast if 2 people are going to sing a duet, and they might be too similar. I've only heard them sing 2 songs in common: Feeling Good and Over the Rainbow. I prefer Kat's version of both songs, but I think Natalie does other things better. (ducks from flying bottles)

I wanted to thank you a while back for these vids--though have been so busy, it was like going through a revolving door here the last few weeks.

It seems we here in America automatically equate any performers on the "Idol" shows from overseas to be mediocre for whatever biased reason. I've always been one to think otherwise, but Natalie Gauci seems to be different in that you don't usually get someone who does jazz and standards in Australia often. It's not the typical type of sound you hear there except, it appears, only in small circles.

Well, I guess that clip of her singing in that restaurant while nobody even turns their head to acknowledge hearing that great voice gives some indication of my argument. We get plenty enough of that type of situation in restaurants or clubs here when a good musician is playing near the tables and getting utterly ignored within the crowd blabber and inebriation. On the other hand, here in Oregon, people pay more attention to good performers in clubs and restaurants. When I performed on the piano in similar environments, I always received positive response from patrons in whatever type of business it was.

One thing I always appreciate (as well as most people) are singers with a strong sense of diversity that we all associate effectively with Kat. Guaci's diversity is obviously going to help her, even though she has the bubbly personality of the performers you see in Broadway leads. Too bad personalities like that can't always rule the pop charts rather than ones with a grittier attitude.

It'll be interesting to see how famous NG gets in Australia if not even here. Someone that sounds that good should be coming over here in America and performing. We need more female standards singers here, too, because most of the neo-crooners in America are male...probably intentional for obvious reasons.

People are listening to at least a few of my videos! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to look at them.

Before winning the 5th edition of Australian Idol in November 2007, Natalie was a singer who worked corporate gigs, recording sessions (background vocals), and weddings before forming a band and releasing an indie CD a couple of years ago. That must explain why her "I Will Survive" performance was so polished. I guess she could be considered one of those ringers I was complaining about before this year's American Idol started. (Obviously I've changed my mind about the qualification thing. ) She also was a visiting voice teacher at a secondary school and waited tables at her mother's Melbourne restaurant, so she has struggled as well.

Natalie Gauci seems to be more the singer/songwriter than a jazz/standards singer; those gig videos I linked to just happened to be jazz gigs. She actually claimed in her text and video blogs during the show that she wasn't a jazz singer, and she initially thought her H.H.T.M. scat wasn't very good! I love her modesty and humility (other wonderful qualities of hers), but frankly, it's probably been years - at least in this country - since somebody scatted that well on such a high-profile, national primetime TV show, let alone with such a pop sensibility (not too long, not too short, and not too slow ). She was trained early on by a regionally famous jazz vocalist, and her band includes a bassist who splits time between bass guitar and upright bass (almost exclusively a jazz instrument). Gauci also was a big band trumpeter (albeit undistinguished) at her performing arts high school, so her experience behind the bandstand probably enhances her abilities in front of it. I don't know how well Natalie plays jazz piano, but I would watch her sing and play any day of the week over Diana Krall's detached vocal and piano stylings. (No offense to Krall fans, but I've never understood her appeal.) Natalie does have a couple of jazz club dates in a couple of months, and she says her new album will have some jazz on it. Michael Buble did have the highest-selling album in Australia last year, but I don't think Natalie will go all jazz/standards.

Nat has been called "Australia's version of Alicia Keys," and the season's best performance was arguably her ballad-style rendition of Man in the Mirror. She's also a good arranger and a promising songwriter; besides reworking M.I.T.M., Crazy, and Umbrella, she defeated the season-long oddmakers' favorite by singing her own rearranged version of the winner's single, which was originally demo'ed by a male and featured lots of guitar.

I do worry about Natalie's sales prospects. Her single was the first winner's single ever to not hit #1 on the Aussie charts. It debuted at #2, behind One Republic's "Apologize," which Nat covered on the Top 2 show. (This would be like if Kat had won AI5, and "My Destiny"/"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was #2 to KT's "Black Horse...") I believe Nat's single eventually went gold. Part of the failure might be due to the show's falling TV ratings, but there's also a so-called curse on female contestants from Australian Idol: The male winners/also-rans have been mostly successful, while the female winners/runnerups usually flounder. Natalie made an album of extended covers of her Idol songs immediately after winning. I'm not sure how well it sold, but the big test is mid-year, when she releases an album of originals. I don't know if Nat has enough of a commercial mindset. The tour she headlined after the show (different from AI's tour in that it only involved the top 2) was "purely about the music". Hopefully Australia isn't ADDled to the point of not being able to appreciate Nat's sound.

BTW - I agree on the diversity thing; I always enjoy the generalists more than the specialists on American Idol. I don't really see the Broadway vibe, though. Natalie was happy on the show, but I didn't find her overly perky, like Diana DeGarmo. If you need a gritty attitude to rule the pop charts, Kat might be in trouble, too.

Top 9: Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson) - another piano gem

Top 2: Here I Am (winner's single)

"Acid Rain" (oiperformed in LA for a songwriting contest, early 2007)

"Free Falling" (original composition, performed on her Idol winner's tour)

Here's Natalie doing an outstanding cover of Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" last week. The appearance was for a peace ceremony in Melbourne, Australia, leading up to a visit from the pope. She's still working on her album, and was actually in LA a few weeks ago for writing sessions with other established songwriters. (Nat ran into Usher during her stay, but there were no Kat encounters as far as I know. )