Paulini Curuenavuli or Paulini (born 1982) is an Australian pop and R&B singer who is best known for her appearance on the first series of Australian Idol and for the #1 Australian success of her single "Angel Eyes".

Career History

Paulini was born in Fiji and moved to Australia in 1986 with her family at the age of four. Her family settled in the southwest of Sydney where she went to school and regularly attended church. Her father coaxed her to enter a church talent contest at the age of 10 which she won and decided to become a singer.

Curuenavali formed her own band MIXX and started session singing and cutting demos of her own. After recording the Fijian national anthem (God Bless Fiji) for the South Pacific Games , Paulini saw a ad for Australian Idol on television and decided to apply.

She did well on the show, finishing fourth. Her appearance on the show attracted controversy after judges Mark Holden and Ian "Dicko" Dickson criticised her for wearing a yellow dress that they perceived to be too tight.

Sony Music signed Paulini after the show finished. Paulini finished her debut album in the first half of 2004 with producer Audius Mtawarira , who had previously co-written Delta Goodrem's Australian #1 hit "Born to Try". She performs mostly covers on the album including TLC's hit "Waterfalls" and The Tymes' 1960's hit "Trustmaker". The first single "Angel Eyes" is a cover of a 1988 hit song by Canadian blues musician Jeff Healey and debuted at #2 on the Australian singles charts on 11 July 2004 behind "Learn to Fly" by fellow Idol contestant Shannon Noll, but officially reached #1 on 18 July 2004. Her debut album One Determined Heart was released in late July 2004 and debuted at #1 on August 2.

Discography

• One Determined Heart (2004)

External links

• Paulini Curuenavuli web site
• Paulini Curuenavuli Australian Idol page