Damien Leith

Only following determined coaxing by friends, Leith auditioned for the 4th series of Network Ten's Australian Idol along with some 25,000 other contestants.

He was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 contestants, and was the first person voted into the competition's top 12 as the result of a nationwide viewer vote.

He was praised by the show's judges for his falsetto technique, which he used regularly in performances.

Damien Leo Leith (born 18 January 1976, in Dublin) is an Irish-Australian singer–songwriter.

Leith holds the record (with Australian Idol 2004 winner Casey Donovan) for being awarded the most touchdowns, at four apiece.

Sandilands also stated that the family of Roy Orbison had contacted the Australian Idol producers requesting a copy of Leith's performance of "Crying".

Although he was one of the most popular interviewees on Idol's behind-the-scenes show Idol Backstage, he was not expected by betting agencies to win the competition with Dean Geyer punted as the favourite to win throughout.

Leith is one of only few contestants to never land in the bottom 2 or bottom 3 throughout their series.

During a live broadcast from the Sydney Opera House, Leith was announced the winner, over runner-up Jessica Mauboy.

At age 30 at the time, Leith became the second oldest winner of any Idol series in the world.

Controversy among viewers was created as Leith was not an Australian citizen at the time of winning the Australian Idol.

Leith signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and his debut single, "Night of My Life", was released as a paid digital download from Bigpond Music soon after the conclusion of the grand finale, with an official CD release on 28 November, which included an original composition written and produced by Leith titled "Come to Me".

The single was certified "Gold" (35,000 copies sold) within 72 hours of its release.

He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest Australian Idol in 2006.

Since winning the title, Leith has released nine studio albums, four of which peaked in the top two of the ARIA Charts, including two number ones.

He has been awarded seven platinum and one gold certification for albums and singles by ARIA, which equates to sales of just over half a million.

As a teenager Leith formed a family band, "Leaf", with his sister Áine and brothers Paul and Darren.

Leaf recorded in New York City and then again later under the new name "Releaf", which made an appearance in the Irish Top 100.

After moving to Sydney, he played in a number of high-profile venues, as front-man for a band known as Revelate.

His first Australian performance was at The Basement in Sydney's Circular Quay.

Before auditioning for Australian Idol, Leith worked in Sydney as a chemist with Pharmalab utilising the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry he obtained from University College, Dublin and postgraduate experience within the Metallosupramolecular Research Group in the Chemistry Department of Trinity College, Dublin.

For the first time, Australian Idol 2006 permitted contestants to perform with instruments, and Leith accompanied himself on guitar for his renditions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Alex Lloyd's "Never Meant to Fail" and Ben Harper's "Waiting on an Angel", and on piano for his rendition of Split Enz's "Message to My Girl".

Leith also played piano for the non-competition round "Up Close and Personal" night, when he performed his original song "Sky".

Despite adverse comments from judges Mark Holden and Kyle Sandilands in relation to Leith's appearance and a performance of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" on the "Disco" theme night, which drew ridicule from Holden, the judges' assessments of Leith's performances were usually positive with Holden labelling him a 'darkhorse' early in the competition.

His renditions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game", Roy Orbison's "Crying", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" each earned Leith a "Touchdown" from Mark Holden, Holden's ultimate accolade for an excellent performance.

On 3 December 2006, the single debuted at number 1 and stayed in that position for 4 weeks, being accredited Platinum (70,000 copies shipped) in its first week of release.

It was the fastest-selling debut single released during 2006, and also the most added song to radio.

The video for "Night of My Life" debuted on national television on Saturday 9 December 2006.

Set in the urban streets of Chippendale, New South Wales, the video was produced by Cutting Edge Productions.

Although with an official release date of 9 December, on 6 December 2006, Leith's CD/DVD pack entitled The Winner's Journey with all his Idol performances and two original tracks began appearing in non-ARIA accredited stores.

The release debuted at number 3 with Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies shipped) on the ARIA Album Charts released on Sunday, 10 December 2006, and rose to number 1 on the following week, with 89,000 units sold and certified platinum four times (280,000 copies shipped).

It sold a 2006 record of 101,206 units in the pre-Christmas week and continued to stay in the same position of number 1 for the next four weeks.

In late December 2006, Leith signed with Sony BMG Ireland and, on 18 January 2007, "Night of My Life" entered the Top 10 singles chart in Ireland.

The next week it rose up two spots to the position of number 8.

Leith performed in a nationally televised concert, Australia Day Live, on the eve of Australia Day in 2007, in the nation's capital, Canberra.

He performed two songs, Peter Allen's "Tenterfield Saddler" with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and "Night of My Life".

In late February 2007, Leith embarked on a two-week, 14 show tour of major Australian East Coast cities.

Labelled The Winner's Journey Tour, the concerts featured many of the songs performed by Leith during Australian Idol, as well as showcasing new original songs destined for his forthcoming studio album, including the folk/acoustic piece "Song for Jarvis", dedicated to his son, and "Beautiful", a band piece written by Leith during his trip to Ireland after winning Australian Idol.

Supporting Leith on the tour was Sydney singer-songwriter and friend Mark Wilkinson.

On 22 February 2007, Leith was presented with two ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for his first single "Night of My Life" and first album The Winner's Journey.