Cosima De Vito

Cosima De Vito (born 1 November 1976), also known as Cosima, is an Australian pop and R&B singer-songwriter.

Cosima De Vito was born on 1 November 1976 and grew up in Hamilton Hill, a suburb of Perth.

Her father, Carlo De Vito, is an Italian-born house painter and contractor and her mother, Maria, is a partner in the family business.

De Vito's grandfather was an Italian tenor who sang Neapolitan folk songs and opera.

Turning to a career in entertainment, De Vito made contact with talent agents who enabled her to travel to Nashville, Tennessee, USA in 2001 to record a demo tape and discuss a recording deal but was turned down because of a lack of an Australian fan base.

In 2003 Cosima appeared on the first season of Australian Idol.

After reaching the semi-finals, Cosima had to withdraw from the series due to throat nodules.

During the Australian Idol series, Cosima released her first single "When the War Is Over" and was the first independent artist to reach a platinum certification; whilst being No. 1 on the ARIA charts.

Following on from her awards, Cosima went on to record and produce in Los Angeles with the renowned Grammy and Golden Globe award winner Diane Warren.

During 2003 De Vito worked as an office administrator in a Perth publicity and conference business.

In May 2003, Cosima De Vito successfully auditioned for the first season of TV talent quest series, Australian Idol, with a performance of Celine Dion's "I Surrender".

From July to November she appeared on the weekly televised episodes and moved to Sydney that year, she entered as one of the judges' wild card choices.

De Vito finished in third position after having to withdraw from the competition due to a diagnosis of throat nodules when she lost her voice singing "River Deep – Mountain High".

Idol judge, Ian Dickson, claimed that she would have won.

However, following medical advice, she withdrew from the competition and underwent speech therapy allowing fellow contestant Shannon Noll to join Guy Sebastian in the series grand final.

According to opera singer and music teacher, Juliette Hughes, in The Age, De Vito and other contestants:

"'[o]ften, quite talented young singers fall into bad vocal habits. It's a style thing: they get told to belt and force, to the point of damage. When Cosima famously had to pull out from the first series because she had nodules, no reputable singing teacher in Australia could have been surprised. She had been showing the signs for some time. Her voice was losing its ability to sing softly; there was a brittleness, a threadiness. If she hadn't stopped, she would also have lost the ability to sing beyond a narrow series of barked, hoarse notes'."

Timeline of De Vito on the series:

After recovery from her throat nodules, Cosima De Vito was unable to negotiate a suitable record deal and funded her own label, (CDV Records) with the financial help of her family.

Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, she is best known for her cover of the classic Australian hit "When the War Is Over" (2004) which reached No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Her passion and love for the music industry stemmed from her influential grandfather, who was a gifted Italian tenor.

From a young age, Cosima has performed, winning her first talent quest at the young age of 9.

On 11 October 2004, Cosima released her self-titled debut album which similarly hit No. 2 on the ARIA charts.

The album was certified gold on release as it also hit No. 1 on the independent charts.

After showing no signs of deceleration, Cosima headed back to the studio to record her next offering This Is Now.

Cosima wrote several tracks on her second album.

In addition to her flourishing career as a singer-songwriter, Cosima starred in the musical "Hair" on its sold-out Australian tour.

The young artist also performed on countless TV shows and at prestigious events, including the Prime Minister’s Parliament Gala Dinner, the televised Dream Foundations Gala Dinner in Los Angeles, and Channel 7’s iconic Carols by Candlelight.

In 2006, De Vito's younger brother, Modesto (born ca 1980), joined his parents' firm as a painter, their younger sister is Sarina (born ca 1985).

De Vito entered various talent contests while in primary school – at the age of nine she won a competition.

She cited Whitney Houston, Shirley Bassey, Tina Turner and Karen Carpenter as being major influences on her personal style.

She attended Murdoch University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree – major in finance and banking.

After being voted best new artist for Pop Republic magazine, Cosima launched her hit single “Right Here, Right Now” on Channel 10, with a live performance in October 2012.

Her rendition of the classic "O Holy Night" was in high demand over the 2012 Christmas season, as she performed the single at multiple national Christmas events.

Following a number of tours, live performances, festivals, and dance parties, Cosima toured the country performing shows with her band.

She was invited to perform the national anthem on various occasions for major sporting events including; the Melbourne Cup, State Of Origin, Fox Sports, and the NBL All-Stars game.

On 5 November 2013, Cosima celebrated over a decade in the music industry by producing the new single, “Beyond The Horizon”.

In addition, she also secured yet another nomination for female artist of the year.

The album was inspired by her personal journey to find love, as she married Gus De Romanis in July 2015.

The single came from her evolving album, “Power of Love” which officially released in 2017.