Vanessa Joy Amorosi was born on 8 August 1981 in Melbourne, Australia, and by the age of four she and her younger sisters, Mellissa and Natasha, were taking tap, jazz and classical ballet classes run by her uncle. At the age of 12 she started to perform in shopping centres and local council concerts under the supervision of her family, and in 1997 she signed a management contract with MarJac Productions and recorded a promo CD titled 'Get Here', which secured her a deal with Transistor Music Australia. In 1999 she released her debut single 'Have A Look', which became a Top 20 hit and went gold in Australia, and she followed that with 'Absolutely Everybody', an anthemic dance song, which reached the Top 10. When it was released internationally it also reached the Top 10 in many European countries, including the UK and Germany, where it received a gold certification. Two more singles followed, with 'Shine' and the double A-sided single 'The Power'/'Every Time I Close My Eyes' becoming major Australian hits, and a remixed version of 'Shine' was used by the airline Ansett Australia in a commercial. In 2000 she released her official debut album 'The Power', which went to number one on the Australian album charts, and she received six ARIA nominations at that year's awards. Her largest audience came in September 2000, with performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at the Paralympic Games, and later that year she also made a special appearance at the Goodwill Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Brisbane.
In October 2001 she released an Australian only compilation album, with 'Turn To Me' featuring some new songs, and tracks from 'The Power', which were previously unreleased in Australia. In 2002 she recorded her second studio album, 'The Change', but it was only ever released in Germany, and contains the previous released singles 'One Thing Leads 2 Another', which debuted at No. 67 on the German Singles Chart, and the Australian exclusive single-release 'Spin (Everybody's Doin' It)', which became a top 50 hit on the ARIA Charts, and peaked at number 64 on the German Top 100. In February 2003 she travelled to Germany to perform her third single 'True To Yourself' on the hugely successful long-running show 'Wetten, dass..?', which screens throughout Europe. 'Change' was set to be released in Australia later in 2003, but for reasons unknown it remains unreleased there, and it never seems to have been considered for a UK or US release. In January 2006 she revealed that she had signed with manager Ralph Carr, having completed seven years with MarJac Productions, and in November she signed to Universal Music Australia, who released her second studio album 'Somewhere In The Real World' in May 2008. Despite her long absence from the music scene, after singing 'Kiss Your Mama!' on Australian Idol she returned to the charts, with the single release peaking at number 15. 'Change', however, was now long forgotten, and it's a shame that it received such a limited release, as it's a great album, and to show you just how good, here it is for you to enjoy.
Track listing
01 One Thing Leads 2 Another
02 Turning Up The Heat
03 Spin (Everybody's Doin' It)
04 Dream
05 Change
06 Lifted Up
07 Back In Love
08 Who's Lovin' You
09 True To Yourself
10 Follow Me
11 Bitter Twist
12 Sometimes Happiness
