Idol winner Damo is one in a millionaire (The Sun)

[gluttonmutton]

This was published in The Sun (Ireland) on 28/11/06, so it's not new (there wasn't enough room in the subject field to say this). But, as far as I can tell, it has not been posted on this forum - my apologies if it has.

The story is interesting for the insights provided by Damien's sister, Aine. Not sure about the accuracy of its reporting on the details of Damien's prize, but with sales of the cd/dvd going so well, I have no doubt that a million dollar royalty cheque is coming Damien's way anyway.


The Sun
Home news
Idol winner Damo is one in a millionaire;Exclusive
David Lowe
349 words
28 November 2006
Eire 27
English
(c) 2006 News Group Newspapers. All rights reserved

THE proud Irish family of Australian Idol winner Damien Leith yesterday told of their boy's utter shock at becoming an overnight MILLIONAIRE.

He beat 25,000 contestants in the hotly-contested TV show - bagging a record deal, cash prize, sports car and lucrative sponsorship deals in the process.

But last night Damien's sister Aine Coe, who watched him win from the family's local pub in Milltown, Co Kildare, said he never thought he would do it.

She explained: "Jessica Mauboy, the other finalist, was from the Northern Territory.

"The government there put on a huge party in support of her.
"When Damien saw how well co-ordinated her campaign was, he felt he didn't have a chance."

On Sunday night, people all over Australia made Damien the country's newest Australian Idol.

Contract

The chemist from Co Kildare secured a Aus$1million recording
contract with Sony BMG, a Aus$100,000 cash prize and a number of sponsorship deals.

The total value of the title is well in excess of Euro 1MILLION.

Aine, 29, from Naas, continued: "Everyone thought the Aussies would get behind their own girl.

"It was touch-and-go whether they'd vote for an Irish man."

There were emotional scenes when dad-of-one Damien was announced Australian Idol 2006.

His wife Eileen Stapleton was watching in the audience, as were his mum Angela and dad Paul who flew over there from Ireland.

Aine added: "Damien went from being sure he'd lost to total euphoria. His feet haven't touched the ground since.

"It's funny how the tables have turned. We used to play together in a band called Leaf.

"Back then he was on guitar and I was the singer!"

Meanwhile, Damien's win has made him a hot favourite with bookies Boylesports.

The Irishman is 1/2 to reach No1 in the Australian charts by the end of the year - and 12/1 to achieve the same feat here.

(C) The Sun, 2006

[Bahamagirl]

Thanks for the post, GM. His sister was the singer? Wouldn't you love to hear her voice. Maybe he should have her on background vocals on the new album.

[winterlong]

You know, when I saw all the promo for Jess on the official site, I thought exactly the same thing..a fairytale was being written, in Jess' favour. Even looking right back to the audition, it all seemed like it was pointing to her for the win.

I'm so glad Australia got behind D! (and is continuing to do so at the cash registers!)


I really hope the bit about the cash prize is true (I guess that goes with the contract)... HEY DAMO, can I hit you for a loan? I'm still yet to pay off my phone bill!!


Thanks for the article

[sunshine]

How does 1 million Euros convert into Australian Dollars?

Damien ought to be getting a nice fat royalty cheque too from sales of 'The Winner's Journey', because he's got 2 of his own songs included.
He'll be well able to provide for his family, and do lots of other things in the future. I'm so happy for him!

[gluttonmutton]

sunshine said:

How does 1 million Euros convert into Australian Dollars?

Damien ought to be getting a nice fat royalty cheque too from sales of 'The Winner's Journey', because he's got 2 of his own songs included.
He'll be well able to provide for his family, and do lots of other things in the future. I'm so happy for him!

On today's exchange rates, 1 EUR = 1.67170 AUD .

So, 1 million euros = 1, 671,700 AUD!

But I think we have to take this report with a grain of salt. In any case, I'm confident Damien will be a bona fide millionaire several times over come this time next year when royalties from The Winner's Journey, NOML, his upcoming studio album and any singles from that album are added together.

Heck, just on the strength of the cd/dvd alone, my bet is he'll make 1million AUD or more in royalties just from that. If both Guy and Shannon were handed royalty cheques of 1million each for their debut albums without the benefit of also picking up writer's royalties, just imagine the windfall Damien is in for.

And we haven't even factored in future income from a possible tour that he'll do to support the album next year, and any other miscellaneous corporate gigs and appearances. Wooo!

[-- Janny --]

You know, when I saw all the promo for Jess on the official site, I thought exactly the same thing..a fairytale was being written, in Jess' favour. Even looking right back to the audition, it all seemed like it was pointing to her for the win.

I was dead sure that Jessica would win. When watching the Grand Final I kept putting my hands over my head because they showed heaps of Jessica's footage and supporters. Moreover, the fact that they showed the audition bit where Mark asked Jessica if she saw herself as the Next Australian Idol reassured me that she would win Idol . Even when they interviewed the audience and past Idols, they showed the ones that were in favour of Jessica. Not to mention the media all went for Jessica.... Oh well, I've never been happier being proven wrong ;D

I really hope the bit about the cash prize is true (I guess that goes with the contract)... HEY DAMO, can I hit you for a loan? I'm still yet to pay off my phone bill!!

I KNOW!!! He owes me $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ from voting, I tell ya!

[Mi chiamano Kami]

So I'm not the only one who noticed the infuritating bias on the official Idol site. Oh well, that place lacks class anyway. Thank goodness Australia in general had the sense not to fall for the fairytale nonsense and ruin Jess's career.

Hope this $100 000 prize thing is true. Damien could get a nice new house with that! Although they're probably just getting confused with the car??

Hmm... and Damien's sister was the singer? I wonder if it's her doing the backing vocals in Come To Me? The more I listen to it, the more I think it's not Damien backing himself.

[morgaine]

Thanks for the post GM...

bahamagirl said:

Thanks for the post, GM. His sister was the singer? Wouldn't you love to hear her voice. Maybe he should have her on background vocals on the new album.

Beautiful voice and she's gorgeous too! Seems to run in the family

I agree...I totally thought the 'voting demographic' would get behind Jess. D looked like an absolute darling when he gets so shell shocked when they announced his name

It's fantastic that D will get some "material rewards" apart from the glory of being AI...he soooo deserves after years of doing the hard work in the music scene here & in Ireland.

Huge HOORAY!!! for Damien !!

[thebraff (Braffy)]

Yes I agree. Initially I thought Damien would be voted out early due to age/Irish etc. I thought the people that would normally vote would go for the likes of Dean, Jess etc. But it has come out so often on these forums that there are a lot (me included) of people who don't normally vote who got behind Damien and let their fingers do the walking/talking. I was more than happy to keep voting for Damien because i realized that he was a true Australian Idol and damn HAWT to boot.
The winners don't usually make much from Idol after they pay back all money spent on them, but in Damien's case it will be different because of his own songs being involved. This man has a smart head on his shoulders. He deserves all good things that come to him.

[hyperrune]

THE proud Irish family of Australian Idol winner Damien Leith yesterday told of their boy's utter shock at becoming an overnight MILLIONAIRE.
How apt! ;D

"Damien went from being sure he'd lost to total euphoria. His feet haven't touched the ground since.
;D ;D ;D

In Jess' defence, those reports of her already having a contract hurt her chances a bit. But hell! did he make NOML sound good or what?!
I wondered who did the backing vocals! I convinced myself for a while that it was Eileen! Does that mean that Fool is from the 'Releaf' period, or did he form his own band out here? Didn't he mention another band in the article he wrote for the Irish Echo?

[auntybesure]

janny said:

You know, when I saw all the promo for Jess on the official site, I thought exactly the same thing..a fairytale was being written, in Jess' favour. Even looking right back to the audition, it all seemed like it was pointing to her for the win.

I was dead sure that Jessica would win. When watching the Grand Final I kept putting my hands over my head because they showed heaps of Jessica's footage and supporters. Moreover, the fact that they showed the audition bit where Mark asked Jessica if she saw herself as the Next Australian Idol reassured me that she would win Idol . Even when they interviewed the audience and past Idols, they showed the ones that were in favour of Jessica. Not to mention the media all went for Jessica.... Oh well, I've never been happier being proven wrong ;D

I really hope the bit about the cash prize is true (I guess that goes with the contract)... HEY DAMO, can I hit you for a loan? I'm still yet to pay off my phone bill!!

I KNOW!!! He owes me $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ from voting, I tell ya!

I think it got us all voting that little bit extra...
I also got worried when he did Angels and Never Meant to Fail in the last week because even though I loved it and all the D fans loved it, I wasn't sure whether it was the right selection to get new fans...It obviously was though!

Now, where do we send all our voting invoices to? Hmmm

[shimmery]

Loved hearing about the thoughts of the final from Aine's perspective!

Yes, when I saw all the support from the NT Government for Jess, it was very organised but then again Sydney is a huge city and a lot of Sydney got behind Damien, so a lot of that probably levelled out. Then you have the factor of many people voting who don't usually vote for idol right across the country because they loved Damien so I think that's why Damien ran away with the competition and why he's now enjoying fabulous record sales ;D

[sunshine]

Here's my thoughts on what won Idol for Damien:

1. Kyle Sandilands said on radio a few times that a new older demographic was voting this year, for the first time. I think we can assume the vast majority of these were Damien supporters.
I'm a 37 year old guy, who normally never votes for reality show contestants, but Damien really motivated me to use the phone/SMS this year.

2. Damien's version of NOML. Remember, he did it as the last song on that Final 2 Idol show. Because it was such a great performace, and people remarked the next day that they'd rather listen on the radio to his song rather than Jess's, I think that helped a lot too.

3. And yes: the rumour went around in the last week that Jess already had a contract with Sony.

4. Most importantly, the majority knew Damien was the best this year, Damien deserved to win, and Damien is potentially going to be the most internationally successful Australian Idol.

[-- Janny --]

Now, where do we send all our voting invoices to? Hmmm

Gotta find the Official Fan Club Address lol. I wonder if Damien will take it as a joke if we do send the invoices lol

[dededom]

I got my Vodafone mobile account last week for November. It was a book.