Vanessa Amorosi

"It was an enormous influence on me to be surrounded by music and wonderful voices. I couldn't help being infected by the magic of it."
"I'd pick up the tune and then just make up my own words about my family. I loved it!"
The songs were sung with such heartfelt emotion that even her parents couldn't believe their ears. The quality in her tone and the note perfect pitch were almost unnatural from someone so young.
Vanessa was discovered by Jack Strom (producer of Hey Hey It's Saturday's Red Faces) at a restaurant where she had been performing since the age of 14. Jack and his partner Mark Holden signed her to their management company, MarJac Productions and Transistor Music shortly afterwards.
"I feel such a great deal of pride in being able to express myself through music which is my greatest love."
While music is a huge part of Vanessa's life, she does have one other great love and that is for animals. She is surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes including a horse, a big dog, a little dog, two cats, two mice, a budgie, a frog, a hermit crab, the newest addition to her family - a hampster and a baby rat who goes everywhere with her. Vanessa rescued the little rat from a 'Pet' Shop where it was being fed alive to snakes.
Vanessa is appalled at acts of cruelty against animals which she describes as "no less than criminal". She has particularly strong views about testing for cosmetics and household products.
"There is no excuse to test these products on animals. There are so many safe and reliable alternatives available that animal testing has been obsolete for many years. I cannot understand why companies still test - they should put themselves in the animal's place and think about unnecessary cruelty that they are inflicting."
Listen out for Vanessa's voice, there's no mistaking the unique sound - a beautiful blend of velvet and granite."