Paulini, Fijian-Australian singer
Pauline Curuenavuli (born 15 October 1982), known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer and songwriter living in Sydney. Born in Suva in Fiji, Paulini moved to Sydney in Australia with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the first season of Australian Idol and placed fourth in the competition. Paulini subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Australia and released her debut studio album One Determined Heart (2004), which debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum. The album included the platinum single "Angel Eyes", which spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. Paulini received two ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for both the album and single.
In 2006, Paulini released her second studio album Superwoman, which failed to match the commercial success of her debut album. Despite the underperformance of Superwoman, the album included the moderately successful single "Rough Day" and earned Paulini two nominations at the Australia/New Zealand Urban Music Awards. That same year, Paulini enjoyed commercial success again as a member of the Australian girl group Young Divas. The group released two top-ten albums, Young Divas (2006) and New Attitude (2007), and achieved three top-fifteen singles, including the hugely successful "This Time I Know It's for Real". After Paulini parted ways with the Young Divas and ended her contract with Sony BMG in 2008, she focused more on songwriting. Through a publishing deal with independent label Albert Music, Paulini was able to travel and write songs in Europe, New York and Los Angeles. She wrote songs for several recording artists in Europe, South Africa and the Philippines.Aside from her songwriting work, Paulini continued to release singles independently between 2009 and 2013. She was also featured on the 2010 single "Believe Again" by Irish recording artist Ronan Keating. Paulini signed a joint record deal with Ambition Records and Decca Records Australia in 2014. The following year, she released her long-awaited third studio album Come Alive, which included the singles "Air It All Out" and "By My Side". The album was a moderate success, debuting at number 25 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Paulini's fourth studio album Merry Christmas was also released later in 2015, featuring a collection of popular Christmas tunes. In 2017, Paulini made her musical theatre debut in the Australian production of The Bodyguard, playing the lead role of Rachel Marron—originally portrayed by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film of the same name.