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Ricki-Lee Coulter
Ricki-Lee on the cover of her #2 hit single 'Can't Touch It'
Background information
Birth name	Ricki-Lee Coulter
Born	November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) (age 22)
Origin	Auckland, New Zealand
Genre(s)	Pop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Shock Records (2004–present) Pony Canyon (2007–present) Ministry Of Sound(2007–present)
Website	Official Site

Ricki-Lee Coulter (born November 10, 1985) is an New Zealand-born Australian pop singer. She came to fame in 2004 as a contestant on the second series of Australian Idol, before launching a solo career with the album Ricki-Lee on Shock Records. In 2006, she began a year-long stint as a member of Young Divas, with whom she toured the country and released a multi-platinum self-titled album, but decided to leave in mid 2007 in order to concentrate on her solo music. On August 11, 2007, Coulter released her second solo album Brand New Day. As of December 2007 she is also signed with Japanese record label Pony Canyon and European record label Ministry Of Sound.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Australian Idol performances 1.3 2005–2006: Ricki-Lee and Young Divas 1.4 2007–present: Brand New Day 2 Personal life 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 3.3 B-sides 4 Awards and nominations 5 References 6 External links

Coulter was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and moved with her father and mother Loretta to Queensland, Australia when she was 3 weeks old. In Queensland, her younger sister Jodie was also born. She developed a keen passion for playing netball and, according to Ricki-Lee, came close to playing for Australia. A serious knee injury however took away the chance of furthering her netball career. Coulter soon discovered her singing ability and auditioned for the Seven Network's unsuccessful Popstars Live reality talent program, making the Top 60. She then auditioned for the second series of Australian Idol where she became a favourite. The majority of Coulter's performances gained praise from the judges, but she made a shock early exit, after a poor rendition of a Beatles classic and finished in seventh place.

• Audition: "Don't Let Go" - En Vogue
• Top 30- "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe" - Barry White
• Top 12- Australian Hits: "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - Olivia Newton-John
• Top 11- Pop: "Work It Out" - Beyoncé
• Top 10- 60's: "Proud Mary" - Tina Turner
• Top 9- Disco: "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson
• Top 8- Idol's Choice: "I Have Nothing" - Whitney Houston
• Top 7- The Beatles: "We Can Work It Out" - The Beatles Eliminated

Unlike many popular contestants who sign with Sony BMG, Coulter signed with large independent label Shock Records and released her debut single "Hell No!" in June 2005. The single, written in collaboration with Audius Mtawarira who co-wrote Delta Goodrem's "Born to Try", peaked at number 5. Second single "Sunshine" also went Top 10, but the debut album Ricki-Lee stalled at number 30.

Coulter performed with Marcia Hines on the television program, An Audience With Marcia Hines, which was broadcast on FOXTEL and was one of the celebrity performers on the Nine Network's series, Celebrity Circus. She also appeared in several TV shows, including the Friday Night Games Grand Final on April 21, 2006, and in Bert's Family Feud Celebrity Challenge.

In 2006, Coulter joined other previous female contestants of Australian Idol, Paulini Curuenavuli, Emily Williams, and Kate DeAraugo, to form Young Divas. Their first single "This Time I Know It's For Real", a remake of the Donna Summer 1989 song, was a major success, reaching number 2 on the Australian charts, while the self titled album reached number 4 and was certified double platinum. On June 23, 2007, Coulter officially announced she would be leaving the group. After months of rumours and speculation of infighting, she stated that she was leaving to focus on her upcoming wedding and her solo career and that "I just couldn't do it all - I really had to get back to doing what I love doing, and that's my solo career."

Coulter is currently enjoying the success of the release of her new single "Can't Touch It", which peaked at number 2 in the ARIA Charts on August 13, her highest peak position for any single, and number 5 on the iTunes music store and on October 2nd it achieved Gold Status through ARIA. Her second solo album, entitled Brand New Day was released on August 11 and entered the Motorola ARIA Chart at number 37. The album has been re-released with a bonus second CD - her first album Ricki-Lee. Her second single from the album was Love Is All Around. It debuted at number 5, making it the second highest new entry for the week after Kylie Minogue. The single was actually number 1 on the physical chart, which meant that if digital sales were not counted, Coulter would've had her first number 1 single.

Ricki-Lee performed at the 2007 Aria Awards and was the opening act on the Red carpet.

It has been announced that Ricki-Lee will the supporting act for Hilary Duff when she tours Australia next year on her Dignity Tour^[1]

It was announced on the 9th of December 2007 that Ricki-Lee had signed with Japans biggest independent label Pony Canyon stating "Japan is like the second-highest territory in the world, so that is a pretty big deal in itself" and also signed to the major European label Ministry Of Sound after a representative of the label heard "Can't Touch It" on the radio and approached her management. "I am still in shock that this has actually happened and that I am signed to Ministry of Sound," she said. "It is a huge honour and it feels like a bit of a pat on the back as well." Coulter only found out last week that her management had negotiated the international deals. "It was kept a big secret from me, they didn't want to get my hopes up, and see me crash and burn if it didn't happen." The 22-year-old is looking forward to hearing Ministry of Sound remix one of her songs and can't wait to have it played in nightclubs around Europe. "I wouldn't have thought my music would even be eligible to be considered by a label like Ministry of Sound, they are so cutting-edge and are really renowned for making stuff happen. The big dream is ending up in Ibiza - that would be very cool, to end up playing in one of the biggest clubs in the world."

It was also announced that Ricki-Lee would also be joining Brisbane radio station B105 FM 105.3 as part of their breakfast team. After appearing on Hot 30 Countdown and impressing, Ricki-Lee will join Labrat and Stav in mid-January in a split-shift role with Camilla Severi, now a mum. The former Big Brother contestant will return to the morning show early next year, but only for an hour each day working from home in a specially designed studio. Ricki-Lee will be in the chair for the rest of the time.

It is rumoured that Can't Sing a Different Song will be the third single from the album and will be released early 2008

Coulter married Jamie Babbington in September 2007. A copy of the wedding invitation was printed in Australian womens magazine Woman's Day. Unfortunately they forgot to cover Coulter's personal mobile number, forcing her to obtain a new number. Coulter and Jamie currently reside on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

Statistics	Singles
Ricki-Lee Released: October 3, 2005 Peak chart positions: #30 Australia	"Hell No!" "Sunshine" "Breathe"
Brand New Day Released: August 11, 2007 Peak chart positions: #37 Australia	"Can't Touch It" "Love Is All Around" "Can't Sing a Different Song"

Year	Song	Chart positions[2]		Certification	Album
		Australia	ARIA Australian Chart
2005	"Hell No!"	5	1	Gold (ARIA)	Ricki-Lee
	"Sunshine"	8	1	Gold (ARIA)
2006	"Breathe"	14	4	-
2007	"Can't Touch It"	2	1	Gold (ARIA)	Brand New Day
	"Love Is All Around"	5	3	-		2008	"Cant Sing a Different Song"	-	-	Brand New Day

Year	B-side	A-side
2005	"Over The Rainbow"	"Hell No!"
	"Gotta Know"	"Sunshine"
2007	"Take Me to a Place"	"Can't Touch It"
	"It's Just Life"	"Love Is All Around"

Award	Category	About	Result
2006
Urban Music Awards 2006	Best R&B Album	Ricki-Lee	Nominated
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Aussie Artist	Herself	Won
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Song	This Time I Know It's For Real (Young Divas)	Won
2007
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Female Singer	Herself	Won
AIR Awards	Best Performing Independent Single/EP	Can't Touch It	Nominated

1. ^ "Ricki-Lee", www.goldcoast.com.au, 2007-10-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-29. 
2. ^ Discography Ricki-Lee. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on September 28, 2007.

• Ricki-Lee Forums: Official Forums
• Ricki-Lee's Official Site
• Ricki-Lee Coulter at the Internet Movie Database
• Ricki-Lee's Official Myspace
• New story on Europe and Asian record label signing and release http://www.centralstation.com.au/articles/shownews.asp?newsid=6742
• Pony Canyon Website http://music.ponycanyon.co.jp/

v • d • e Ricki-Lee Coulter
Studio albums	Ricki-Lee · Brand New Day
Singles	Hell No! · Sunshine · Breathe · Can't Touch It · Love Is All Around
Related articles	Young Divas · Australian Idol

v • d • e Young Divas
Paulini Curuenavuli · Kate DeAraugo · Jessica Mauboy · Emily Williams Former: Ricki-Lee Coulter
Studio albums	Young Divas · New Attitude
Singles	"This Time I Know It's for Real" · "Happenin' All Over Again" · "Searchin'" · "Turn Me Loose"
Related articles	Australian Idol

v • d • e Australian Idol
Hosts and judges	Andrew G · James Mathison · Mark Holden · Marcia Hines · Ian "Dicko" Dickson · Kyle Sandilands
Winners	Guy Sebastian · Casey Donovan · Kate DeAraugo · Damien Leith · Natalie Gauci
Runners-up	Shannon Noll · Anthony Callea · Emily Williams · Jessica Mauboy · Matt Corby
Notable alumni	Cosima De Vito · Paulini Curuenavuli · Joel Turner · Hayley Jensen · Ricki-Lee Coulter · Lee Harding · Dean Geyer · Lisa Mitchell · Bobby Flynn
Winner's Singles	"Angels Brought Me Here" · "Listen with Your Heart" · "Maybe Tonight" · "Night of My Life" · "Here I Am"
Seasons	2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007
Related articles	John Foreman · Erana Clark  · List of semi finalists · Young Divas · List of commercial releases