Daniel Kowalski - Biography
Daniel Kowalski - Former Olympic swimmer

If four-time Olympic medal winner Daniel Kowalski can hold a note by the end of It Takes Two, he’ll be a happy man. The respected sportsman admits, “I’ve often thought it would be nice to be able to hold a note. I am trying not to think too much about the fact I will be singing in front of a national audience. It was extremely hard swimming in front of literally millions and I was a decent swimmer. As for the singing bit, my heart rate has started climbing,” he says.

Daniel has shown a remarkable ability to ride out adversity and still produce extraordinary performances during his 10-year swimming career. His courage is now legendary. At age 16, he missed selection for the 1992 Olympic Team when he finished third in the 1500m freestyle. Later that year he developed glandular fever, but came back from illness to win his place in the 1993 Pan Pacific Championships – finishing second to Kieran Perkins in the 1500 metres, 800 metres and the 400 metres freestyle events.

One month before the Commonwealth Games trials in 1994, Daniel contracted a viral infection that destroyed his final preparation and left him expecting failure. Instead, he stunned Australia, not to mention Kieran Perkins – by beating the Olympic champion over both the 400 metre and 1500 metre freestyle events – and broke the 15-minute barrier for the first time.

After moving to Melbourne he concentrated on preparing for the Atlanta Olympics, where he walked away with more medals than any other Australian – a silver and two bronze. Daniel qualified in the 4 x 200m Australian relay team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics again and despite missing a lot of training due to shoulder surgery earlier in the year, another gold medal was added to his list of accomplishments.

Unfortunately, due to constant injury problems Daniel was forced to retire from competitive swimming in May 2002. But in 2004, Daniel was asked to be the mentor for the Australian Swimming Team heading to Athens. Daniel has spent the last two years working in the marketing department for the 2007 Swimming Championships which were recently held in Australia.

Daniel hopes to show the same bravado in his newfound singing career as he did in his sporting career.

Daniel is supporting Beyond Blue; a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia. “Beyond blue is important to me because it is educating the country on depression and working to stamp out the stigma associated with the illness."

Kate Ceberano - Biography
Kate Ceberano has been belting out tunes for over 20 years and is one of the country’s best-known and loved singers, and now she can add Australia’s favourite dancer to the list. Having just taken the title of dancing champion in the latest series of Dancing with the Stars, Kate now joins It Takes Two and to top it all off has just released her new album Nine Lime Avenue.

Renowned for her soulful and powerful vocal style, Kate has won nearly every entertainment award in Australia. She has released five platinum records and four gold albums, selling more than one million albums in this country alone.

The sultry singer first came to prominence during her mid-teens as the lead singer for funk band I’m Talking. After one album, the group broke up leaving Kate free to pursue a solo career.

And what a career it’s been. Her second solo album You’ve Always Got The Blues earned her an ARIA Award for Best Female Artist, but it was the triple platinum selling Brave in 1989 that really set the charts on fire. It was the first album by an Australian female to reach the national No.1 spot and it produced four hit singles including Bedroom Eyes.

At the end of 1990, she received three prestigious MO Awards for Jazz Performer, Female Rock Performer and Contemporary Concert Performer of the Year.

In 1992, Kate performed the role of Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar to rave reviews. She followed this with her own late-night cabaret-style show on ABC TV called Kate Ceberano And Friends (1993-1994). Since then, she has released the critically acclaimed album Blue Box and her self-penned smash Pash. Next came The Girl Can Help It followed by the highly successful 19 Days in New York. Now comes Nine Lime Avenue, Kate’s recently released 1980s inspired album, which she describes as a collection of songs connected to different memories from that time.

The Melbourne-born diva and songstress is married to music video director Lee Rogers, who has directed several of her music videos. They have a daughter Gypsy, who was born in January 2004.

Now she will belt out tunes when she pairs up with Daniel Kowalski hoping to win over the judges and audience once again.

:wub:

Daniel and Kate eliminated 19/06/07 :hi