Cinderella Story
From: By Alex Murdoch Courier Mail
January 20, 2006



http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,1...55-7484,00.html

PAULINI is living the Cinderella dream, albeit with the record company Sony BMG in the role of handsome prince.

You could almost say that the Australian Idol star from the first series has had a fairy godmother makeover - complete with beautiful clothes, stylish hair, make-up and a slimline image.
Add to that a record deal, and it really is a dream come true for the 23-year-old Sydney woman.

Appearing every inch the glamorous pop star, Paulini is in promotion mode for her new single Rough Day, released this week.

She has come a long way from the days when tough Idol judge Ian (Dicko) Dickson caused a furore in 2003 by labelling her too fat to wear a skin-tight gold dress.

"Lose a few pounds," he told the then 21-year-old performer.

To this day Paulini admits the experience was humiliating.

So how did she make the transition?

"It was a lot of hard work," she says.

She says it didn't take her long to realise the importance of image in the fickle music world.

"I've had to learn to adapt to that," Paulini says.

"It's made me much stronger, and I'm much more experienced now with how the industry works."
Paulini says a recent stint on Celebrity Overhaul definitely had helped to get her on the right track - forcing her to adjust the way she thinks about food and exercise.

"I didn't realise how much of your thinking you have to change to live a healthy lifestyle," Paulini says. "Before I never even thought about what I was going to put in my mouth. I'd just be, like, if I want to eat that - I'll eat it. But that's wrong."

Paulini says although she had always been an active person, she now has become a bit of a gym junkie - learning to make time always for the crucial exercise.

"And it's great always to have a stylist and a make-up artist around - it makes things a lot easier," she says.

When asked if this new routine of healthy eating and exercise had taken all the fun out of life, she replied: "It does sometimes, you can have a little bit of it but you have to be conscious of how much you put in your mouth.

"On the upside, though, it's taught me to be controlled and disciplined, and that can also be adapted to my music."

But would she still wear that infamous gold dress?

"Definitely now (with her new look), yes, but before when I did it the other time - definitely not," she says.

While Paulini remains grateful to the show that gave her the big break, she does admit the Idol stigma still makes it hard to gain credibility.

"You get more respect overseas because people don't know you," she says. "It is hard because I think people have it in their heads that you only made it because of the show - but I personally have been trying for a record deal since I was 13 years old."

So what's next step for the singer?

Paulini says launching her second R&B-styled album Superwoman in the next few months was first on her agenda, followed by plans to take her music to the people.

"I can't wait to get out there and start touring," she says.

Ultimately, Paulini says although this will be her second album, it almost feels like her first.

"I was very creatively involved in it this time around, with the vocal arrangements and a little bit of producing and I co-wrote three of the tracks," she says.

"This one is much closer to my heart than the first one because I had so much more creative control."


Rough Day is out now through Sony BMG