On Sunday night Jessica Mauboy walked the TV WEEK Logie Awards red carpet, but her mind was on the moment she first hit our TV screens in 2006.
She grins recalling her audition for Australian Idol, telling TV WEEK exclusively that experiences like the Logies take her back to where it all began.
“Every morning I wake up and I’m grateful, it definitely takes me back to that moment of how a platform can be so exposing,” she gushes.
Jessica Mauboy appears on the TV WEEK Logie Awards red carpet.
(Getty)“Going back to those memories, there’s definitely still that passion of wanting to keep doing it. That’s what keeps you going, when you go back to the very first things that created where you are now, it feels like magic.”
Remembering where she started inspires her work on The Voice, where she’s dedicated to helping the next generation of Aussie stars find their sound.
Joining the coaching panel on was “a huge step into something I didn’t expect to really enjoy and love”, but also an opportunity to coach new talent from marginalised groups.
“How lucky are we that these platforms are able to recognise unique stories, cultural views, and just for community and people at home watching?” she says.
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Looking around the rep carpet, she notes how diverse Australian TV has become in recent years and how many incredible women she now gets to work alongside.
“There’s a lot of boss women here on this red carpet,” she laughs.
Sonia Kruger is one of them and Jess says the TV icon has her vote for the Gold Logie tonight, but she’s backing all the ladies who have been nominated.
“Sonia Kruger is a really good friend after getting to know her through two seasons of doing The Voice,” she says. “Julia Morris is incredible as well, she’s someone that I’ve really admired.”
Jess in 2006 at the Australian Idol finale.
(Getty)Like the women she admires, Jess credits her own hard work for getting her to the place she is today – a lauded Australian singer, songwriter and actress the nation can’t get enough of.
So what is her advice to the young people who are starting out where she did 18 years ago in Darwin?
“Work hard. It it’s all about technique. It’s about your ability to really shine and know yourself. Knowing yourself is the most important thing,” she says.
“Where you come from, that really sets the tone of where you’re going to go, knowing yourself inside out, how far you can challenge yourself and just get out there and do it.”
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