2005-2008: This Is Now
By March 2005, Cosima De Vito had signed a management deal with Dorry Kordahi of DK Management. According to De Vito, there were still things to be sorted out with her previous management, but she was confident they would turn out well. However, negotiations failed and, from November 2007, Nellis and Gardner appeared in court suing for "breach of contract, claiming lost earnings" while De Vito counter claimed that "the management team were 'negligent' in guiding her career". Since early 2005 De Vito had been in the studio working on her second studio album, This Is Now. During an interview at the ARIA Number One Chart Awards in 2005, she said "I may do it independently, or I may go with a record label. We'll see what happens". On 29 September 2007 the album was released. On it De Vito wrote tracks for the first time; some of which are deeply personal as well as an indication of who she is as an artist. Johann Huang of Mediasearch found "the strongest tracks on the album seem to be the songs Cosima had a hand in writing". One of her self-penned tracks, "Forever Young", was dedicated to her mother.
In October 2005, De Vito previewed some new tracks as support act for United Kingdom soul singer, Roachford on his Australian tour. On 19 March 2006, she appeared in Channel Ten's celebrity quiz show, Australia's Brainiest Musician. During June and July, she completed a national tour with Greek singer, Demis Roussos. De Vito appeared at the Sydney Ferragasto Festival and the Soul Divas show at the Basement in Sydney. On 26 September, De Vito was on 2Day FM breakfast radio's The Kyle and Jackie O Show as the secret celebrity on their "Where Are They Now?" segment. In October, her management announced that her debut single, "When the War Is Over" had re-entered the Australian Independent Charts at No. 11, more than 2 years after it debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Charts. On 25 November, Cosima headlined at opening of the NBL All Star Game in Adelaide. She sang songs from her new album as well as the national anthem, which was broadcast on FOX Sports.
On 26 January 2007, De Vito headlined a concert at South Juniors Football Club. On 11 February, she sang the national anthem at the Australia vs England Cricket final at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 40,000 spectators. Lead single from the album, "Keep It Natural", released on 2 June, showed a rockier edge to her previous works and was written by De Vito and Trevor Steel (singer-songwriter for The Escape Club); it became popular at gay nightclubs across Australia. On 22 February, she debuted "Keep It Natural" at the half time entertainment for the NBL's Sydney Kings v Brisbane Bullets game at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The album did not chart on the Australian ARIA charts. In October the second single, "Movin' On", also failed to chart despite positive reviews. She appeared on Kerri-Anne and performed "Keep It Natural", as well as on Channel 9's Today Show and the Morning Show hosted by Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur. De Vito has been a regular guest on the Susie Show where she performed the track "Never Be a Woman in Chains" and displayed her heritage when she cooked an Italian dish. "Keep It Natural" peaked at No. 30 on the ARIA Club Charts and No. 73 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart and No. 112 on the ARIA Singles Chart.. It peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Independent Charts also for 8 weeks. In May, De Vito performed the role of Mother Nature in the Perth production of the rock musical, Hair, to critical acclaim with Rob Mills, Cle Wotton and Nikki Webster. This production was directed by Chris Kabay with musically director, Simon Holt, of Yellow Glass Theatre. Jessica Clayden of the 3rd Degree website approved of the former Australian Idol contestants, "De Vito and Wooten shine during their musical numbers and leave the audience wanting to hear more, so much so that you find yourself looking to the on stage balcony to wait for Cosima to appear and belt out another tune. Her rendition of 'Aquarius' will send chills down your spine". In October she launched her album at the Sleaze Ball as the headlining act.
De Vito shot a video for "Movin' On", which was premiered on music video programs in Australia. It was released in October and was placed on Joy FM's latest Album Volume 5 alongside tracks from Australian Idol's Marcia Hines (judge) and Ricki Lee Coulter (contestant). In March 2008 De Vito headlined Gay Fair Day in Sydney. This Is Now includes "Never Be a Woman in Chains"; and "Left Waiting" written by the Veronicas. De Vito travelled to Melbourne for World Aids Day. In July, in Brisbane she undertook an "up close and personal" video documentary leading up to a live stage performance at The Beat Megaclub for a DVD release. Christian Bowman and Shane Tyler Greaves from Stage Addiction worked with De Vito to produce the film. In August De Vito appeared as a guest on Channel 9's This Is Your Life to pay tribute to fellow Australian Idol contestant, Shannon Noll. She appeared with 2003 winner, Guy Sebastian, where it was revealed that her withdrawal from the competition gave the green light for Noll to compete against Guy in the grand final.
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