Natalie Gauci - Australian Idol

In 2007 Natalie Gauci auditioned in Melbourne for the fifth series of TV talent competition, Australian Idol. She performed an original song, "Free Falling", co-written by Gauci with James Kempster; and a rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". Judges, Ian Dickson and Mark Holden, were impressed by Gauci's latter performance, with Dickson commenting "I think you can win this competition". Fellow judge, Marcia Hines, warned that such a comment had been "the kiss of death" for contestants in the past. Gauci advanced to the next round, and continued to impress the judges, resulting in her selection in the top 24. Her performance of "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera did not gain enough public votes to proceed to the top 12. However, she was selected by the judges to perform in the wildcard, an episode from which four contestants would be chosen to complete the top 12. Gauci performed "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone. She did not gain enough votes, but was selected by the judges to be the final top 12 member.

Gauci progressed through the top 12 knockout phase; it was not until the eighth week, with five contestants remaining, that she appeared in the bottom three—those with the three lowest number of votes for that week. Her performances have earned acclaim; The Courier-Mail noted her renditions of Rihanna's "Umbrella", Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill", and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" as highlights. Her performances of "Umbrella", Divinyls' "Boys in Town", and Morgan Lewis's "How High the Moon" earned "touchdowns" from Holden.

Gauci and Matt Corby were the two contestants on the show's grand finale. At the conclusion of each series, a "Winner's Single" is released. The 2007 winner's single, "Here I Am", was written by Lindy Robbins and Tom Leonard, who had previously written for the Backstreet Boys. Both Corby and Gauci were critical of the track, with Gauci professing confusion as the demo version had male vocals – she adapted it to be consistent with her jazz music style. While Corby felt it was "not something I'd choose to release ... Yes, I'm being diplomatic. Even though this competition has made me look like I'm into pop, I'm really not". On 25 November 2007, Gauci was declared the winner of Australian Idol 2007. She became the first contestant to progress to the top 12 through a judges' lifeline and then win the competition.