Elizabeth Marvelly Biography

Elizabeth Lillian Marvelly (born 5 July 1989), is a singer/songwriter from Rotorua, New Zealand. Marvelly was a scholarship student at King's College, Auckland in 2007.

Debut Album

Her debut album was released on 3 December 2007 in New Zealand, and on 31 March 2008 in Australia. The self-titled pop-classical album was produced by Carl Doy. In its first week in the New Zealand charts the album went to number 8 after going gold in five days.

On the album Marvelly sings songs taken from a range of different genres and includes two original pieces. Her song 'When You Are Sad' was reportedly written after a recent case of child abuse in her hometown shocked the nation.

Sophomore album

Marvelly's second album, Home, was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Nick Patrick. Featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and a duet with Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts it went to Number Six on the Official New Zealand Music Charts and Number One on the New Zealand Marbecks Charts on debut. As it was released on 21 February 2011, one day before the deadly Christchurch Earthquake, Marvelly announced that she would be donating a portion of record sales to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal from Tuesday 22 February to Tuesday 15 March.

Live performances

Tours of New Zealand

In 2006, Marvelly was part of the 'A Knight with a Dame' tour with Sir Howard Morrison and Dame Malvina Major. In 2007 she was the guest artist for Tim Beveridge's tour of the North Island. In February 2009, Marvelly toured New Zealand again as the special guest of Amici Forever star Geoff Sewell.

International Appearances

In 2007 Marvelly appeared at a charity gala organized by Michelle Ong during the premiere of The Golden Compass in Hong Kong on 16 December 2007 with an audience of multiple Hollywood stars. Later that month she appeared in Sydney's Carols in the Domain.

In July 2008, Marvelly sang at the Beijing opening of Air New Zealand's inaugural Auckland-Beijing flight. Later, in August, Marvelly also made an appearance in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysia New Zealand Business Council.

National Anthems

On 7 June 2008, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem (God Defend New Zealand) at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington for the All Blacks vs Ireland rugby union Test match. Marvelly's song Tarakihi was also played as the All Blacks entered the field.

On 2 August 2008, Marvelly performed the Australian National Anthem at Eden Park in Auckland for the second Bledisloe Cup match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies and also the last match before the renovations to Eden Park in preparations for the Rugby World Cup in 2011. After the game Marvelly sang a tribute to the South Stand, which was to be demolished later that evening.

On 27 June 2009, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch for the All Blacks vs Italy rugby union Test Match. Marvelly also sang Pokarekare Ana at halftime for the All Blacks, her favourite team.

On 14 November 2009, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy for the All Blacks vs Italy rugby union test match. 85,000 people attended the historic match and Marvelly was the first singer ever to sing a national anthem there, as usually instrumental versions are used.

In Melbourne in 2010, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the brand new AAMI Park for the ANZAC Rugby League test. She performed the anthem again for the Kiwis in October 2010 in Wellington.

On 6 and 27 August 2011, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the Bledisloe Cup matches between NZ and Australia.

On 2 October 2011, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the NRL Rugby League Grand Final between the Manly Sea Eagles and the New Zealand Warriors, played at ANZ Stadium.

On 16 October 2011, Marvelly performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the Rugby World Cup semi-final match between NZ and Australia.

International tours

In April 2008, Marvelly was Paul Potts' guest artist on the New Zealand and Australian legs of his worldwide tour. In October/November 2008, she rejoined the Paul Potts' tour and toured through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She is currently on tour with Potts on his tour through Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Scotland and Wales.

Notable Television Performances

In May 2008, Marvelly gave a guest performance on TVNZ's hit series Dancing with the Stars. Singing a medley of songs from The Sound of Music, Marvelly sang while the remaining dance couples performed the Viennese Waltz.

In December 2008, Marvelly performed in the special television tribute to her mentor and great friend, Sir Howard Morrison, 'To Sir With Love'. Performing 'There You'll Be' from her debut album, and a duet of 'Hine E Hine' with Dame Malvina Major, Marvelly was the youngest of the line up.

In February 2009, Marvelly gave a guest performance at the 58th Westpac Halberg New Zealand Sports Awards. Singing her own 'Far Away', and Whitney Houston's 'One Moment In Time', she performed for the first time in Auckland's Vector Arena.

From December 2009, Marvelly has been a judge on TVNZ's reality entertainment series 'One Night Only'. The series focuses on ordinary New Zealanders having their moment in the spotlight to raise money for charity.

Awards

In late 2007, Marvelly won the New Zealand Variety Artists Club's Rising Star Award.