The baby of the comp, Lauren Buckley, was only 17-years-old when she auditioned. She was amazed to get through but unfortunately she was voted off during the No. 1's show with Cle which was followed by a very emotional performance of her song, Lady Marmalade.

Lauren (sometimes Lozzie, or Loz) has only recently left school after completing Year 11 at St Joseph’s in East Gosford on the northern New South Wales coast. She was one of the youngest performers on Australian Idol (the youngest in the Final 12) and hails from an arty family. Her Dad, Don, is a draftsman/architect and her older sister, Samantha, is into graphic design.

When Lauren turned ten she began singing lessons. Her mum says that she realised that Lauren has singing ability when she would run around outside squealing. She was the lead singer in her school band “Civil Decoy”. They performed at the occasional talent quest or school function.

Overall, Lauren was not a big fan of school (who is?!!) but her favourite subjects were photography and cooking (she’s a whiz in the kitchen who loves to whip up gourmet dishes).

Since she has left school Lauren wants to take her singing as far as she can, eg breaking into the music industry, and has competed in a few talent quests and often reaching the finals. Althoug her dream is to be a solo singer she was still amazed to get into the top 100, let alone the Final 12!

The way she describes her is happy, normal and willing to learn new skills. “I want to take my singing to the top of the world and show people I am good enough to be a solo artist. I don’t want to let people down.”

When she is not rehearsing or doing part time work as a sales assistant in a clothing store Lauren spends her time hanging with her friends and sister. She has a cocker spaniel called Molly who will chase anything and is absolutely demented so Lauren also spends a lot of time throwing stuff for Molly to chase – whether its balls, sticks, Frisbees and anything else that moves.

Since Lauren is the youngest in the compeition the other finalists tend to keep an eye out for her and can be very protective of her. A demonstration of this would be how they all rallied to help Lauren complete her final song, that sent shivers up my spine!  The most important thing to Lauren is her singing. “It’s all that really matters to me.”

Lauren can be quite shy (although according to her best friend she isn't around people she knows!) and has been known to become so nervous before performances that she has almost been sick! Her family is very close and they all go through her pain when she performs because they know just how nervous she gets. Sometimes her mum and sister don't even look at Lauren, instead they look at the floor because they know what she’s going through.

Lauren is quite noisy at home and is the rowdiest one in the whole family but the public are yet to see that side of her. Her sister Sam said that, growing up Lauren was a “hilarious little girl – always happy go lucky and loud!” According to her mum all that Lauren has ever wanted to do is sing. She used to sing “in the toilet, the kitchen, hanging out the washing, everywhere in the house!”

Although her contract was arranged later, little Lauren was still included on the Australian Idol Tour singing up a storm. To see what songs she sang check out the 'Songs Lauren Sang On Australian Idol' link.

Songs Lauren Sang On Australian Idol