Drea Onamade is an Australian singer, songwriter, choir director, and paralegal from Perth, Western Australia.
She was a contestant on Australian Idol Season 9 in 2024. Drea is of Nigerian-Jamaican origin.
Drea Onamade is 25 years old and she is set to raise the bar on Australian Idol.
List of Contents
Profile
| Name: | Andrea Onamade “Drea” |
| Age: | 25 years old |
| Gender: | Female |
| Hometown: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter, choir director, paralegal |
Drea was born into a musical family, her father plays many instruments at church and her mother sings.
Andrea Onamade has been singing in gospel choirs since age eight. As she got older, she started performing in the family gospel band.
“My family and I started this thing called Expression, a gospel band,” she says. “Keys, drum, bass vocals, but gospel music. My mum, my sister, and I would sing, my dad was kind of managing everything. My brother would play the drums and we’d ask our other friends to come help us out and play instruments and sing as well. We did a fair few things, performing in different churches and at different events.” Drea stated.
As a teenager, Drea’s taste in music expanded outwards from the church – she was a massive Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande fan.
And then she discovered Frank Ocean, the avant-garde rapper and alt-R’n’B singer-songwriter. She describes first hearing his music as a “turning point”.
“My friend was like, ‘Hey, have a listen to Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange. And that completely changed the way that I listen to music,” Drea says.
“It was a different side of R’n’B and a genre that I’ve been listening to for ages but I didn’t really know that was the alternative side of it. So I started to listen to more of that. Kaytranada, GoldLink — there are so many artists that I could mention, but those are the ones that changed the way that I viewed music, but also performed.”
“I still take a lot of inspiration from gospel sound because it’s what I grew up on and it’s what my voice matches, but I learnt very early on you don’t want to imitate anyone. You can take inspiration but you have to be yourself. And once I learnt that that’s when I created my sound.”
Drea attended the prestigious WAAPA (WA Academy of Performing Arts), this was after a visiting judge (who was a WAAPA lecturer) at her high school’s talent competition heard her singing and requested her to audition for a position at WAAPA.
Drea’s sister, Amelia Jordan Onamade, is also a contestant in Australian Idol Season 9.
Audition
During the auditions, Drea Onamade performed “American Boy” by Estelle featuring Kanye West.
She received three ‘Yeses’ from judges Amy Shark, Marcia Hines, and Kyle Sandilands.
At the end of the audition day, the judges gave Drea a Golden Ticket to the Top 30.
Top 30
During the Top 30 week, there were three performance challenges namely; “Chorus Line Challenge”, “Group Challenge”, and “Solo Challenge”.
Part 1
For the “Chorus Line Challenge”, Drea was in a group with Cynthia Negash, Ivana Ilic, Natasha Rose, and Olivia Britton.
She sang “Addicted to You” by Avicii and the judges told her that she did enough to advance to the second challenge of the Top 30 Week.
Part 2
For the “Group Challenge”, Drea was in a group with Jackson Smith and Jess Chalmers.
She sang “Circles” by Post Malone and advanced to the third and final challenge of the Top 30 Week.
Part 3
For the “Solo Challenge”, Drea performed “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars and advanced to the Top 21.
Top 21
Drea performed “New Rules” by Dua Lipa and advanced to the Top 12 finalists.
Top 12
Drea performed “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell.
She received enough votes from the Australian public and advanced to the Top 10.
Top 10
Drea performed “Battle Scars” by Guy Sebastian featuring Lupe Fiasco.
Her performance impressed the judges who used the “Judges Save” to save her, advancing to the Top 8.
Top 8
Drea performed “No Tears Left to Cry” by Ariana Grande.
When the voting results were revealed on Monday 11 March 2024, Drea was in the Bottom 4 and was eliminated from the competition, missing the opportunity to join the Top 6.
Performances in Australian Idol
| Round | Song Choice | Original Artist | Theme (if any) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions | “American Boy” | Estelle featuring Kanye West | – | Golden Ticket |
| Top 30 Part 1 | “Addicted to You” | Avicii | Chorus Line | Advanced |
| Top 30 Part 2 | “Circles” | Post Malone | Group Challenge | Advanced |
| Top 30 Part 3 | “That’s What I Like” | Bruno Mars | Solo Challenge | Advanced |
| Top 21 | “New Rules” | Dua Lipa | Transformation Week | Advanced |
| Top 12 | “Lil Boo Thang” | Paul Russell | Party Anthems | Advanced |
| Top 10 | “Battle Scars” | Guy Sebastian featuring Lupe Fiasco | Judges Song Contest | Advanced (Saved by Judges) |
| Top 8 | “No Tears Left to Cry” | Ariana Grande | Public’s Choice | Eliminated (Bottom 4) |
Trivia
- Drea was the first contestant to secure a place in Season 9 Top 21
- Drea received the Judges Save for her Top 10 performance in episode 18 on Sunday 3 March 2024, advancing to the Top 8.
Top 30 Contestants
Dylan Wright . Ivana Ilic . Ripley Welsh . Billy Menhennet . Amy Reeves . Natasha Rose . Tyler Hammill . Cynthia Negash . Trent Richardson . Drea Onamade . Jake Carlson . Saoirse Harding . Jonathan Wells . Isaac McCallum . Jet Cameron . Bethany Byrne . Kym Miaco . Jesse Lazaroo . Denvah Baker-Moller . Gab Hester . Jackson Smith . Jess Chalmers . Prayer Corby . Kiani Smith . Kobe White . Olivia Britton . Eli Parr . TJ Zimba . Imogen Spendlove . Chenai Boucher
READ MORE:
› Meet the Australian Idol 2024 Contestants
› Meet the Australian Idol 2024 Judges
› Australian Idol Season 8 Contestants in 2023
› The Voice Australia Season 12 Contestants in 2023
DREA
I vote Drea because she’s so confident and has such a powerful voice!