Jai Waetford

Music career

2013: The X Factor Australia

In 2013, Waetford auditioned for the fifth season of The X Factor Australia, singing "Different Worlds" by Jes Hudak and an original song titled "Don't Let Me Go". He progressed to the super bootcamp stage of the competition. On the first day of super bootcamp, Waetford performed "Titanium" by David Guetta and advanced to the second stage of super bootcamp, where he sang "Last Request" by Paulo Nutini. His debut single "Your Eyes", which would have been his winner's single if he had won The X Factor, was released that same day. The song peaked at number six on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for sales exceeding 35,000 copies. On 6 December 2013, he released his self-titled debut EP, which peaked at number 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Waetford's third EP, Shy consisted of six covers and one single. followed by the EP Heart Miles which was released 3 June 2016. Music videos have been recorded for both 'Living Not Dreaming' and 'Heart Miles' as well as a promotional video called Heart Miles EP which shows Jai discussing a long-distance relationship featuring snippets of each of the new songs from his EP. Jai toured a variety of cities to promote his new work across Europe, Indonesia and Thailand in May and June 2016, during which he performed his new material as well as covers of Drake's single "One Dance" and Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself".

2018: Return to music, "Lost in You", "Get Over" and "Friends"

In October 2018, Waetford released his first single in a year, titled "Lost in You". Waetford said: "I wrote 'Lost in You' about someone who I met in a dark time that captivated me to a point where my life suddenly revolved around this person. When I was writing this, it was strange to me because I found myself involving her in everything I did; I was living for someone else." Waetford spoke candidly about his past mental health struggles, in an interview with the Herald Sun, saying he "couldn't find happiness in anything".

After sharing his mental health struggles in a candid social media post in August, Waetford was approached by the Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation to become an ambassador for their You Are Not Alone campaign.

Waetford then released the singles "Get Over" and "Friends", which premiered with urban music outlet Complex. "Friends" is co-written by Waetford with James Agnus (Carmouflage Rose, Tigerilla, Tkay Maidza) who also produced the record. "James and I were trying to find a sound that mashed urban drums with pop instrumentation and vocal melody," explains Jai of the collaboration. "We then stumbled across this beat James had made a while back, ran with it, and ended up really digging the result." "'Friends' is all about the online world and the real world colliding. Often we say things online that we wouldn't say in real life, and 'Friends' is about a situation where that happened to me".

Artistry Aside from singing, Waetford also plays guitar and writes his own songs. Selena Gomez's Revival Tour (2016)

Joining Amplify Live Australian Tour #Amplifylive

Discography

Extended plays Title EP details Peak chart positions AUS Jai Waetford Released: 6 December 2013 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 21 Get to Know You Released: 28 March 2014 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download — Shy Released: 16 January 2015 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download — Heart Miles Released: 3 June 2016 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 24 Figure It Out Released: 24 May 2019 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download — "—" denotes an EP that did not chart.

Charting singles Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album/EP AUS Jai Waetford 2014 "Get to Know You" 2013 "Fix You" 55 "The Way You Make Me Feel" 97 "That Should Be Me" 83 "Somewhere Only We Know" 95 "Dynamite" 89 "Don't Let Me Go" 37

Album appearances Year Title Album 2014 "White Christmas" The Spirit of Christmas 2014

Music videos Year Title Director 2014 "Get to Know You" 2015 "Shy" 2016 "Living Not Dreaming" Nick Waterman "Heart Miles"

Awards and nominations Year Type Award Result 2013 Poprepublic.tv Awards Favourite Australian Male Artist/Breakthrough Artist of 2013 2017 TV Week Logie Award Best New Talent 2017 Kids' Choice Award Favourite #Famous