Dean Geyer

Dean Stanley Geyer (born 20 March 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa) was the third last contestant voted off of Australian Idol 2006. He made his television debut on 6 August; during the season commencement of Australian Idol 2006. He was the first auditionee who was accepted into the Top 100 by the panel of judges. Since joining the cast of Australian Idol, Dean has won many fans not only for his good looks but also his stage presence, personality, great voice and musical style.

On December 10, 2006 it was announced that Geyer had secured a recording contract with SonyBMG along with fellow idol, Jessica Mauboy. According to Denis Handlin, they will both have releases out mid 2007.

Early Life

Geyer was born into a family with two sisters (Jessica and Tatum) in South Africa to parents Debbie and Keith.

He moved to Melbourne, Australia, at 15 years of age and commenced his schooling by going to Melbourne High School, a select-entry school for boys. He finished his Victorian Certificate of Education from MHS in 2004.

Geyer's family have a strong connection to martial arts, with members from previous and current generations gaining 'black-belts' in karate. Following in family tradition, Dean also attained his black-belt when he was only 13 years old.

Geyer's interest in music started during his early teens. He learned to play the guitar, and his ability was showcased during the Australian Idol audition where he played a self-composed piece entitled "Nice to Meet You". His two music idols are Bon Jovi and Marc Cohn.

Dean has also done modelling in the past for the 2006 Vodka Cruiser Bodyline Calendar, 2007 Bodyline Men Calendar and has posed for both TV Week and New Weekly magazines.

Australian Idol

After some experience in the music scene, Geyer decided to audition for the fourth series of Australian Idol. He auditioned in his hometown of Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne. After singing a commercial pop song, "Walking In Memphis", which impressed the judges, Geyer played a self-composed piece called "Nice to Meet You". This song was lauded with praise by the three judges, and they unanimously sent him through to the Top 100.

Dean Geyer was the first contestant who was officially accepted by Idol into the top 100. Likewise, due to the rules changing in Idol, Geyer was allowed to accompany himself on guitar. On 17 October 2006, Dean Geyer became the first person in world "Idol" history to be allowed to sing an original composition, "Change", during an "Up Close and Personal" show.

During the 'culling' rounds held in Sydney, where the Top 100 are cut down to the Top 24, Geyer survived to reach the next round. On the second day of this culling process, Geyer was put into a group with Chris Murphy (brother of Australian Idol 2 star, Courtney Murphy). They chose to sing the U2 smash hit, "Beautiful Day". Both passed through to the next round.

On the 28 August, Dean was the second contestant voted into the top 12.

Dean's performance of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down" on 15 October received a "touchdown" from judge Mark Holden.

In his final 8 performance of Turn the Beat Around included a front handspring by Dean off the side of the stage and a backflip at the end of his performance.

On November 12 Dean received a second Touchdown from Mark Holden after his performance of Edwin McCain 's "I'll Be". Mark also said that that performance was a number one hit. Even with that, Geyer was eliminated from the show on November 13, after receiving the lowest amount of votes from home viewers.