Jiordan Tolli

Early life

Jiordan Anna Tolli was born on 17 June 1994, in Melbourne, Victoria to parents Luke and Vanda. Her cousin, Fabio Tolli, was married to her former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine, who played Libby Kennedy. Prior to entering The X Factor, she performed in a lot of musical theatre.

Career

Tolli was cast in the role of Louise "Lolly" Carpenter in the long-running soap opera Neighbours when she was two months old. Her parents had answered a casting call put out by Jan Russ for a baby to play the role of Tom Oliver (Lou Carpenter) and Caroline Gillmer's (Cheryl Stark) on-screen daughter. After seven years of playing Lolly, Tolli left Neighbours in 2001 to focus on her schooling. Tolli's mother said it was "the right time" for her daughter to leave and the producers agreed.

Tolli has appeared in numerous advertisements and has done some modelling work. In 2011, Tolli made a guest appearance in the third series of Tangle. She will appear as Caitlyn in the upcoming film Is This The Real world. starring Sean Keenan and Charlotte Best. In August 2013, it was confirmed that Tolli would be making a one-off appearance in Neighbours as Lolly to celebrate Lou's 70th birthday. As she had spent a large portion of her childhood on the show, Tolli said she was comfortable returning to the set to film her scenes. Tolli appeared during the episode broadcast on 4 October 2013.

The X Factor Australia

In 2013, Tolli auditioned for the fifth season of The X Factor Australia with Birdy's version of "People Help the People". She commented that her time on Neighbours helped calm her nerves. Tolli advanced to the super bootcamp stage of the competition. On the first day of super bootcamp, Tolli sang a rendition of "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People and advanced to the second stage of super bootcamp, where she sang "Last Request" by Paulo Nutini. On the final day of super bootcamp, Tolli performed "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush to the judges and a live audience of one thousand. She then advanced to the home visits stage and was put into the Under 24 Girls category, which was mentored by Redfoo. At the home visits, Tolli sang "Bizarre Love Triangle" by Frente! for Redfoo and his assistant will.i.am and advanced to the live shows. During the first week of the live shows, Tolli sang "Smile" by Lily Allen and she advanced to the second week, where she sang Michael Jackson's "Thriller". On 10 September, Tolli's performance of "Thriller" debuted at number sixty-three on the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming Tolli's first single to debut on a national chart.

In week five of the live shows, Tolli fell into the bottom two alongside Joelle Hadjia but was saved after judges Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Dannii Minogue all opted to eliminate Hadjia. Following the eliminations of Hadjia and Ellie Lovegrove, Tolli became the only remaining contestant in the Under 24 Girls category. In week seven of the live shows, Tolli fell into the bottom two alongside Omar Dean but was saved via deadlock. Tolli's performance of Lorde's "Royals" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number eighty-one. In week eight of the live shows, Tolli fell into the bottom two alongside Third Degree. The judges vote went to deadlock, and Tolli was eliminated after it was revealed she received the fewest amount of votes. She placed fifth overall in the competition. Tolli appeared on Sunrise on 21 October 2013, as a guest reporter doing a segment on the backstage drama of The X Factor. In November 2013, she embarked on The X Factor Live Tour across Australia with Third Degree, Taylor Henderson, Dami Im and Jai Waetford.

Performances on The X Factor

     denotes having entered the ARIA Singles Chart.
     denotes having been in the bottom two.
     denotes having been eliminated.

2014: Debut EP, In Transit

On 4 April 2014, Tolli performed at the Revesby Workers Club in Revesby, New South Wales, as part of the Best of Tour with fellow X Factor contestants Kelebek and Omar Dean and The Voice Australia contestant Michael Stangel. On 4 September 2014, Tolli uploaded two new original songs "Further" and "Hesitate" onto Triple J Unearthed. The response from her fans was extremely positive, with both songs receiving a high rating and "Further" charting at number seventy-six. Tolli announced that she is working on her debut EP, with producer Andrew Lowden. It was released on 19 October 2015 and called In Transit.

Artistry

Tolli cites Birdy, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Jewel, Johnny Cash and Norah Jones as her musical influences, as well as contemporaries such as The xx, The Jezabels, Angus and Julia Stone and Radiohead as her musical influences. In an interview with Pop Sugar, Tolli was asked about which of her X Factor performances represented the musical direction she wanted to go in. She stated that it was her performances of Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful", Lorde's "Royals" and Rihanna's "Stay".

Concert tours