Dean Geyer

Geyer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as the oldest of three children. He has two younger sisters, Jess Geyer (now Jess Burns) and Tatum Geyer (now Tatum Prins), who share his interest in martial arts. Geyer's interest in music started early in his childhood. He learned to play the guitar, and wrote his first song entitled "Change" which was based on his move from South Africa to Australia. During his schooling life in Melbourne, Australia, he attended Melbourne High School – a selective-entry, all boys' school in South Yarra, Victoria. At his Australian Idol audition, he played a self-composed song called "Nice to Meet You". In 2004, Geyer formed a band called "Third Edge" and recorded his original music at Studio 52. Studio 52 then permitted Geyer and his band to perform at the Kool Skools awards night, but they only received a nomination. Dean is a strong Christian and has been very open about this calling in his life especially during his Australian Idol days. Geyer auditioned for the fourth series of Australian Idol in his Australian hometown of Melbourne. After singing Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis", Geyer played a self-composed piece called "Nice to Meet You". This song was praised by the three judges, who unanimously voted to send him through to the Top 100. Geyer survived the culling rounds in Sydney, where the Top 100 are reduced to the Top 24. He sang "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw for his elimination performance, and later performed the U2 smash hit "Beautiful Day" with Chris Murphy. They became close friends and impressed the judges with their voices and their camaraderie. Geyer was the first contestant who was accepted by Idol into the top 100. On 28 May, Geyer was the second contestant voted into the top 12. Geyer's performance of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down" on 15 October received a "touchdown" from judge Mark Holden. His Disco performance in the Final 8 of "Turn the Beat Around" included a front handspring by Geyer off the side of the stage and a backflip at the end of his performance. In the weeks leading up to the final of Australian Idol 2006, Geyer was selected by both Mark Holden and former Idol judge Ian Dickson as their favourites for winning the competition. On 12 November, Geyer received a second Touchdown from Mark Holden after his performance of Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". Although Geyer was one of the most popular characters in the behind-the-scenes interviews on Idol Backstage, he was eliminated from the show on 13 November after receiving the lowest number of votes from home viewers losing out to runner-up Jessica Mauboy and eventual winner, Damien Leith.