As his debut album goes platinum, Aussie singing sensation Mark Vincent tells Angela Mollard why success never felt so good.
Week after week Mark Vincent would come home from school in tears because of the bullies who teased him about being fat. He would retreat to his room and sing, his voice soaring through his suburban street as he dreamt of a new life far from the cruel taunts.
Now the 15-year-old has got the ultimate revenge on his bullying schoolmates with a platinum-selling debut album and a spot in the charts alongside Michael Jackson.
“When I see my face on the posters in the record shops and the CDs on the shelves, I think it’s a dream, and it feels like those bullies can’t do anything to me now,” says Mark, who would regularly get into fights at school after being teased about his weight.
Sitting in his school uniform at the home he shares with his “nonna” Angela in Sydney’s south, it’s obvious that success has been the making of this quiet, modest boy, who charmed the nation to win Australia’s Got Talent in April.
His album My Dream — Mio Visione — debuted at No.1 on the Australian album chart and No.5 on the ARIA chart — all the more extraordinary in light of Michael Jackson’s chart domination since his death.
“I’m so honoured and excited, and for the album to go platinum is just amazing. I know my grandfather would be looking down on me and be very proud,” says Mark, who is devoted to his family and often spends time at his mother Leanne’s pizza shop in Sydney’s Kirrawee.
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