Julia DeMato was born on March 7, 1979 in Brookfield, Connecticut. She is the youngest of seven children. She graduated from Brookfield High School in 1997 and has been singing since she was 4 years old. Apart from the shower, other places and events where Julia showed off her singing talents before joining season 2 of American Idol include her school choir, weddings, funerals, baseball games and local clubs. Julia admitted that she was lacking in confidence and had also not received any formal training in music prior to her appearance on American Idol. Her favorite artists are Jennifer Lopez and Justin Timberlake.

Julia was given a golden ticket by the judges when she gave an impressive performance during her audition for season 2 of American Idol. During Hollywood week, she encountered a bit of trouble with another aspiring American Idol, Kimberly Caldwell. Both of them were chosen to participate in the semifinals, during which Julia sang Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man." Julia managed to gain enough votes from the viewers and went on to perform "Flashdance-What a Feeling" and "Where Did Our Love Go?" in the first two weeks of the Finals. Unfortunately, Julia was eliminated on the third week, after failing to captivate the audience with her rendition of "Breathe" by Grammy-award winning country singer Faith Hill.

Being a finalist gave Julia the opportunity to go on her first concert tour with the rest of the season 2 finalists. The fans and critics praised her rendition of Etta James "At Last," which she recorded for the American Idol 2 Love Songs CD. After the tour, Julia did not receive any offer from any recording companies. The one song that she recorded outside of American Idol did not obtain a positive feedback. She has gone back to her hometown and resumed her life as a cosmetologist. In 2005, she gave birth to baby son James Peter but in the same year was arrested for possession of prohibited drugs. She did not serve any jail time, but did community service instead.

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