Australian Idol
Australian Idol is the Australian version of the British TV hit show Pop Idol that airs on the Ten Network. It is a talent contest to find a pop performer and is hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison. The first season started on July 27, 2003, and finished on November 19. The winner was Guy Sebastian ahead of Shannon Noll. The 2004 season saw Casey Donovan win ahead of Anthony Callea. The 2005 season was won by Kate DeAraugo ahead of Emily Williams.
About the Show
The panel of judges for the Australian show were Mark Holden, a former pop star and now music producer, Marcia Hines, a soul singer, and Ian "Dicko" Dickson, marketing manager of BMG Australia, who left after the second season (for the competing Seven Network), and has since been replaced by radio personality Kyle Sandilands.
First season (2003)
Australian Idol was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV. The first season was broadcast on Network Ten for 19 weeks in the latter half of 2003. The judges included faded 70s popstar Mark Holden, icon Marcia Hines and former BMG Music representative Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
Australian Idol quickly became one of the most popular shows on Australian television, the final between Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll being the most popular show broadcast on Australian television in 2003. Network Ten paid $15 million for the season but this investment was repaid when the station that had perenially been the #3 network became the #2 network towards the end of 2003 and cemented the network as the #1 station in its target demographic, the under 40's. This success meant that the station could charge advertisers more for commercials broadcast on the network.
The success of the season prompted the Seven Network to commission a rival series called Popstars Live in the first half of 2004. However, this series was not a success. The success of Australian Idol and the first season of The Block on the Nine Network prompted networks including the Ten Network to invest in new reality series that were not as successful, such as The Resort and The Hothouse, which led to large losses by the relevant network. The eventual winner of the competition was Guy Sebastian. He beat Shannon Noll (2nd), Cosima De Vito (3rd), Paulini Curuenavuli (4th) & Rob Mills (5th). After Idol, it was these five, the Final 5, who were the most successful out of the Top 12. They scored record hits, but the two best-selling artists were the finalists, Guy & Shannon. Cosima De Vito made history herself when as an Independent artist, her debut single became the first independent single to debut at No.1 on the Australian charts.
Second season (2004)
The second season of Australian Idol debuted on July 13, 2004. The level of success of the contestants in the first season has lured over 50 000 people throughout Australia to audition.
As well as the five larger cities, the judges also visited Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and Tamworth this year. Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega.
The winner was Casey Donovan. She beat out Anthony Callea (2nd), Courtney Murphy (3rd) and Ricki-Lee Coulter (7th). These four were the only contestants of the Top 12 to score hits with the two best-selling contestants being Casey & Anthony. Ngaiire Joseph (Top 30 contestant), Marty, Chanel, Daniel and Hayley have been expected to release singles or albums in the latter of 2005, but are yet to be released.
On a darker note, Telstra, a major sponsor of the series, made an embarrassing error when they issued a series of half-page advertisements in major newspapers congratulating Donovan on her victory, and linking to her website. However, the address was incorrect, leading to a website about gay porn star Casey Donovan, rather than the singer's. The company issued a prompt apology upon realising their mistake. [1]
After this season, judge Dicko bowed out of the series, later to appear in the Seven Network reality TV shows My Restaurant Rules and most recently, Dancing with the Stars. The 2004 season was also notable for an Asian contestant named "Flynn", who sang the Freestylers song "Push Up" after being found from a terrible audition, in the same vein as William Hung.
Third season (2005)
The third season of Australian Idol debuted on July 26, 2005. The first of three semi-finals was held on August 16, 2005 with three of the Final 12 contenders announced the following night on August 17, 2005. The replacement judge to Dicko was 2Day FM radio host Kyle Sandilands.
For the first time in Australian Idol history there were 13 finalists. This came about during the Wildcard Verdict show on September 5, 2005. The judges initally choose James Kannis and Emily Williams to go through to the final. This left one spot which was chosen by the Australian public. Out of the remaining contestants the two that received the highest votes were Dan Spillane and Roxane Lebrasse. With only 1% between them, Dan was announced as the final member of the Top 12. This meant Roxane had missed out yet again. The judges decided however that Roxane was too good to be left out of the Top 12 so they made it a Top 13. That catch was that two contestants were eliminated in the first round of the finals.
Eventually, the winner was decided, and it was Kate DeAraugo. She beat Emily Williams (2nd), Lee Harding (3rd) & Dan England (4th). These four contestants were the four most popular on the show, but currently, the only person to release a song (and a hit) is Kate DeAraugo with 'Maybe Tonight'. Lee Harding has been signed to Sony BMG and is due to release his first single, "Wasabi", in mid December 2005, with an album to follow in February 2006. Dan England has been announced to be touring with Shannon Noll. It is expected that Emily Williams, runner up, will get signed and release an album in the near future. There is speculation that Emily Williams and Anne Robertson have already been signed to Sony BMG, however there is no confirmation to this rumour. There are also rumours that Sony BMG a reluctant to sign Emily Williams and Anne Robertson, because they are very similar to former Australian Idol contestant Paulini Curuenavuli. It is also rumoured that Anne Robertson may have been signed by a New Zealand label.
Although averaging around the 1.5 million viewer mark, ratings were down on the latest season compared to the first two, which regulary drew more than 2.5 million viewers during the latter half of the competition. This is a serious situation for Ten, which airs three Australian Idol shows every week, and has forced them to give away free commercial airtime to program sponsors expecting higher ratings. Commentators have theorise over the reasons why this has occurred, ranging from the viewing public being tired of the format to Sandilands replacing the popular Dickson. Controversy also surrounded Australian Idol: Live Verdict show running up to fifteen minutes overtime.
Commercial success
The success of Australian Idol has been reflected on the Australian charts with a finalists album and four contestant albums all enjoying considerable success so far with the finalists of the second season to release debut albums within a few months.
So far, the albums released or due to be released shortly are:
- Australian Idol: Final 12 reached #3 on the charts and achieved double platinum status;
- Just As I Am, the debut album by winner Guy Sebastian debuted at #1 in December 2003 and has achieved 6x platinum status or sales of 500,000, and his second album Beautiful Life debuted at #2 in October 2004 and has so far achieved platinum status (behind Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits);
- That's What I'm Talking About by runner-up Shannon Noll debuted at #1 in early 2004 and has achieved 5x platinum status, selling 350,000 albums, and Noll's second album Lift also debuted at #1 in October 2005; and
- Up All Night by finalist Rob Mills debuted in the Australian top 30 of the album charts in late June;
- One Determined Heart by finalist Paulini Curuenavuli was released in late July on Sony Music and debuted at #1 in the album charts after the success of the first single (see below), achieving gold status. A Christmas album full of carols, called Amazing Grace: Songs For Christmas was also recorded and released by her in December 2004, reaching the top 100;
- Cosima by finalist Cosima De Vito debuted at #2 in the albums in October 2004, so far achieving gold status (behind Maroon 5's Songs about Jane); and
- Hinesight, a covers album by Idol judge Marcia Hines has also reached the top 20 in September 2004.
- Joel Turner and The Modern Day Poets, the self-titled album from "unforgettable" contestant and beatboxer Joel Turner with The Modern Day Poets reached the top 30 in November 2004.
- For You, Casey Donovan's debut album, debuted at #2 in December 2004, behind Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits.
- Cast Album Australian Idol Final 10, an album by the 10 finalists of the second season made the top 20 in February 2005.
- Anthony Callea, Anthony Callea's debut self-titled album, released on 28 March 2005, and debuted at #1 on the albums chart of 4 April 2005, so far achieving double platinum statusl
- Ricki-Lee, Ricki-Lee Coulter's self-titled debut album, which was released on October 3 2005, reaching the top 30.
- A Place I've Never Been, Kate DeAraugo's debut album, released on 12 December 2005, reached the top 10 that month.
In total, Australian Idol contestants have sold approximately a million albums in Australia since November 2003. BMG who signed up the two original finalists have presented Guy Sebastian with a royalty cheque for a million dollars in July 2004, with Shannon Noll also receiving a similar cheque later in the year. [2]
As of November 2004, Australian Idol contestants have enjoyed thirty-three top 40 hits in Australia since November 2003:
- "Rise Up" by the Final 12 reached #1 in November 2003;
- Guy Sebastian has had three #1 singles in Australia ("Angels Brought Me Here" and "All I Need is You" from his debut album; "Out with my Baby" from his second album, so far achieving platinum status), and also top 20 singles from his second album with "Kryptonite" and "Oh-Oh";
- Shannon Noll has had two #1 hits with "What About Me?", a cover of the Moving Pictures (also a #1 from 1982) and "Learn to Fly", and a top 5 hit with "Drive", as well as being part of the Dreamtime Christmas All-Stars (also featuring Cosima De Vito, Rob Mills), to record "Twelve Days of Christmas", which reached the top 30 in December 2004, and a new song "Come On Aussie, Come On" reaching #2 in the same month. He also debuted at #1 again in October 2005 with the song "Shine" and the cover single from his second album Lift debuting at #13 on the 12th December 2005.
- Cosima De Vito's debut single "When The War Is Over", a cover of the ballad by Cold Chisel, debuted at #1 in the charts on 16 August, achieving gold status, as well being part of the Dreamtime Christmas All-Stars (also featuring Shannon Noll, Rob Mills), to record "Twelve Days of Christmas", which reached the top 30 in December 2004, and a second solo single, "Now That You Can't Have Me", reaching the top 50 in the same month;
- Paulini Curuenavuli's first single "Angel Eyes", a cover of the John Hiatt song made famous in 1989 by Jeff Healey, debuted at #2 in the charts on 12 July 2004 behind "Learn to Fly", and officially reaching #1 the week after, achieving platinum status, as having a second single "We can Try" reaching the top 30 in October 2004;
- Rob Mills reached the top ten in late May 2004 with "Ms Vanity", and also reached the top 30 in August 2004 with a second single "Every Single Day"; Rob was also part of the Dreamtime Christmas All-Stars (along with Shannon Noll and Cosima De Vito), who recorded "Twelve Days of Christmas", which reached the top 30 in December 2004,;
- Finalist Levi Kereama enjoyed top 20 success as a member of Lethbridge with the single "In My Room" in May 2004. He then released another single credited to him featuring Lethbridge, called "Handcuffs Off", reaching the top 40 in January 2005;
- Semi-finalist Courtney Act enjoyed a top 40 hit with "Rub Me Wrong" in March 2004;
- Joel Turner also reached #1 with The Modern Day Poets on the single "These Kids" in November 2004, so far achieving platinum status. They also had a second single called "Knock U Out!" (featuring champion boxer Anthony "The Man" Mundine), using the beats of "Eye of The Tiger", made famous by the Rocky movie. The single was released in January 2005, and debuted in the top 20 in February 2005, and a third single "Funk U Up" was also released in May 2005, also reaching top twenty status, even higher than "Knock U Out". He also released a new single entitled "Respect" in October 2005, reaching the top forty;
- Casey Donovan debuted at #1 with her debut single, "Listen With Your Heart" in November 2004, so far achieving double platinum status, reached the top 20 with her second single "What's Going On?" in February 2005, and reached #51 with her third single "Flow" in August 2005; and
- Anthony Callea debuted at #1 in December 2004 with his debut single "The Prayer", a cover of the version by Carole Bayer Sager, also made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion, so far achieving quadruple platinum status, and debuted at #1 again in March 2005 with a double A-side of "Rain"/"Bridge Over Troubled Water". His third single "Hurts So Bad" reached the top ten in July 2005. His fourth single "Per Sempre" (For Always) reached the top five in October 2005.
- "Good Times", a song originally by The Easybeats, made famous with a cover by Jimmy Barnes and INXS, was covered by the Final 10 of the second season of Idol and it charted in the top 60 in February 2005.
- Finalist Ricki-Lee Coulter reached the top 5 with the song "Hell No!" in June 2005. She also reached the top 10 with her second single "Sunshine" in October 2005.
- Kate DeAraugo, the winner of the third series, debuted at #1 in December 2005 with her debut single "Maybe Tonight".
- Lee Harding, who came third in the third series, also debuted at #1 in December 2005 with his debut single "Wasabi".
The strength of the success of Australian Idol contestants in the charts was shown when Shannon Noll's single "Learn to Fly" debuted at #1 ahead of "Angel Eyes" by Paulini Curuenavuli at #2 on the Australian singles charts of 12 July, 2004. Paulini's single even climbed up to #1 the week after this.