AUSTRALIAN IDOL

'''Australian Idol''' is the Logie Award winning Australian version of the hit British TV show ''Pop Idol''. It is a talent contest to find a pop performer and is hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison aired on Network Ten and broadcast on the Austereo Radio Network. The first season started on July 27, 2003, and finished on November 19.
The first season was won by Guy Sebastian ahead of Shannon Noll while the 2004 season saw Casey Donovan win ahead of Anthony Callea. The 2005 season was won by Kate DeAraugo ahead of Emily Williams. The 2006 season ended on Sunday, November 26 and was won by Damien Leith ahead of Jessica Mauboy. Season 5 premiered on August 5, 2007 and it is currently airing.

Contents

About the show

Auditions

Top 100

Semi-finals

Finals

Grand Finale

Contestants' commercial performance

References

See also

External links

About the show

The panel of judges for the Australian show are Mark Holden, a former pop star and now music producer. Marcia Hines, a soul singer, and Kyle Sandilands, a radio personality and the new and improved Ian 'Dicko' Dickinson. Sandilands replaced Ian "Dicko" Dickson, a marketing manager of BMG Australia, who left after the second season for the competing Seven Network. On November 30, 2006, it was announced that Ian Dickson is returning to the show from the fifth season onwards as a permanent fourth judge of the competition. This will be similar to the original UK Pop Idol which had a four judge panel.^[1]
This show is a competition which gives people the chance to win a million dollar recording contract with Sony BMG. The show was formerly filmed at the Global Television Studios in Sydney.But as of Season 5 the show will move to the much larger FOX studios.

Auditions

Auditions are held in major cities around Australia to find each season's contestants. As of 2007 the audition locations are; Adelaide, Albury/Wodonga, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Bunbury, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Darwin, Dubbo, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Launceston, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney, Wollongong and Wagga Wagga.^[2]
During auditions contestants perform a song of their choice before all four judges who then respond with either criticism or praise followed by a yes or no vote as to whether the contestant has been accepted. Contestants will only be accepted if at least three of the judges voted yes.

Top 100

Generally around 100 people are accepted from the auditions who then go to Sydney to participate in various performances which help judges decide which of the contestants will make it into the next tier. These consist of both solo and group performances and are on which judges base their decision to cull the number of competitors down to at least 24.

Semi-finals

The semifinal format has varied season to season, however as of 2006 takes the form of splitting contestants into groups from which both the audience choose a select amount to keep. A number of wildcard entrants from the eliminated competitors is then chosen by the audience and judges and reinstated into the competition, to make a total of 12 competitors. Performances generally last around 2 minutes and are followed by comments from each of the four judges.

Finals

As the number of performers reaches 12 the contestants are given the task of choosing a song, in accordance with a weekly theme, to perform live on national television. Viewers then telephone (or SMS) their vote(s) in relation to who they want to stay another week.
On elimination shows the people with the 3 lowest amounts of votes are taken into the 'bottom 3', before being read first who is safe for another week and finally who has been eliminated.

Grand Finale

The winner is announced during a spectacular Grand Finale at the Sydney Opera House. Featuring fireworks, an outdoor concert with many ''Idol'' stars and highlights of the series. It is the highest rating episode of the season.

Contestants' commercial performance

Main articles: List of Australian Idol commercial releases

The success of ''Australian Idol'' has been reflected on the Australian charts with three finalists albums and multiple contestant albums all enjoying considerable success so far. In addition, all of the winners have had their debut singles open at number one on the charts and achieve Platinum status.
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.
As of May 2006, ''Australian Idol'' contestants have enjoyed over forty top 40 hits in Australia since November 2003. 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 just a few sales points ahead of "Angel Eyes" by Paulini Curuenavuli on the Australian singles charts of 12 July, 2004. Paulini's single even jumped up to #1 the following week. Paulini's and Guy Sebastian's singles and albums, as well as one of Ricki Lee's singles, have also featured prominently in the Urban Music charts. Other notable additions include the "Young Divas" - a compilation of four female artists from three different seasons (including Season 3 winner, Kate DeAraugo), who have enjoyed similar success. Series four winner, Damien Leith, has also experienced success with his top selling album, "The Winner's Journey " which has gone 4x platinum.

References

1. "Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney Morning Herald, November 30, 2006
2. "Audition Locations", Australian Idol official site, 2007

See also

★ ''Idol series''

★ List of Australian television series

★ List of Australian Idol semi finalists

External links

★ ''Australian Idol''

★ ''Australian Idol'' on ten.com.au

★

★ Australian Idol at the National Film and Sound Archive