AUS what's going on?

[Dillion]

So what is going on down under? Are you guys in the middle of your idol or is it over?

Is Guy the only idol or is there other from AUS? Please give us Americans the 411. :)

[Sunny]

Hi Dillion :D

We've had 3 Idol series in all, the last one finished in November 2005. Our first (and many feel the best) Idol winner was Guy Sebastian in 2003. Our second was a young lady with a wonderful voice, Casey Donovan, in 2004. And our third and current winner is a pretty lass with a very warm personality, Kate D'Araugo (2005).

We have been told that there will be another series, but they don't usually start auditioning until about April or thereabouts.

:rolleyes:

[Prinia]

2003 Guy Sebastian won over Shannon Noll, who's currently touring
2004 Casey Donovan won over Anthony Callea
2005 Kate Derauge won over Emily Williams

I believe the inaugural idol heats will be later in the year - last I heard when Kyle replaced Dicko he had been taken on for a 3 year contract - so that would mean it COULD finish next year.

In the US you reportedly have 80,000,000 cd buyers - but because of our small population we only have 2,000,000 - its a bit hard for the new ones to make a huge splash. Anthony (il Divo type) has done well, although the album hasn't sold has much as the first 2.

Casey was only 16 and really is an 'attitude' chick with a great voice - needs time, and the right songs.

Kate is quite popular, very pretty and Emily is taking time with family doing some gigs and is a major talent - she looks older than her 21 years.

Guy was extremely busy doing his things (overseas in asia, no 1s there in four countries plus NZ and writing - must have gained the best frequent flyer points), brought out Beautiful Life his 2nd album in October 2004, toured three legs of that tour, is currently in down time and writing the 3rd album - but as he comes from a church background has actually been doing a ton of stuff that wise - we fans haven't missed a week without either media or a gig - something happening.

Shannon was writing his 2nd album in 2005, after touring 'his arse off' as one of his fans put it in 2004, and now is currently touring. Started tour with Dan England and Lee Harding both different types of great talents. SHould be a great tour.

[DonnaBella]

I think April/May auditions start here. Guy's new album should be out in April - just to set the standard. Probably Kyle's contract has nothing to do with how long it stays on. No law that says he has to stay as a judge. We had X Factor last year too, plus American Idol. The theory is that too much talent comp is why the Australian Idol ratings dropped. So this year there's no X Factor and no US Idol, except on pay TV. Pay TV isn't as popular here as it is in the US - the packaging of the shows doesn't work for a lot of people - so a lot of people, including me, won't see US Idol this year.

BD

[jenny61_99]

Idol 4 is currently auditioning around the country and I believe they are going to different towns and regional areas in an attempt to tap into a new talent pool. The word on the road is, this will be the LAST Idol.

The problem with Idol's popularity here is, as someone pointed out above, the flooding of viewers with reality tv type programs that one has to PAY to vote for. Channel 10 last year made the mistake of running three reality tv programs back-to-back (X-Factor, Big Brother and Idol 3). Frankly I think people were jaded from having to put their hands in their pockets all the time. It costs 55 cents PER vote.

I also think people that do vote feel a little ripped off by the whole process as they have seen the Idol they voted for (in ALL cases to date) receive seemingly less support by the record label than the runner-up (and in the last season the guy who came THIRD seemed to get more attention than the winner). Whilst we all know the label is in it to make money, I think we would like to think the person we bother to invest in would get treated better than they have done. Also because we have to pay to vote, it leaves the question whether only those that have friends/family with more resources will make it through.

It is a shame this will be the last season because we have no other avenue for finding new talent in this country. We only have 5 free to air channels nationally which means very limited resources and pay tv is not as popular here as it is in the US.

[Prinia]

Idol 4 is currently auditioning around the country and I believe they are going to different towns and regional areas in an attempt to tap into a new talent pool. The word on the road is, this will be the LAST Idol.

The problem with Idol's popularity here is, as someone pointed out above, the flooding of viewers with reality tv type programs that one has to PAY to vote for. Channel 10 last year made the mistake of running three reality tv programs back-to-back (X-Factor, Big Brother and Idol 3). Frankly I think people were jaded from having to put their hands in their pockets all the time. It costs 55 cents PER vote.

I also think people that do vote feel a little ripped off by the whole process as they have seen the Idol they voted for (in ALL cases to date) receive seemingly less support by the record label than the runner-up (and in the last season the guy who came THIRD seemed to get more attention than the winner). Whilst we all know the label is in it to make money, I think we would like to think the person we bother to invest in would get treated better than they have done. Also because we have to pay to vote, it leaves the question whether only those that have friends/family with more resources will make it through.

It is a shame this will be the last season because we have no other avenue for finding new talent in this country. We only have 5 free to air channels nationally which means very limited resources and pay tv is not as popular here as it is in the US.


well put Jenni. Absolutely agree. Casey has a simply awesome voice and with the right gigs, venues and songs will turn out to be a huge, long term great artist. However - see Jens post. Quite often there seem to be other factors involved, of which the voters are unaware - and it doesn't sit quite nicely.