Natalie Imbruglia and Guy Sebastian bring special understanding to their new roles as talent-show judges
NATALIE Imbruglia doesn't fancy her chances on The X Factor, at least not as a contestant. "I'd crumble," the Aussie pop star says. "Me, now, having to do what these kids have to do? No way. I'd be in tears."
Fortunately we should be spared the sight of Imbruglia blubbing when the new Australian version of The X Factor makes its screen debut on Monday evening. That's because the 35-year-old singer and actress isn't competing in the internationally successful talent show. She's one of the judges. So too are singers Guy Sebastian and Ronan Keating, with ex-Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands completing the line-up.
Whether this celebrity foursome can produce tears from any of the contestants remains to be seen, but the Seven Network is hoping they can help The X Factor, hosted by actor Matthew Newton, reach the same dizzying ratings the show has produced in Britain since its inception six years ago.
That phenomenon reached a peak last year when the final of the British version attracted more than 19 million viewers, a 63 per cent share of the television audience. A seventh series of the show began there last weekend. The X Factor, which is open to singers of all ages and involves a series of auditions, mentoring, challenges and elimination, has been adopted by TV networks from India to Denmark, from Colombia to the Czech Republic.
The man behind the franchise, English producer Simon Cowell, is as famous -- or perhaps notorious -- as the shows in which he has been involved as a judge for the past 10 years, including American Idol and the Got Talent franchise, the latter of which is also his creation. The formats have made him one of the richest men in show business.
As one of his Britain's Got Talent contestants, Susan Boyle, demonstrated, dreaming the dream remains a lucrative reality in TV land. The X Factor is a star maker, too. The 2006 winner, Leona Lewis, was mentored by Cowell in the show and has gone on to be a global success. The search is on to find the next Lewis somewhere in Australia.
IMBRUGLIA and Sebastian are sitting side by side in a Sydney hotel, swapping stories from their respective adventures on The X Factor. Although the show doesn't go to air until Monday, behind-the-scenes work has been under way for several months. This included auditions all across the country, from which the four judges selected talent in four categories: men and women in the 16-24 age group, those 25 and over, and groups.
Those selected go through a series of musical hoops before the finalists enter the live TV show phase later in the year, at which point the public, in keeping with the talent show formula, gets to vote each week until a winner is found. "They have the opportunity not just to have that one moment," says Sebastian. "They have several opportunities on the show."
This is also a second chance for The X Factor in Australia. Network Ten produced the first series in 2005, with Kate Ceberano and Mark Holden among the judges and Daniel MacPherson as the host, but poor ratings led to the show's cancellation.
Sebastian is no stranger to talent quests or to stardom. His win on the first Australian Idol in 2003 launched him into the charts, and the 28-year-old star has sustained his success with a string of hit singles and five albums, all of which have gone platinum and reached the top 10 in Australia. His next target is the US. To that end Sebastian moved to Los Angeles early this year. Four days after arriving, he got the call that would mean spending most of 2010 back here.
"When I was thinking about 2010 at the start of the year I didn't think I'd be on a TV show as a judge," he says. "I turned it down at first because it just wasn't physically possible. I had a bunch of gigs and other things lined up. You have to be there to work it . . to build a fan base. But we moved the shows and the release of my album in the US." Clearly Sebastian has the credentials and the experience to judge potential heirs to his pop throne. Not only has he come through the talent quest wringer, but he has proved with his talent that Idol fame needn't be a flash in the pan.
His main reason for getting involved in the show, he says, is the mentoring element. The second stage of the contest is called boot camp, where artists work with their respective mentors on various genres of music as well as on style and presentation. At the next stage, each judge picks three acts to work with in the final live-to-air episodes of the show. It becomes a team effort.
"There's a lot more responsibility on the judges there than on any other show, Sebastian says. "You're choosing who goes into battle for you because if they win, you win. The responsibility when I shot my boot camp was huge. It's not like the producers are in there saying 'We want him and her'. Thirty-odd people came through and I had to slash it down to six."
He describes the process as a big responsibility. "We've had sleepless nights," he says. "Although maybe not Kyle. The last week of boot camp I found the hardest. That was the slashing moment and I struggled with saying no. You're telling big Maori guys who are so manly and tough . . . telling them something was really bad . . . and they break down and cry. I'm not a father so I've never even had to do that to a child, never mind someone who might be a fan."
Imbruglia's route to stardom and to talent-show mentoring has been somewhat different to Sebastian's -- via Neighbours as a teenager and then a music career begun in London, where she has lived for the past 17 years. Her biggest hit, Torn, was one of the most successful singles of the 90s.
She is, like Sebastian, "struggling a little with having to let people down. I'm going to have to toughen up before the live shows".
However, she does have the edge over her colleague in that she has already taken part in the British show, albeit for two days, filling in for judge Dannii Minogue during her pregnancy. "I was thrown in at the deep end," she says. "I was sitting next to Simon Cowell and the crowds were enormous. I was a fan of the show so I was really nervous. After half a day of it I got into the groove. I'm comfortable with the format now and I think it will do well here."
So just what is the elusive X factor the judges are looking for? Perhaps the beauty of the title is that there is no definitive answer to that question.
"I'm just looking for someone who blows me away, whose record I would buy, who moves me when they sing," says Imbruglia. "It has to be the right combination of everything. That's what makes an artist."
FOR all that the word talent is thrown around like confetti at a wedding in the rarefied air of television studios, there has always been a stigma attached to music reality shows: that the artists are too manufactured to be taken seriously. Sebastian, Damien Leith and Jessica Mauboy are among those who have come through the Idol system with sustainable careers. Many others don't.
In that sense The X Factor, Australian Idol or Got Talent could be seen as microcosms of the entire pop industry, but Sebastian has a slightly different view. He believes that in an era of huge change within the music business, shows such as The X Factor can be one of the best options for a young artist aiming at a long-term career.
"The X Factor to me is the ability to connect even if you don't fit what the regular formula is," he says. "We all think we know what works, but then someone will come a along and surprise us with something different."
Unlike record companies of old, talent quests aren't just looking for something that fits the latest fad, Sebastian says.
"I'm one of those people who went through that. I went around and knocked on the doors of record labels. I did the trips to Sydney and to Melbourne with my demo in my hand and they said, 'We love your voice but you just don't have the look.' That was in the days of *NYSNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney. It was really manufactured pop that was very image-focused.
"I was discouraged because it was always the same answer . . . either you're not good-looking enough or you haven't got the look. Suddenly I found myself auditioning for a show, Idol, that gave people [a chance] who didn't necessarily have what was the formula . . . to show that music is a lot deeper than just what A&R [artists and repertoire] people at record companies can put together.
'Can we just use that A&R model from back in the day, where we get really good-looking people and maybe one of them can sing and we'll autotune the hell out of them, dress them up risque and whatever?' We can't do that because that era is gone. We need something that is unique.'
Time will tell whether The X Factor can produce someone stellar from its Australian ranks. "If you look throughout music history, there have always been different ways of talent surfacing," says Sebastian.
"By no means are we, every few months, going to discover someone that we can chuck on television and expect that they're going to sell records and have a long career. It just doesn't work like that. Without a hit song you're not going to have longevity."
It's not just the talent that will be judged by the Australian public over the coming months. By Christmas we should know also whether the show itself has a long-term future in Australia.
"We're putting a show on in a time where the industry climate is really volatile and competitive," Sebastian says.
"The most important thing is that it's just another form of music media. There's still going to be talent found in your local pub or wherever. This is just another forum. It's a great launching pad if they've got the goods. They'll be weeded out if they don't."
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