Australian Idol

Tina Jackson is the first contestant to greet us tonight and is dressed up in in her pjamas and sings a song she wrote about Australian Idol – seriously – on Ten.

Sydney promises stars tonight but there’s just no stopping the tragic and try-hards. We’re also visiting Wollongong, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Canberra and Dubbo.

There are plenty of people with faith who have entered Australian Idol with a belief that God has told them they will win. Unfortunately for them, the minute they open their mouths about it they are sent packing. I don’t think the judges are looking for an idol who wants to impress their beliefs on everyone else. Well, certainly not religious ones that’s for sure.

Tarisai Vushe is one of these people with faith but when she sings I Have Nothing everyone gets goosebumps.

Tarisai joins a growing number of very talented girls, but where are all the guys? It seems the only guys at the auditions were boyfriends. The ratio was 5 to 1 in favour of the girls. Either that means the talent of the guys is really good or there were simply more talented girls.

Rosie Ribbons came 6th on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK and sings Butterfly Wings and has the judges all liking her. Another girl to become a member of Top 100.

Sixteen year old Benjamin McKenzie and unexpectedly has an incredible voice when he sings Daughters and delivers something truly magical.

One of the talented blokes in Sydney was Daniel Mifsud who auditioned with Little Wing. He’s got the daytime soap look and the judges love his star quality.

Another guy to make it through is builder Lyall Adonis who gets some quality love from the judges.

When Patrick Feary auditions, Dicko makes a comment that there is no wonder Australian Rugby is in the duldrums when the young school boys on the north shore are dressing up as women. Unfortunately He’s not the only guy in a dress to audition though.

Carl Riseley is a trumpt player auditions with You Don’t Know Me and is told he has a bit of work to do but 3 yeses add his name to the list. James Davies is also through to the top 100 along with swimming instructor Dave Andrews.

Cyndi Dietrich is back for a third audition and finally makes the top 100 after all her tenacity paid off.

Junior To’o is one of the many stand out guys from the NSW auditions along with central coast surfer Marty Simpson who is really fantastic.

Another good looking sixteen year old is Matt Corby and plays a very funky version of Superstition.

48 make it through to the next round making the total 136 who have impressed the judges. Half will be cut on the first day of the next round and eventually the Top 24 will be revealed.

Tonight the Australian Idol roadtrain pulls into Melbourne. Dean Geyer is on hand to pass out some advice before the day starts.

Zeb Scott and Joseph Philpott rap and beatbox and insult Kyle who throws his cup of water on them. They’re not the only rappers that turned up to audition. Tej Panesar and Esan Velupillai make their voices heard before Jared Stieler plays his Yamaha keyboard and raps. The balding mullet look still isn’t in though. Dicko thinks it was so Liberachi with Touretts.

25 year old singing teacher Natalie Gauci is going to sing her own song. Kyle is worried. He says good looking normally means awful. They like her but want to hear a contemporary song. She pumps out I will survive and Dicko believes she can win. Marcia says that that is normally the kiss of death and not to believe it. She’s through to the next round.

When Australian Idol first went to air 5 years ago, there must have been hundreds of 11 year olds busting to get their chance at becoming the Australian Idol. In 2007, they were all 16 and eligible to participate and were out in force… with their mums.

16 year old Karla Tonkich makes it through and gets a helping hand by her mum who gives her some words to speak. Madison Pritchett joins her.

Cyndi Dietrich tried out in Brisbane but didn’t make it through. She’s now in Melbourne but she gets the same response. The voice isn’t the problem, it’s how she could be marketed.

23 year old Julie Anne writes her own songs and has shopped herself to every single major record company but was rejected. She wants some exposure for her talent. Unfortunately, there is none. Dicko thought it sounded like a nervous breakdown. Mark mocks her and says that he can’t believe that after she sent out 1000 cds she didn’t get one response.

Just as there are certain songs that do the rounds, there are some contestants that also seem to appear from year to year. 18 year old Jack Byrnes is back and this time he’s through with four yeses after giving them his original song.

Anthony Nuku arrives for his audition in a wheelchair with a broken leg. They ask him what happened. He says he had an altercation with a bouncy castle. He impresses everyone but Dicko.

19 year old Mathew Morris, who actually made it into the Top 22 in New Zealand Idol, auditions with some Alanis Morrisette. He’s through.

Siki Daha has Mark being rude about his name. He mocks him as if he’d never be the next Australian Idol with a name like Siki Daha before he’s even sung. When he does however, he’s smooth. Mark eats his words and Siki is through to the next round.

Mildura is next to bring us some talent. 23 year old Jesse Curran sings some Regina Spektor but the judges don’t appreciate the song. Dicko is the only one that liked it and says it was pearls before swine. She gets a second chance to audition with her own original. They love her and Mark admits they’ve found an artist.

Another fantastic talent is 19 year old Tasmanian Dewayne Everettsmith. His voice is beautiful and his accompanyment on guitar is gorgeous. His falsetto is so sweet too. The judges are all moved and they’re thinking it’s the best voice they’ve heard.

Next up is an 25 year old Arab-Asian Husny Thalib. He doesn’t have a strong voice but they like his charisma and quirkyness. Dicko is scared to put him through but he’s also scared to let him go. He intrigues them so he’s through.

Two years ago Jacob Butler was in the top 100. He’s been in London for a bit and has been writing for the last year. They love his audition and he sounds like a true professional.

39 contestants from Tasmania and Victoria have made it through but the judges haven’t been that impressed with the male contingent.

Tonight it’s Perth and Adelaide’s turn to show off their talent – and lack of it.

19 year old Julie Borg sings Poison. With her lisp she tells Dicko that he should listen to his own voice.

Eliza Bialkowski is one 26 year old who should have stayed at home. Jemma Wheeler sings With You but while her face would turn heads, her voice would turn stomachs.

Travis Hill sings Spinning Wheel and the contestants are getting slated. The contestants aren’t happy about being spoken to so harshly. Welcome to Australian Idol.

After metal-head Kingsley Perdon is sent packing, Bianca Harvey flatly sings Never Ever and she can’t believe it’s a no.

21 year old Italian pizza maker Adam Cirillo has his groupies come and join him as he sings Enrique’s Hero before singing his original – Sydney Lights. He’s not going to be seeing the Sydney Lights this time around.

Before Bree Partridge gets through the first line of Woman Mark is saying it’s a no. Marcia is not impressed and tells him to shut up. Marcia gets mad threatens to kick his ass with her stiletto.

Christopher Beshay is told he’s delusional when he sings Alicia Keys’ Karma and lets off a bit of steam in the diary room afterwards.

Josie Lamb has a bit of fun with I Go to Rio and all the judges shake their maracas while she sings and dances.

Finally we get some eye candy who can actually sing in the form of 19 year old Sarah Lloyde who is back after auditioning in 2005. She auditions with Listen. She makes it through.

Alexandra Truehl makes it through as well with Since U Been Gone along with a sudden flurry of talent.

Last up is Holly Weinert who delivers with Sunday Morning and adds her name to the list of 11 contestants making it through to Sydney from Adelaide.

Western Australia is about to offer its fresh batch of talent at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre and while Jeremy Obern is patriotic with his national anthem, he sounds awful. Ben Santoro is an AFL crazed freak. I’m not sure if he was auditioning for Idol or the clubs mascot.

Shannon Trebble is an opera singer. Well, kind of. She is singing
The Phantom of the Opera. Dicko asks if she’d like to sing it at the Sydney Opera house and implies “Grand Final”. She sounds excited until Dicko tells her it will never happen. I’m sure we’ll see her there now.

It must be the year of Phantom of the Opera as Emma Stevenson sings Think of Me and Matthew Williamson sings The Point of No Return.

Zarni Bo Lin is another Musical Theatre performer who is auditioning with As Long as You’re Mine. He should have taken some advice from 17 year old Lana Krost who has been doing musical theatre since forever. Lana performs some Les Miserables On My Own and receives four yeses.

17 year old Indonesian student Winda Utoyo sings
Genie in a Bottle and thinks she’s a 10/10. She’s not.

Peter Knott thinks that by screeching his way through I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

Christine Parri, Natahnee Bailye and Jovan Ngbadurezere destroy their chances of ever getting a record contract as the thunder and lightning strikes outside. Things get so bad that Dicko leaves. He heads to Bunbury to check out the talent and hopefully bring a few back to Perth.

Andrew Morton sings Colourblind and gets through as long as he doesn’t comb his hair.

Starting her audition by sitting on the floor and playing her guitar is 24 year old Shamara-Lea Hassett. Marcia commends her as being a story teller. She doesn’t want to beg as she cries but she’s through.

Chad Woods is a 27 year old country singer who still lives at home. He’s auditioning with Two of a Kind Workin’ On A Full House and playing his guitar. They want him to take off his hat and with that he’s going to Sydney.

Can Kalgoorlie bring us the Australian Idol this year? Tafadzwa Chirobo sings an African number and gets ticket to Sydney along with 2 others from the mining town.

Natasha Curedale is dressed as one of the Bananas – can’t tell if it’s B1 or B2 and sings Baby Got Back. Bradley Smith is all dressed up in green and looks like a leprechaun as he sings Somebody to Love.

Denver the Dinosaur is back again. Christopher Bachman is singing Bat Out Of Hell and it sounds like it.

Emily Hancock, Tahnee McKay, Nathan Durham and Pink look-a-like Jennifer Farrenkothen all fail miserably to impress the judges.

Jeremy Harris sings what sounds like a church song. Dicko comments that he looked like he was enjoying the smell of his own farts too much. He’s going through to Sydney though along with Melissa Quintiliani, Alistair Towers and 19 others from Western Australia.

Finally tonight we get to see a Christopher Patterson perform his original song. The judges like him and his bright red dreadlocks. Mustard is off to Sydney.

Marcia Hines and Ian “Dicko” Dickson will appear on Rove this week with some goss on Top 100 of the new series of Australian Idol and how the four judges are really getting along.

Rove McManus, Peter Helliar, Carrie Bickmore and the usual Rove crew will also be joined by The Bourne Ultimatum superstar Matt Damon and former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes.

They’re back. They’ve search 18 cities. The dreams. The nightmares. And everything inbetween. (Hang on… is that an American accent in the voice over?) The stars came out and four were there to catch them. Mark Holden, Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands and of course, Dicko is back.

Another household name is about to be discovered from the thousands of people who auditioned. And those who doubt the power of Australian Idol need only look at the charts to see the impact it has had on the local music scene. With Australia being the only country in the world to see music sales increase in the last twelve months, the Australian Idol chart busters have certainly be doing their bit for the good of the nation. It’s a hard act to follow so this year, more cities were added to the audition tour. Lets get on with it!

They’re absolutely convinced that this years talent is by far the best they’ve ever had and going by the montage at the start, they may be right.

Brisbane is first on the audition tour in 2007 and Billboard Magazine has named it in the Top 5 on its New Musical Cities list thanks to the vibrant local music scene and Fortitude Valley.

Finally we get to see an actual audition. 18 year old Elke Krieg disappoints first off with Foolish Games. It’s quite freaky. She’s cute but loony. No way the hauntress is going through.

16 year old Adam Wainwright is another delusional teenager who thinks he’s more than he actually is. Kyle thinks he’s taking the piss.

Singer/songwriter Tanya Edwards, 28, sings Since U Been Gone but it’s so painful. She thinks she has an angelic voice. Dicko thinks it’s more satanic. She performs her original until Kyle walks up and pulls out the plug on her keyboard.

Only at the audition because her parents threatened to kick her out of home if she didn’t is 21 year old Brianna Carpenter. Wearing colourful ugboots she sings her own original called Jacquiline. Her folk sound is quite pleasant. You can see this girl in the top 24 right away. The judges love her and she’s the first one to get four yeses and the first into the Top 100.

Rochelle Bunde certainly has the look but what a weird voice. Her rendition of Glamorous is so high pitched that you can hear the microphones feeding back just to make things worse.

Hayley Hughes has the look but after a few bars of If I Ain’t Got You you just know that the pitch problems are only going to result in tears being shed.

Brisbanes girls are dropping like flies. The guys, not much better.

Jordan Paris is back, yet again. Is this his fourth year auditioning? He’s singing the hymn Here I Am Lord but Marcia thinks he’s weird. Kyle thinks he’s a young Mark Holden. It’s a yes all round so his hard work and braces have finally paid off.

It’s Rockhamptons turn to show us what the beef capital has to offer Australian Idol. Love sick Timothy Hollis and Wendy Singer aren’t going to care that it’s a no. They’re right back to snogging.

Luke Churchill impresses with This is a Song from Heaven as does Tommy Contor with The Letter and Huriana Kerekere with Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.

Angela Lourigan is one colourful character. She’s on a mission and auditions with Heaven Is a Place On Earth. No matter how much she points out that in their audition tips, the judges recommend never taking no for an answer, it’s still a no.

Back again singing an original song about how he’s in love with his best friend’s mother is Dylan Yeandle. Possibly not the smartest way to anounce your infatuation to the world but the judges seem to like his quirky song and all four of them give him a vote of confidence. He came just for a bit of fun but now he’s going to Sydney.

I’m sure that Ravel Lee is not a bonafide Khazakstani. It’s incredibly funny seeing someone take on Borat though.

Mexican soap opera actor Angel Arreola kills another Idol audition classic, Killing Me Softly. He has to bring a page of lyrics in with him which can’t be a good sign. Dicko laughs his way through Angel’s audition and calls him the Mexican Mr Bean.

We’ve had a few Italian wonders on Australian Idol. Angelo Vitaliti is not one of them. His rendition of
Con Te Partirò is appalling!

Auditioning his original hip hop song is Thomas Chen aka Noodle Ass. The only advice he gets is from Marcia who tells him that when it comes to finessing a girl, he should take his time.

Dress as a banana is Kieran Burgess who is performing Smoke on the Water with his blue ukulele.

Hayden Andrews is playing a small guitar while he auditions with You Know You’ve Done Something Right and he could very well be the Bobby of 2007. Nicky Convine, Jade Mellor are through but the gorgeous Cleo Howman can not only sing but she can arppegio. Holden is loving her. She’s one special contestant. Kyle thinks she needs to lift her singing because he thinks she’s cursed by beauty.

Tim Florea is one great guitarist and an equally good vocalist. Thr grit in his voice is fantastic. The judges love him and think he’s the best that has walked in today but Dicko isn’t sure of his committment to this. In any case, he’s off to Sydney.

Finally from Brissy is Cheray Doughty and she’s got her own original as well to perform for the judges. They think Australia is going to love it but once again Dicko isn’t convinced. It’s a yes though so she’s through.

17 made it through from Brisbane before the tour heads north to NT.

Emma Collins-Hodsdon is not going through. Neither is Daniel Bourchier with Copacobana or librarian Andrew Finegan with Librarian Girl.

It seems like NT has become home to the nerd and geek auditions. That is until John Coulehan who bought his own guitarist with him. He sings an original and it’s okay. It’s a little effected for me but Holden thinks that that was the best original he’s heard in the history of the show.

Wildlife handler Kate Miller is back again to audition with Angel but it’s deja vu. So close but no ticket to Sydney.

Jasmine Anderson looks like a royal disaster when it comes to her fashion but thankfully her voice makes up for it as she auditions with Dreams, Beautiful and Far Away. I thought she was only average but the judges were smitten. There is certainly an image problem but Mark suggests that there might be a gold dress still in storage somewhere.

Australian Idol 2007 starts this Sunday night at 7:30pm, and we welcome back Ian “Dicko” Dickson as judge.

In an interview he says this year’s Top 24 are the hottest looking Idols yet. Fingers crossed we end up with the biggest Idol star yet!

In typical Dicko style, he claims that to be popular: “people have got to want to be them or want to f**k them…the final 24 is a very shaggable group.”

Will you be tuning in again this year or has Idol been over-done?

Jessica Mauboy, runner-up in Australiam Idol last year has been pipped at the top by The Fray – the title track was used to promote the return of Grey’s Anatomy.

Mauboy’s album The Journey came in at number 4 in the ARIA album chart – a disappointment to many.

Read more.

His contract with Seven is about to expire and rumor has it that the once Idol judge turned host of My Restaurant Rules and Celebrity Survivor – not to mention contestant on Dancing with the Stars – is about to return to Network Ten for the fifth season of the Australian Idol.

Dicko’s return to the Idol set, however, will mean that a fourth spot will need to be made on the judging panel as Kyle Sandilands will also be retained alongside Marcia Hines and Mark Holden.

So far, out of the four seasons produced what season was your fave, and why?

(Also, who has been your favourite Idol so far?

The lad with the Irish accent has taken out the Australian Idol title in its fourth year beating out 17 year old Jessica Mauboy.