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No pain, no fame
No pain, no fame
24 July 2003
By Richard Jinman, The Sydney Morning Herald
The nation's aspiring pop stars will soon taste the
wrath of Ian Dickson, Australian Idol's hard man. "we
had some right big fat buggers," he tells Richard
Jinman.
Ian Dickson is bracing himself for public outrage. "I'm
going to get a lot of stick from people" says the
40-year old general manager of marketing at record company
BMG Australia, "but I went into this with open eyes."
He's talking about Ten's new talent quest series Australian
Idol, which begins on Sunday night. Dickson, or "Dicko"
as he will be known - and quite possibly reviled - by
sections of the Australian public, is the hard man on
a judging panel that includes singer Marcia Hines and
record producer Mark Holden.
Australian Idol is based on the Pop Idol
format that has already taken Britain and America by storm.
Created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, it's
a national talent quest that allows the public to vote
for their favourite singer via telephone or SMS. The winner
is guaranteed a single and album release and an avalanche
of publicity.
The big prize - BMG will invest more than $1 million in
the winner - is an integral part of the show's appeal.
But in Britain and America viewers were also drawn to
the no-holds-barred judging of British BMG executive Simon
Cowell, who reduced contestants to tears with comments
such as "bloody pathetic" and "I can only
describe your voice as ghastly".
Dickson denies Ten has cast him in the Cowell "role",
but he says he won't mince words when confronted with
less-than-stellar talent. "I've said some pretty
tough things to some kids that have probably never been
spoken to in that way," he says. "But I've honestly
not killed for fun; I've killed to eat."
The prospect of a date with Dicko certainly didn't deter
the nation's starry-eyed singers. More than 10,000 turned
up to capital-city auditions, even though just 40 go through
to the performance stage of Australian Idol.
Dickson, who has worked in the music industry for 18 years,
says the finalists will need to be extraordinary. He marks
contestants in three categories: voice, look and star
quality. If you think that means only willowy model-types
have a chance, think again.
"Some people had a great voice but were pig ugly
and had no charisma,"Dickson says with characteristic
bluntness. "But we had some right big fat buggers
who got through because they carried it so well. I've
got a suspicion one of them will make the top 10."
And while the judges have heard plenty of tone-deaf kids
murdering their favourite hits, there has been some magic.
"We've had some hugely emotional moments," he
says. "We've had people walk in that had such jaw-dropping
talent and charisma that we've broken into spontaneous
applause."
Australian Idol begins on Sunday on Ten at 7.30pm.
Australian Idol review
By Robin Oliver
July 24 2003
Australian Idol, Sunday, Ten, 7.30pm
Presenter Ryan Seacrest says he's got the best job in
the world and, determined to look excited, clenches his
teeth in careful pauses between bellowing at the audience.
"Pick a favourite!" he yells. "We are live!"
Clench. "I heard these guys in rehearsal!" Clench.
"You're in for an incredible show on . . ."
he points his microphone at the placard-waving audience
and they yell back "American Idol!" It's a bit
like Big Brother with fewer decibels.
Seacrest attempts to communicate with the few miserable
souls not watching. "Stop living in denial. You know
you love it," he says.
This is a singers-and-their-songs contest that picked
Kelly Clarkson as the first US series winner. She went
on to No. 1 album status. American Idol is the
closest this reviewer was allowed to get to this splashy,
enthusiasm-plus event. The original was a British concoction,
but Ten is using the US version as its model, but with
two hosts from Foxtel's Channel [V], James Matheson
and Andrew G .
Forty selected contestants, and if the three judges Mark
Holden, Marcia Hines and record boss Ian Dickson follow
the US pattern, they will offer criticism with marshmallow
softness. It's just another talent quest and we haven't
had one of those for a while and seldom with such lavish
intent. If the audience obliges, it should make a noise.
The votes are on you.
Let's hope it succeeds though living in denial is always
an option.
The judging panel consist of singer Marcia Hines, former singer
and now writer and producer Mark Holden and BMG record label
representative Ian Dickson.
