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Idol time for Holden
Idol time for Holden
26 May 2003
By Mike Edmonds, Luke Dennehy & Carla Danaher, Herald
Sun
Australian Idol will search for wannabe pop stars
who have talent, not just looks.
IN the 1970s, the carnation-wearing Mark Holden was one
of Australia's biggest pop idols. Now he is on the lookout
for one. Holden, alongside Marcia Hines and record company
executive Ian Dickson, will sit through thousands of auditions
in the next few weeks to start the hunt to find the winner
of Australian Idol. Hines was named Queen of Pop
in the 1970s so has been through something similar.
Holden said the carnation was long gone- although we might
see it on the show's final night, which is likely to be
held at the Sydney Opera House.
To indicate how big the Pop Idol phenomenon is,
in the last half-hour of last week's American final,
40 million people tuned in to watch Ruben Studdard win.
Unlike Popstars, Holden says judges won't be looking
at image in particular.
"We're all looking for actual talent," he told
The Eye.
"If somebody's bottom is a little bigger than one
of the girls from Bardot, it's not going to worry
me.
"This is a great opportunity if you're not the perfect
10. We're looking for spirit and soul."
In Britain and the US, judge Simon Cowell had the reputation
as the bad boy judge. Here, the nasty judge is likely
to be 50-year-old Dickson, general manager marketing at
BMG.
"I think Dicko will be the bitter and twisted one,"
Holden said. "I'll be blunt."
Holden has spent most of his career working with musicians
and singers around the world, including Belinda Carlisle,
Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Joe Cocker, Donnie Osmond,
Fleetwood Mac and David Hasselhoff.
Holden was responsible for launching Vanessa Amorosi's
career, and believed in Delta Goodrem two years before
she signed to Neighbours when she was not a high priority
at Sony.
"The truth of the matter is, there was a two-year
period where she was pretty much ignored," Holden
said of Sony. "I saw in her, funnily something that
David (Hasselhoff) has, that is a will to succeed that
is just enormous.
"She has got an enormous willpower, and any time
there was an obstacle thrown at her, she would come back
with 10 solutions."
Some budding singers may look down on Australian Idol,
but Holden urges them to look at it as just a fantastic
opportunity.
"There are a lot of people that won't come to audition,
but if they truly understand the wisdom of it, they should,"
he said.
"It is an opportunity for them to sing to the Australian
public."
The Melbourne auditions are on June 7 and 8 at the Melbourne
Park Function Centre.
The show will be hosted by Channel V's James Mathison
and Andrew G.
The judging panel consist of singer Marcia Hines, former singer
and now writer and producer Mark Holden and BMG record label
representative Ian Dickson.
