Shock jock Kyle is Idol's
new Mr Nasty | BACK
| 21 February 2005
Shock jock Kyle is Idol's new Mr Nasty
By FIONA BYRNE
20feb05
THE sparks are set to fly on Australian Idol, with outspoken
and unrepentant radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands joining
the judging panel.
Sandilands was a vocal critic of the second series of
the show. He landed the coveted role after a four-month
search by producers to find a replacement for Ian 'Dicko'
Dickson, who quit Idol last year.
Music entrepreneur Glenn Wheatley was understood to have
been sounded out for the role but declined.
That left the door open for Channel Ten to sign Sandilands
to a three-year-deal.
Sandilands, 33, is one of the biggest names in Sydney
radio. He has vowed to tell it as he sees it, no matter
who he offends -- and that includes fellow judges.
He said Idol judges Marcia Hines, Mark Holden and show
defector Dickson failed to find a true Australian Idol
last year. They also were not critical enough of the performers
and the series was "disappointing".
"Dicko was at his best in season one. Mark had more
to say that made sense in the second season. And Mark
had absolutely nothing to say in the first season."
"Marcia is nice but she does not criticise . . .
I can see her and I clashing a bit."
Sandilands said the series two winner Casey Donovan lacked
the X-factor.
"Based on record sales of the second group, they
got it wrong. Casey is out there, and she is very recognisable,
but will never make any money from her CD.
She just does not have the whole package."
But he was "not out to be a Mr Nasty Pastie",
like American Idol's infamous Simon Cowell.
"Contestants have got to be an all round talent,
they have to be able to speak, act, and handle the schedule.
They have just got to be a star."
Anthony Callea builds bridge
over troubled water | BACK
| 21 February 2005
Anthony Callea builds bridge over troubled water!
Posted on Friday, February 11 2005
March is the month for more Idol releases. Australian
Idol 1 winner, Guy Sebastian, will release his third single
titled 'Oh Oh' and is expected to hit store shelves from
March 21st.
Sebastian's latest album release 'Beautiful Life' has
left the top 100 Aria charts only months after it's release
with hopes that the new single will spark more album sales.
Meanwhile 2004 Idol runner up, Anthony Callea, who has
outshined the winner, Casey Donovan, releases his new
single titled 'Rain/Bridge Over Troubled Water'.
The single will be released in two formats on March 14:
the standard cd single and the second, a limited edition
2 disc set.
The new single is off his forthcoming yet-to-be-titled
album which will be released instores on March 28.
Callea's debut single 'The Prayer' still sits at the number
4 position on this week's ARIA charts after a remarkable
8 weeks of release. The single stayed at the top of the
charts for 5 weeks.
NORMAL EDITION:
1. 'Rain'
2. 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'
3. 'Don't Tell Me'
SPECIAL LIMITED 2 DISC EDITION:
CD1 -
1. 'Rain'
2. 'Wanna Be The One'
CD2 -
1. 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'
2. 'Don't Tell Me'
What's Going On with Casey | BACK
| 21 February 2005
What's Going On
'What's Going On' is the killer second single from Australian
Idol winner Casey Donovan and the second smash from her
debut album 'For You'.
'What's Going On' is a rock-fuelled guitar assault that
pays homage to the bands - Incubus, Metallica, Nirvana
- that have inspired Casey. With its crunching guitars,
powerful chorus and addictive melody, Casey proves she's
nothing less than an extrordinary and utterly versatile,
soulful perfomer, her raw emotion and conviction shining
through as brilliantly on this rockin' number as it did
on her debut single 'Listen With Your Heart'.
This enchanced single also includes the B-side 'Something
Beautiful' and the video for 'What's Going On', featuring
Casey rocking out with full band.
Having just wrapped the HUGE Australian Idol Final 12
tour of Oz, expect to see a lot more of Casey on the live
scene in 2005!
Australian Idol Album, Single
and Tour | BACK
| 18 January 2005
To coincide with the upcoming national Australian Idol
tour starting this month, producers have decided to release
a cast album and single featuring the Idol contestants.
The "Australian Idol Final Ten 2004: Cast Album"
was released this week featuring tracks from Casey, Daniel,
Courtney, Marty, Hayley, Ricki-Lee, Amali, Emelia, Anthony
and Chanel. This is the first release from the Top 10
Idol finalists after producers decided not to put up for
sale an album and single during the series.
The track listing for the album is:
1. Good Times
2. The Flame - Casey
3. I Want To Know What Love Is - Anthony
4. You Weren't In Love With Me - Courtney
5. Angel - Hayley
6. Constant Craving - Chanel
7. The Power Of Love - Marty
8. Proud Mary - Ricki-Lee
9. You Raise Me Up - Daniel
10. If I Ain't Got You - Emelia
11. Shackles - Amali
Also available from next Monday, 24 January 2005 will
be the Top 10 Cast single "Good Time"- a song
made famous by INXS and Jimmy Barnes. It was also the
first Top 12 group song performed in the Australian Made
results show, but the single does not feature Dan O'Connor
or Angie Narayan.
The Australian Idol tour starts this month and continues
til February. The Australian Idol Top 10 will embark on
a near sold-out national tour starting at the Newcastle
Entertainment Centre on the 18 January. The tour will
be the first time that the top 10 Australian Idol contestants
have been back together since the Grand Final at the Sydney
Opera House in November.
The concert is rumoured to include contestants performing
songs from the Australian Idol album, show and new material
individually for the first half and a series of duets
and group performances to conclude the show.
The Australian Idol Live dates:
January 18, Tuesday: Newcastle Entertainment Centre
January 20, Thursday: Wollongong WIN Entertainment Centre
January 22, Saturday: Sydney Entertainment Centre
January 24, Monday: Canberra AIS Arena
January 28, Friday: Perth Burswood Dome
January 30, Sunday: Adelaide Entertainment Centre
February 1, Tuesday: Melbourne Vodafone Arena
February 4, Friday: Hobart Derwent Entertainment Centre
February 5, Saturday: Launceston Silverdome
February 9, Wednesday: Cairns Convention Cent
February 10, Thursday: Townsville Entertainment Centre
February 12, Saturday: Brisbane Entertainment Centre
February 13, Sunday: Gold Coast Convention Centre
If that isn't enough, also currently available is the
Australian Idol- Greatest Moments 2004 DVD. The DVD takes
an inside look into the phenomenon that is Australian
Idol, with over 3 hours of footage taking you through
each day of the Idols experience. The main feature is
a 2 hour special from the very first audition to the grand
finale at the opera house.
Special features include:
- Finalist Profiles: find out everything you wanted to
know about your favourite finalist.
- Juke Box 2004: Highlight tracks from the series.
- Andrew G & James's bloopers
- Unforgettable Idols
- Anthony & Casey's first auditions.
Donovan dons her goth look
| BACK | 18 January 2005
Donovan dons her goth look
January 15, 2005
AN old tyre yard isn't the kind of place you'd expect
to find Casey Donovan, particularly in the middle of the
night.
But that's exactly where she was on Thursday, completing
a lengthy night shoot for the video of her latest single,
as these shots exclusively show.
The clip, for new song What Going On? was shot at Tempe
Tyres, a disused petrol station and tyre yard in Tempe
in Sydney's southwest between 9pm and 5am, no doubt leaving
Donovan a little bleary eyed by the time filming had wrapped
up.
As can be seen from the picture, the Australian Idol winner
has gone back to her trademark gothic look, sporting her
regular dark locks for the video after her short-lived
brunette/blonde hair combination.
Casey remonstrates with a wayward boyfriend during the
course of video, headed by director Andrew Rose.
She appears gloomy, and later confronts the boyfriend,
who appears to be messing around behind her back with
another girl.
Casey's heart's hardly in it
| BACK | 18 January 2005
Casey's heart's hardly in it
January 6, 2005
IN the latest embarrassment for Australian Idol winner
Casey Donovan, she has been overtaken on the charts by
an dol contestant who didn't even manage to make the finals.
Not only is Donovan being outstripped two-to-one by Idol
runner-up Anthony Callea, her single Listen With Your
Heart is this week sitting at No. 8 on the national ARIA
singles chart, one place below Idol beatboxer Joel Turner's
track These Kids.
Donovan's album For You is poised to drop out of the top
20. It has slipped dramatically down the charts after
debuting at No. 2 three weeks ago and is sitting in 18th
spot.
Local idols reclaim charts
| BACK | 18 January 2005
Local idols reclaim charts
Jonathon Moran
05jan05
AUSTRALIAN Idol competitors led an upsurge in popularity
of home-grown music in 2004, with a whole new generation
of local talent emerging.
Australian Record Industry Association chief executive
officer Stephen Peach said it was an "incredibly
strong performance" from Australian artists last
year, both in terms of chart performance and sales.
"We won't know the full year position for a little
while yet, but the strong performance by Australian artists
has continued through the second half of the year."
For the 12 months to last August, 13 Australian performers
racked up 20 separate entries at No. 1 positions on the
ARIA album and singles charts.
Seven of those No. 1 hits were by Australian Idol competitors
Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll and Paulini Curuenevuli.
The 2004 figures represent the greatest number of Australian
artists hitting the top position in any 12-month period
in the 21-year history of the ARIA charts.
And Australians continued to make their mark post-August
with this year's Idol winner Casey Donovan spending the
last few weeks in the
top singles spot with her debut offering Listen With Your
Heart.
Idol runner-up Anthony Callea also hit No. 1 with his
debut single The Prayer and beat-box kid Joel Turner made
his mark with These Kids.
Melbourne rockers Jet won six gongs from seven ARIA Awards
nominations. The band recently finished a US tour and
their debut album Get Born has sold 2.5 million copies
worldwide.
In August, they became the first Australian act to win
the MTV award for best rock video for Are You Gonna Be
My Girl.
Also hitting top spot on the ARIA charts during 2004 were
Spiderbait, Something For Kate, John Butler Trio and a
selection of Christian faith music from the Hillsong Church.
Music guru Glenn A. Baker said there was a move back to
basics within the music industry.
"When I attended a John Butler Trio concert at the
Enmore Theatre a few months back I came away with the
very distinct impression that rock music appreciation
is moving, perhaps cyclically, toward that which existed
in the late '60s and into the '70s and was known as underground,"
Baker said.
"That is, it was free-flowing, rootsy, raw, drifting
but intense, organic and decidedly musical.
"Add that to the recent success of acts like the
Waifs, Little Birdy, Pete Murray, Joss Stone and Ben Harper,
and there seems to be a definite pointer toward an earthy,
bluesy, soulful sound taking hold in 2005."
Baker noted the trend may be a natural reaction to the
more manufactured pop music and boy and girl bands of
recent years. "Next year could well be the year of
the real," he said.
ARIA's Peach agreed but said the success of the local
industry in 2004 had been across the board, covering a
range of musical genres from pop to classical and rock.
Peach said the industry would continue to be influenced
by the emergence of new technologies.
"The legal download market is one area where we're
expecting significant growth."
He said there was also the ring tones market for mobile
phones that would continue to "become important in
2005 as the necessary mobile phone technology hits the
market".
After a lull in the '90s, "heritage" artists
led the charge and put Australia back on the international
touring map in 2004.
Touring acts included Cyndi Lauper, James Brown, Fleetwood
Mac, Meat Loaf, George Benson, Elvis Costello, Don McLean,
the Pretenders, the Who and the Eagles.
Music industry stalwart and head of promotion company
Frontier Touring Michael Gudinski said: "The concert
business has had one of its biggest years ever this year."
Acts confirmed for 2005 tours include Blondie, Willie
Nelson, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bryan Adams, Norah Jones, Keith
Urban, REM, Mark Knopfler and David Byrne.
And Australian pop princess Delta Goodrem will take to
the stage in her first proper national tour next March
on the back of her second album Mistaken Identity.
Commenting more generally on the local music industry,
Gudinski said the sector was "shaping up pretty well".
Loser doubles winner's sales
| BACK | 18 January 2005
Loser doubles winner's sales
December 31, 2004
ANTHONY CALLEA may have been beaten into second place
in November's Australian Idol final by Casey Donovan,
but it's Callea who is currently trumping Donovan with
his sales figures.
Anthony didn't garner as many audience votes and therefore
lost out to Casey in the year's most watched TV show,
but it's clear that Callea is the favourite in the stakes
that really matter - the charts.
Callea's single The Prayer - a genre-crossing track that
was bound to be a big seller - has been sitting pretty
at the top of the national ARIA singles chart for two
weeks and has notched up four times platinum sales (which
equates to 280,000 copies of the song).
Donovan's much-hyped single Listen With Your Heart, on
the other hand, is currently at No. 4 on the chart with
only 140,000 copies sold.
The Idol winner's album For You is faring even worse:
it debuted at No. 2 two weeks ago but has since slipped
to No. 11, not a good sign after being on the charts for
such a short space of time.
It remains to be seen whether Callea's album, set for
release early next year, fares any better, but for the
time being at least he appears to be the more bankable
of the final two Idols.
