Australian Idol is the latest search for a musical superstar.
Australian Idol is a 17-week reality program which seeks
to find Australia's next singing star. Over 50,000 people
had auditioned for the program during the recent auditions
in capital cities. Australian Idol 3 follows the landslide
success of the first two series in Australia. Last year's
nationwide search for a solo superstar launched the career
of Casey Donovan, Anthony Callea, Ricky-Lee and others
and the finale was the highest-rated show, other than
a sporting event, on Australian TV with 3.5 million viewers.
From Germany, USA, Poland, Canada and the UK, the Idol
format has been screen in over a dozen countries worldwide.
Network Ten aspires to repeat this international success
and the success of last year with the launch the third
series of Australian Idol in 2005.
While Australian's are no stranger to popular reality
doco-soap Popstars, with four series having been screened
on Channel Seven, Australian Idol program differs by allowing
viewers the chance to decide who will receive a record
deal and contracts with SonyBMG based on live weekly shows
and a national phone vote similar to Big Brother evictions.
Despite the previous success of Popstars, Network Ten
is convinced that the Idol phenomenon is a winning formula,
"The key difference is that Australian Idol is predominantly
studio-based, it's predominantly live and it's 100 percent
about talent."
Judges Marcia Hines, radio personality Kyle Sandilands
and music producer Mark Holden are responsible for choosing
the 30 finalists from a field of around 100 of the best
from the national auditions, before Australians vote for
their favourite contestant in a series of rounds.
The 30 finalists will be narrowed to 10 as the show progresses.
These 10 contestants will each perform various songs live
to a national audience each week. The group may also perform
a song together which is not judged. Contestants compete
for the major prize with viewers determining the winner
through telephone voting and possibly through other media
such as- SMS and Internet voting. The three Judges also
play a part in determining the winner in each round. The
finalist with the least votes is eliminated each week
until two contestants are left. The final contestant left
standing will be crown the Australian Idol and will receive
a recording contract with SonyBMG.
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Australian Idol 3- In Brief
TV Network: Network
Ten for 17 weeks
Production Company:
Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association
with UK company 19TV
Third series Premieres:
July 2005 from 7.30pm.
Time: Weekly on Sundays/Mondays
from 7:30pm.
Hosts: Channel V personalities
Andrew G and James Mathison will host the series as well
as Australian Idol Extra which will be screen exclusively
on Channel V. This program screens extra footage from
the making of the series and debuts in August.
Prize: The series
winner will receive a record deal and contracts with SonyBMG.
Judges: The judging panel consist of singer Marcia Hines,
former singer and now writer and producer Mark Holden
and Kyle.
Fifty thousand down to one. That is the incredible challenge
facing the Australian Idol team, and the Australian public,
this year. After the runaway success of the first series
of Australian Idol, fifty thousand people turned out to
audition.
This year the Australian Idol net was cast further afield.
In addition to the search for undiscovered talent in the
major capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide
and Perth, the Australian Idol road train also pulled
into Canberra, Tamworth, Darwin and Hobart.
Returning this year to lend their industry experience
are our judges Marcia Hines and Mark Holden and new judge
Kyle Sandilands. They have had the daunting task of whittling
down the thousands upon thousands of people who auditioned
to one hundred and seventeen people - the cream of the
crop from around Australia – and from there trimming
that number down again to the top thirty.
The judges have had their say and soon it will be the
turn of the Australian public. The top thirty will be
divided into three groups of ten and, over three exciting
weeks, will perform a song to showcase their talent, starting
Sunday August 8. The judges will give their feedback but
this time it will be you who decides who goes through
to the finals. Three contestants from each group will
go through to the finals and this will be revealed in
a nail-biting show the following night.
For those contestants that don’t make it through
- and this includes anyone in the top one hundred and
seventeen - their Australian Idol journey won’t necessarily
be over yet. Ten of them will be selected for a second
chance to make it through to the finals, by performing
in the Wild Card show. Three contestants will make it
through this round, giving Australia their twelve Idol
finalists.
And then we reach the “business end” of the
competition with the Australian Idol crown tantalisingly
in sight for our twelve finalists. Each week, in front
of a studio audience filled with screaming fans, they
will sing a song, often based around a particular theme.
You will remember last year that some of the themes included
Big Band, Australian Made and the Eighties. This allows
the contestants to demonstrate their vocal range and versatility.
Again you will be called upon to vote and the contestant
with the lowest votes will be eliminated each week, until
only two remain.
With the excitement, drama and almost unbearable tension
still resonating from last year’s final, a new Australian
Idol will then be anointed in spectacular fashion at the
Sydney Opera House. Utilising your final opportunity to
vote, you will play a crucial role in selecting Australia’s
newest Idol.
With us, every step of the way, will be our hosts, Andrew
G and James Mathison and taking us behind the scenes on
this most thrilling of adventures will be Leah McLeod
on Inside Idol.
