Australian Idol
Australian Idol is the Australian version of the British hit show Pop Idol. It is a talent contest to find a pop performer and is hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison. The first show started on July 27th, 2003, and finished on November 19. The winner was Guy Sebastian, with runners up Shannon Noll (2nd) and Cosima Devito (3rd). The panel of judges for the Australian show were Mark Holden, a former pop star and now music producer, Marcia Hines, soul singer, and Ian "Dicko" Dickson, marketing manager of BMG Australia.
First series (2003)Australian Idol was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV. The first series was broadcast on Network Ten for 19 weeks in the latter half of 2003. Australian Idol quickly became one of the most popular shows on Australian television. The final between Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll being the most popular show broadcast on Australian television in 2003. Channel Ten paid $15 million for the series but this investment was repaid when the station that had perenially been the #3 network became the #2 network towards the end of 2003 and cemented the network as the #1 station in its target demographic, the under 40's. This success meant that the station could charge advertisers more for commercials broadcast on the network. The success of the series prompted the Seven Network to commission a rival series Popstars Live in the first half of 2004. However, this series was not a success. The success of Australian Idol and the first series of The Block on the Nine Network prompted networks including the Ten Network to invest in new reality series that were not as successful, such as The Resort, which led to large losses by the relevant network. Commercial successThe success of Australian Idol has been reflected on the Australian charts with a finalists album and four contestant albums all enjoying considerable success so far with the finalists of the second series to release debut albums within a few months. So far, the albums released or due to be released shortly are:
In total, Australian Idol contestants have sold approximately a million albums in Australia since November 2003. BMG who signed up the two finalists have presented Guy Sebastian with a royalty cheque for a million dollars in July 2004, with Shannon Noll due to receive a similar payment later in 2004. [1] (http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,10096788%255E10431%255E%255Enbv,00.html/2) As of October 2004, Australian Idol contestants have enjoyed fifteen top 40 hits in Australia since November 2003:
The strength of the success of Australian Idol contestants in the charts was shown when Shannon Noll's single "Learn to Fly" debuted at #1 ahead of "Angel Eyes" by Paulini Curuenavuli at #2 on the Australian singles charts of July 12, 2004. Paulini's single even climbed up to #1 the week after this. Second series (2004)The second series of Australian Idol debuted on July 13, 2004. The level of success of the contestants in the first series has lured over 50 000 people throughout Australia to audition. As well as the five larger cities, the judges also visited Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and Tamworth this year. Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega. External link
Categories: Idol television series |
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