Spotlight on stars for Idol’s reboot
WHEN Australian Idol was put on the shelf in 2009 after seven seasons on Network 10, television talent quests still wielded more power to launch homegrown pop stars than radio stations.
The arrival of the X Factor and then The Voice challenged the status quo as they switched focus from the contestants to the judges.
Instead of launching the Next Big Thing, singing competitions became a playing field for the celebrity “coaches” and international artists to promote their new single.
Major labels lobbied hard for a guest spot on the shows because they had big production budgets and their millions of eyeballs almost guaranteed a huge boost up the ARIA and itunes charts.
Meanwhile, the contestants hoping to score their big break had 90 seconds of airtime, performing a cover not of their choosing before shuffling awkwardly on stage as judges either praised them or sledged each other’s critiques.
The Seven network copped quite the backlash when they revealed their line-up for the return of Australian Idol.
There was shock jock Kyle Sandilands, the same judge who was booted from the judging line-up in 2009 after his radio show controversially aired a lie detector segment which questioned a 14-yearold about her sex life, resulting in the teen revealing she had been raped.
Unlike the original Australian Idol which featured experienced industry stalwarts including Marcia Hines, Mark Holden and then label executive Ian “Dicko” Dickson, Seven have adopted The
Voice and X Factor models to book pop stars for their 2023 series reboot.
In addition to Sandilands, there is popular Australian chart star Amy Shark, former American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr and All About That Bass pop singer Meghan Trainor.