australian idol 2008

The Idol Journey TM Is Emotionally Draining Chrislyn!

4:15PM Jess McGuire | Sad news from Idol HQ. Chrislyn, the teenage contestant on this year’s Australian Idol series who made Cyndi Lauper cry – in a good way – with her interpretation of ‘True Colours’, is apparently not coping very well with the , and was recently allowed by the Idol Gods to visit family in Brisbane in an attempt to cheer the young lass up. Teenager Chrislyn Hamilton is the latest Australian Idol contestant to crumble under the pressure of Channel 10’s reality television series. Hamilton was given special permission to travel home to Brisbane to be with her family and friends after concerns were raised that she felt lonely and ostracised from the other contestants Not that bloody Mark “Sex On Fire” Spano is feeling overly sympathetic toward Chrislyn. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: A Message To My Bui

11:04AM Clem Bastow | As was noted the other day with the mention of Darren Hayes’ impending Australian Idol mentor duties, this weekend the Final 10 will be tackling “Aussie hits” week. This means the usual glut of disastrous choices – perhaps Chrislyn will tackle Swoop’s Apple Eyes? – and a hilarious Final 10 group song on Monday (please, please God, make it Ian Moss’ Telephone Booth). But if Defamer Australia has any power left in this fickle world, I would like to think we can make a miracle happen. Let’s band together with the magic of the internet and try to ohm a song choice into reality. Thanh Bui, this is for you: More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Sophie Not Pop!Ular With Darren Hayes

3:35PM Clem Bastow | Idol contestant Sophie Paterson, aka the Final 12 member hand-picked from the show’s first expat auditions in London (the LA audition rounds were canned) with the help of celebrity judges Darren Hayes and Tina Arena, is slowly breaking the fragile heart of Hayes into a million tiny pieces. The ex-Savage Garden singer reckons Paterson is too easily letting herself be sucked into the Idol machine. Gee, you think? “I can understand there’s a pressure to conform – you’re surrounded by a lovely wardrobe and stylists … you’ve got all these resources at your hands, you can be very slick, but I don’t think that’s what she is.” More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Buh Bye, Brooke

2:06PM Clem Bastow | Another week, another cookie crumbles for the Idol hopefuls (and another metaphor we probably won’t use again), with this week’s loser lowest-vote-getter being the twitchy-nosed Brooke Addamo. Yes, it seems not even Addamo’s Bewitched-esque facial-tics-while-singing were enough to save her from the dreaded “Why don’t you show Australia why you made it this far?”-prompted performance. The 17-year-old’s exit brings the finalist tally to Ten. “Last night I was a bit tearful but this morning I’m feeling better,” she told LIVENEWS.com.au. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: The G’s Tips

9:27AM Clem Bastow | Generally speaking you would assume it’s not de rigeur for talent quest hosts to speak out about their favourites; I recall back in Year Dot of Australian Idol, Dicko spoke freely about who he did and didn’t fancy to win it, which felt strangely… wrong. Still, it’s always interesting to see who those who are privy to the backstage tantrums and day-long singing lessons are pegging their bets on. So, in the midst of this article about the Pacific Ocean being a handy contraceptive for Idol’s Andrew G and his lovely wife Noa Tishby (or something), we find The G’s picks to fill out the Final Four. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Jonny Taylor, The Man So Memorable Everyone Forgot He’d Left

8:38AM Clem Bastow | Pity poor Jonny Taylor; first he eats bitumen in a motorcycle accident that causes him only to be able to communicate via the power of soulful™ atmospheric rock songs and paintings of post-apocalyptic landscapes featuring screaming, bald heads, then his hair is attacked by the last remaining bottle of Fudge Raspberry Beret Paintbox dye on the planet, then his mother solemnly informs him that the family will only be able to afford clothes from Off Ya Tree since the river took Emmy-Lou, and then, he ends up in the bottom two with Teale “The JPEG” Jakubenko – and it’s The JPEG that ends up getting to stay! Good thing Jonny’s feeling so chipper about the whole debacle, then: “I started losing faith in myself not as artist but as a performer,” Taylor said today. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Final 12 Week

10:30AM Clem Bastow | So, finally, after two weeks of der-fred auditionees, delusional stage mothers and the indignity of the Wildcard show, Australian Idol has properly begun. And despite the inherent naffness of the “Idols’ Idols” theme and extended slow-motion-childhood-photo-montage action, it was actually one of Idol’s better kick-offs. Shall we hold hands and discuss it all over the jump? More »

Attention Male Australian Idol Contestants

5:33PM Jess McGuire | When it comes to a week where you have to perform some sort of sensitive ballad with a rock twist, you may want to think about this song. Then Marcia will be all “Darlin’… I love the way to delivered that. So fresh. That’s a really diff’rent song but you gave it some blue-eyed soul. Well done. You did a fantastic job, darlin’… welcome.” Trust me. I heard it on the radio the other night and thought to myself “God, this sounds exactly like the kind of song some would-be alternative type on Idol would belt out and Marcia would be moved to the point of heavy breathing”. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Ratings Bonanza

11:00AM Clem Bastow | While the traditionally high-rating stage of Australian Idol (i.e. the Final 12 weeks) hasn’t quite begun yet, it looks as though the old stayer of the reality/light entertainment/talent quest format is still a tidy ratings earner for Channel Ten, which will no doubt be a relief after the unmitigated tanking of Big Brother (somewhere, Channel Nine is wiping away its hysterical tears with the contracts drawn up to purchase that ailing axed franchise). The show so far appears to be firing on both media fronts with data from the online researcher Hitwise showing Idol has jumped to the top ranking in online TV shows ahead of The World Game on SBS, Nine’s A Current Affair and Seven’s Home And Away. More »

Australian Idol Round-Up: Australia, This Is Your Final 12

9:11AM Clem Bastow | While it took team Defamer a little while to get over the tragedy of a) James Spargo not getting through to the Top 12 and a.i) James Spargo actually turning out to be a bit shit (although he gets points for saying his baby son could “put it in lots of different holes” when discussing what genre he tends towards), last night the 2008 Final 12 was revealed (eight of them have already been bought domain names by Sony BMG) and, gee whiz, what a bunch of champeens they are. (Also, the Cadbury gorilla ad ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE, so imagine what it’ll feel like in two months’ time!) Let’s hold hands and head over the jump to discuss their prospects, shall we? More »