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Australian Idol 2023

I don't know a single person in my life who watched it - or even knows that it was on, for that matter - and I work in the industry! I only saw it featured very briefly on Gogglebox and never saw a single promo or ad about it, except for a pre-season billboard in the city once. Not that I think many people care(d) much for a revival anyway, so definitely no big loss.
Guessing you never watch Seven then. I think a big problem was the big promo push came at the end of last "season", so around October - so by the time it began at the very end of January most people probably thought it had aired already.

Agree with Kingston that Idol more than any talent show is probably a product of it's time and The X Factor and to an extent The Voice came along because there were issues with Idol that needed addressing. It's a bit different in US where it's been on air pretty much continuously other than a brief hiatus after it ended on FOX, but really Seven would probably have been better off concentrating on investing in The Voice. They know from two years ago it can get the ratings and if they'd returned that to going live for the final stages it may have generated a bit more buzz.


I still think it'll come back next year as mediocrecy rules nowadays and Seven would probably rather not have it down as an out and out flop (think it still beats every Big Brother series they did). Are obvious cost savings to be made to such as ditching a judge, ditching a host, ditching one "live" show per week (possibly) and no doubt auditions would be scaled back for a second run too. It's probably less risky than launching something new against MAFS yet again.
 
Seven did themselves no favours milking out the audition process and slicing the latter half of the series in half. In a 21 episode series they gave up around 35% of it to the audition process. We’re up to around 60% of the series gone before the public even had a chance to vote. Those percentages jump even higher when you take out the pre-finale results shows.
 
I'm kinda in two minds about it for shows like this in today's day and age as i've been watching half live in the background, half catch up and skim through the fluff (I watched Top 6/Results/Grand Finale that way the other night).

There are some things I can see how it still works, but others I think could use a bit of going back to some of the older seasons ways. However some things were even done in a similar way even back then. As I think I mentioned before in Season 1 There were 5 rounds of weekly semi's and then they did 3 lots of double evictions until the Top 6 to fit it in.

If it does come back they might even cut back to one show a week to cut costs, presumably with the elimination at the beginning of the next episode.
They did this During Season 7 (the last on Ten in 2009) and if you look at the episode count on wikipedia, it almost matches 2023's exactly (I guess if you took all of the 'Results' shows from this season and stretched them out for extra weeks of the lives, it might match up. also by that point they were doing a week long semi final's round (as they did this season too).
Guessing you never watch Seven then. I think a big problem was the big promo push came at the end of last "season", so around October - so by the time it began at the very end of January most people probably thought it had aired already.
As much as It could possibly work in other Quarters, I felt part of the hype did connect to this leading up to the Grand Finale to cap off the ratings year at the Opera House in late November (and also for the winner's single to bask in some of that pre-Christmas sales (later ITunes charts and nowadays Streams) lead up).

OTOH maybe a bit of that has moved on and we are getting a little fatigued by these kinda singing show formats (even though Idol itself hasnt been on in Australia for 14 years, It wasn't that long ago X Factor was doing ok in that Slot of the year (ok its been 7-12 years now but still).

Onto the actual show, I must say I was getting kinda tired and rolling my eyes a bit at some of the song 'choices'. Like weve seen these shows long enough to know theres a big book of pre-approved songs to pick from somewhere on that set LOL and that Judge's Choice week was set up as anything if we go off what Kyle said.

I had to laugh and go 'really?' when Amali jumped at the chance to sing 'Titanium' (which is one of those songs that has been done to death on these shows, seriously) - I'm like 'Girl, noooo Maya JUST sang that song in the bottom 4 sing last freakin week, come on.

That being said though a couple of them did do decent jobs of some songs and surprised me a little even though some of them have been so overdone on these shows. Like Said Titanium performance had a bit of pizazz with the staging and arrangement (unless its also done just for the sake of it like was a big thing with Connick Jr with some of the ones this year).

A LOT of Royston's songs I felt were predictable done-a-million-times 'My Big Idol Inspirational Journey' material - I liked how Noora sung the somewhat lesser known Dua Lipa track while Royston goes for: THE CLIMB. Yes its a competition and that works though for some voters. It wasn't like when Reigan Derry sung a niche Karnivool track at the Top 11 point of 2006 and got booted whilst most of the others sang the hits.

That's another thing too, I think a lot of people forget the previous iteration of Idol was for the most part pedestrian AF with minimal staging or background oval screen effects like those ones from windows media player, with occasional glimpses of world class performance.

Remember when they weren't allowed to play their own instruments until like Season 4 (Jess Mauboy's year) and it was a big deal when they could? For every 'The Prayer' or 'Climb Every Mountain', there was Em Rusciano discoing it up in a choice outfit and dance moves, or Anthony Callea doing 'Car Wash' like it was your casual friday night down the bowlo/RSL. Haha.

I even saw Shannon Noll put up a short with a then and now comparision of his original 'What About Me' performance on Idol next to the dance remix version he performed recently at some concert. These days (and it was even a thing last decade on The Voice and X Factor) they have a lot more leeway on staging and effects like it's kinda like Eurovision without the rules.

Anyways It wasn't that terrible, but yeah could maybe use a few tweaks. We shall see.
 
I can't even remember who actually won this year, the winner's single vanished without a trace!
Aren't we all over musical talent shows or singing contests?
 
I can't even remember who actually won this year, the winner's single vanished without a trace!
Aren't we all over musical talent shows or singing contests?
Pretty much.
I didn't watch the current season of American Idol or the last two of American The Voice.
I'll still watch the local ones, but without much enthusiasm.
 
Hopefully the show goes through a major revamp for next year. I’m seeing tons of complaints not just about the rushed finals but the judging panel as well (Katy specifically).

It’s time to bring the show back to its roots… While I still don’t see the show translating that well for modern audiences it could be given a boost by brining in more industry experts and by actually attempting to make the show more than just a TV show.

 
It always seems to be one extreme or the other with shows either dragged out or rushed. About 8 weeks of live shows should be about right - have a top 12 with double elimination in week 1 and 2 then single eliminations for the top 8.
 
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Paula is an icon no doubt.

However …

I totally get that Katy is not everybody’s cuppa tea. But I think she’s ridiculously good television. She is unfiltered in some ways, down to earth in others and can also be a total diva. Her antics can be a little bit cringe at times sure, but this format is the right place for that kind of stuff. She is basically the sole reason I continue to pay monthly for Hulu as well as a smart dns, so that I can watch American Idol as it airs. I love her.
 
Paula is an icon no doubt.

However …


I totally get that Katy is not everybody’s cuppa tea. But I think she’s ridiculously good television. She is unfiltered in some ways, down to earth in others and can also be a total diva. Her antics can be a little bit cringe at times sure, but this format is the right place for that kind of stuff. She is basically the sole reason I continue to pay monthly for Hulu as well as a smart dns, so that I can watch American Idol as it airs. I love her.
This kind of thing is fine if all you’re making is a TV show…
 
but no doubt it’s a promising sign
I’m doubtful they’ve learned anything from the previous series that will lead to any meaningful changes and for that reason I don’t think there’s any “promise”. No show at all is better than having to settle for a mediocre/substandard series.
 
I went to a Marcia Hines concert last weekend (side note: she is incredible, powerful vocal!) and during a Q&A she mentioned that she would be “doing” Australian Idol again this year.

I hope they give her a permanent spot this time 🤎
 
So Marcia confirmed then..?


Hines will be joining Kyle Sandy Pants, Amy Shark and Harry Connick Jr on the Australian Idol judging panel. It hasn’t been confirmed when the next season will be dropping, but auditions kick off next month, so we should be on track for a 2024 release.

How the fuck did Harry get a recall?
Definitely a step in the right direction but still not sure it’s really going to be that noticeable if there aren’t other concessions made. As for Harry I think he’s the least of the issues the show still has.
 
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