Australian Idol 2006

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Australian Idol 2006
Finalists
(with dates of elimination)
Damien Leith Winner
Jessica Mauboy November 26
Dean Geyer November 13
Chris Murphy November 6
Ricky Muscat October 30
Lisa Mitchell October 23
Bobby Flynn October 16
Lavina Williams October 9
Guy "Mutto" Mutton October 2
Klancie Keough September 25
Reigan Derry September 18
Joseph Gatehau September 11

Australian Idol 2006 was the fourth season of the Australian television series Australian Idol. The first episode aired on August 6, 2006 and concluded on November 26.

Contents

[edit] Changes to the format

Changes for the fourth season of Australian Idol included the cancellation of "Inside Idol"; a "streamlined" semi-finals (replaced with a variant of the 12 females, 12 males format popularized by American Idol); and the contestants will be able to bring instruments with them on stage for at least one of the final shows. Also, the fourth season's television promos promised a change in the viewer's role in the show, revealed to be an SMS service called 199-JUDGE which allows viewers to SMS their opinions on the judges' reactions.

[edit] Broadcasts structure

[edit] Auditions

The auditions for the fourth season of Australian Idol started in March 2006 in Mount Isa, Queensland, and concluded on 4 June 2006 in Sydney. Auditions were held in thirteen towns and cities across Australia: Adelaide, Albury-Wodonga, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Broken Hill, Byron Bay, Hobart, Melbourne, Mount Isa, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney, and Townsville. Many of the audition sites had a much smaller population than previous seasons' sites, and producers declared that they wanted to "unearth" rural talent in 2006.[1] The auditions identified 124 hopefuls, who participated in a culling process in Sydney. After group performances and a solo performance from each contestant, the judges cut down the number of contestants left in the competition to 24. Also for the first time, contestants were told, face-to-face and usually by themselves, whether they had made it through to the semi-finals (in contrast to previous years when contestants were divided into groups of three, two of which got through).

The fourth season's broadcasts began on Sunday August 6, 2006 with the broadcast of four audition shows and two shows for the Sydney round.

[edit] Semi-finals

The semi-final process consisted of two male groups and two female groups of six contestants over four days, who performed in front of a live audience for the first time (this being first season in which the semi-finals included a live audience). The semi-finals began on Sunday August 27, 2006 and ran daily until the results show on Thursday August 31, 2006. Two contestants were selected by audience vote each show. Eight contestants were then selected by the judges for another semi-finals show the following week; during the following results show, each judge selected a favorite wildcard contestant, who joined a single wildcard contestant selected by audience vote and the previously selected eight contestants to make up the Final 12.

[edit] Finals

The finals of Australian Idol started on Sunday, September 10, 2006. On October 15, the finalists had the option to bring a musical instrument on stage.

[edit] Grand Final

The Australian Idol Grand Final was held on 26 November at the Sydney Opera House as is traditional. The show included performances by Shannon Noll, Anthony Callea, Marcia Hines, Deni Hines, Guy Sebastian, Young Divas and Australian Idol 2006 finalists. Damien Leith was voted the winner, with Jessica Mauboy the runner-up. Leith's first single "Night of My Life" was released soon thereafter.

[edit] Ratings

The show opened with average ratings (1.4 million) that were on the whole up from last year's ratings. The semi-final shows averaged 1.5 million viewers per night; the ratings remained constant until the Top 8 show, which averaged 1.89 million viewers, much higher than any of the Top 12 shows last year, and was the most watched show on Australian television for that week. The Top 7 Show, which was "acoustic night", was watched by even more - 1.92 million. The final was watched by over 2.1 million people. [1]

[edit] Bottom three statistics

Date Theme Order from bottom (left to right)
September 11 Contestant's Choice Joseph Gatehau Lavina Williams Reigan Derry
September 18 Rock Reigan Derry (2) Ricky Muscat Guy "Mutto" Mutton
September 25 #1 Hits Klancie Keough Dean Geyer Lavina Williams (2)
October 2 Song of Birth Year Guy "Mutto" Mutton (2) Lisa Mitchell Jessica Mauboy
October 9 Disco Lavina Williams (3) Chris Murphy Ricky Muscat (2)
October 16 Idol's Choice/Acoustic* Bobby Flynn Lisa Mitchell (2) Ricky Muscat (3)
October 23 Rock Swings* Lisa Mitchell (3) Dean Geyer (2) Ricky Muscat (4)
October 30 ARIA Hall Of Fame* Ricky Muscat (5) Dean Geyer (3) Damien Leith
November 6 Audience Choice* Chris Murphy (2) Dean Geyer (4)
November 13 Judges' Choice Dean Geyer (5) Jessica Mauboy (2)
November 26 Grand Final Jessica Mauboy (3) Damien Leith (2)
  • * Shows in which contestants brought instruments onto the stage with them.

[edit] External links

Australian Idol
Hosts and Judges
Andrew G | James Mathison
Mark Holden | Marcia Hines | Ian "Dicko" Dickson | Kyle Sandilands
Winners
Guy Sebastian | Casey Donovan | Kate DeAraugo | Damien Leith
Runners-Up
Shannon Noll | Anthony Callea | Emily Williams | Jessica Mauboy
Seasons
Idol 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006
Other
List of semi finalists | Young Divas | Australian Made: The Hits | List of commercial releases