Australian Idol (season 1)
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| Australian Idol (season 1) | |
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| Finalists (with dates of elimination) |
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| Guy Sebastian | Winner |
| Shannon Noll | November 19 |
| Cosima De Vito | November 3 |
| Paulini Curuenavuli | October 27 |
| Rob Mills | October 20 |
| Levi Kereama | October 13 |
| Rebekah LaVauney | October 6 |
| Kelly Cavuoto | October 6 |
| Lauren Buckley | September 29 |
| Cle Wootton | September 29 |
| Peter Ryan | September 22 |
| Matthew Chadwick | September 22 |
The first season of Australian Idol was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV, and was broadcast on Network Ten for 19 weeks in the latter half of 2003. The judges included faded 70s popstar and current music producer Mark Holden, singing icon Marcia Hines and former BMG Music representative Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
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[edit] Overview
When Network Ten paid $15 million for the first season of Australian Idol they anticipated it to be a critical and financial success like it had been in other countries such as the UK and the USA. When the show aired for the first time in the August of 2003 it was a ratings bonanza attracting diverse ranges of viewers, from people wanting the crazy auditions to people who wanted to hear great voices. The audition process went through several major cities in Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Sooner or later Australian Idol became the most popular TV show in the country with more ratings than major events such as the AFL Grand Final. The Grand Final at the Sydney Opera House attracted more than 3 million viewers. It was listed as the ninth highest rating TV show in Australia in the past century in 2007.
The eventual winner of the competition was Guy Sebastian. He beat Shannon Noll who finished in 2nd place, Cosima De Vito who came in 3rd place, Paulini Curuenavuli who came in 4th place & Rob Mills who finished in 5th place. After Idol, it was these five, the Final 5, who were the most successful out of the Top 12.
Other Idol contestants from Season 1 to release music were Levi Kereama, Rebekah LaVauney, Peter Ryan and Courtney Act. All of these independent acts achieved very little success at all.
In one of the semi finals, one of the contestants breached a rule and was disqualified. He later performed in the Grand Final as one of the performances outside the Sydney Opera House.
In the wildcard show, a contestant named Daniel Wakefield was originally meant to be in the top 12, but due to his contract, he wasn't able to be in the top 12. Instead of having one contestant chosen by the judges and the other chosen by Australia, three contestants were chosen, two by Australia and one by the judges.
[edit] Commercial Releases
Guy Sebastian released the winner's single "Angels Brought Me Here" the day following the Grand Finale. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts with massive sales of over 100,000 copies. Eventually, after close to a month in the top spot it was certified with 4x Platinum status meaning 280,000 copies were shipped and sold. His debut album "Just As I Am" held the #1 spot for a number of weeks and was certified with 6x Platinum status with over 420,000 copies shipped and sold. His next three albums were all Platinum certificated releases that brought a number of Top 10 singles and even another #1 hit. The second album "Beautiful Life" peaked at #4, the third album "Closer to the Sun" peaked at #3 and the hugely popular "The Memphis Album" peaked at #2.
Shannon Noll released his debut single "What About Me?" in December of 2003 to huge success. It certified with 4x Platinum and stayed at #1 spot for a number of weeks. His debut album "That's What I'm Talking About" was a chart topper and sold over 350,000 copies with 5x Platinum status. His second album "Lift" was another huge hit with 210,000 copies sold with 3x Platinum status. His third album reached Platinum sales and spawned several Top 10 hits for Shannon.
Cosima de Vito released "When The War Is Over" as her debut single in mid 2004 through her own independent label, CDV Records. It was a #1 hit and sold over 70,000 copies resulting in Platinum status. Her debut self titled album "Cosima" peaked at #2 on the charts and sold over 50,000 copies with Gold certification. Her second single "Now That You Can't Have Me" experienced very little radio play and distribution complication resulting a peak at #42 on the charts. Her second album "This Is Now" that was released in September of 2007 was a hit on the Independent Charts and Club Charts, but failed to make an entrance on the ARIA Charts. The album had two Top 20 hits on the Independent Charts.
Paulini Curuenavuli released a debut single titled "Angel Eyes" that was a #1 hit and a Platinum seling success. It stayed at the top spot for a month. Her debut album "One Determined Heart" was also a #1 hit and sold close to 100,000 copies receiving Platinum status. Her Christmas EP "Amazing Grace: Songs for Christmas" experienced distribution problems and failed to chart, stalling at #72. Her much anticipated second album "Superwoman" stalled at #72 and was a major disappointment for Sony BMG. The album did give her two Top 50 hits.
Rob Mills experienced a very short lived career at Sony BMG with one Gold selling single of "Ms Vanity" and an unsuccessful debut album entitled Up All Night. He was later dropped from the label. He is currently rehearsing for the Australian 2008 production of "Wicked" in which he plays Fiyero.
[edit] Finalists
[edit] Headline text
[edit] Guy Sebastian
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For more details on this topic, see Guy Sebastian.
Guy Sebastian was the winner of the first series of Australian Idol. His winner's single of "Angels brought me here" was a #1 hit and went 4x platinum. His debut album "Angels Brought me here" also went to #1 and went 6x platinum. He went on a sold out national tour with Season 1 finalist Triple H in mid 2004. His second album "Beautiful Life" was also a chart topper and was a platinum selling success, not to mention numerous Top 10 hits that came from the album. His third album "Closer to the Sun" was a platinum selling album and again several Top 10 hits came from the album. His fourth and most recent album is "Memphis". It is still on the charts and so far it has reached platinum status and has peaked at #3.
Sebastian's performances on Australian Idol:
- "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong - Semi Finals
- "The Love You Save" by Jackson Five - The 1970s
- "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" by Bryan Adams - #1 Hits
- "You’re the Voice" by John Farnham - Australian Made
- "When Doves Cry" by Prince - The 1980s
- "When I Get You Alone" by Robin Thicke - Up, Close and Personal
- "Hidden Agenda" by Craig David - Soul
- "Hello" by Lionel Richie - Soul
- "The Way You Look Tonight" by Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields) - Big Band
- "Hit the Road Jack" by Percy Mayfield - Big Band
- "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli - The 1960s
- "Climb Every Mountain" by Julie Andrews - The 1960s
- "I'll Be There" by Jackson Five - Contestant Choice
- "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles - Contestant Choice
- "You Can't See Me" by John Cena - Grand Final Performance
[edit] Shannon Noll
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For more details on this topic, see Shannon Noll.
[edit] Cosima De Vito
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For more details on this topic, see Cosima De Vito.
Cosima de Vito came third in Australian Idol after withdrawing because of a sudden diagnosis of throat nodules. After recovering Cosima signed with an independent label and became the first independent artist to debut at #1 on the charts. Her debut single was "When The War Is Over". Cosima later released several singles and a gold selling self titled album.
Below is a list of Cosima's performances on Australian Idol:
- Top 40: "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion
- Wildcard: "Predictable" by Delta Goodrem
- Top 12: "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer
- Top 10: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston
- Top 8: "When the War Is Over" by Cold Cheisel TOUCHDOWN
- Top 6: "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner
- Top 5: "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly and "Respect" by Aretha Franklin TOUCHDOWN
- Top 4: "LOVE" by Nat King Cole and "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin
- Top 3: "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield and "River Deep Mountain High" by Tina Turner
[edit] Paulini Curuenavuli
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For more details on this topic, see Paulini Curuenavuli.
Paulini Curuenavuli came fourth in the first season of Australian Idol. After the competition Paulini signed with Sony BMG and in June 2004 Paulini released a #1 single known as "Angel Eyes" and a #1 album entitled "One Determined Heart". Paulini has released several other albums and singles that have had moderate success in the charts, especially in the Urban and Dance Charts. In 2006 Paulini joined an all girl pop group called the "Young Divas" with other former Idol contestants which included Kate De Araugo, Emily Williams, Ricki-Lee Coulter and later Jessica Mauboy. They have achieved huge success with platinum selling singles and a platinum selling album.
Below is a list of Paulini's performances on Australian Idol.
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- "Somewhere" by Barbra Streisand (Contestant Choice) Top 40
- "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston (The 1970s) Top 12
- "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles (Number 1s) Top 10
- "Chains" by Tina Arena (Australian Made) Top 8
- "Freeway of Love" by Aretha Franklin (The 1980s) Top 6 Bottom 2
- "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton & "Survivor" by Destinys Child (R&B/Soul) Top 5
- "At Last" by Etta James & "Almost Like Being In Love" by Gene Kelly (Big Band) Top 4 Elimination
[edit] Rob Mills
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For more details on this topic, see Rob Mills.
[edit] Levi Kereama
Kereama was not successful in advancing to the finals of the competition, until invited to return to participate in a "Wildcard" show, in which four contestants would be given a second chance to proceed to the final 12. As part of the final 12, Kereama was a popular performer, but was eliminated on October 13, leaving him in 6th place in the competition. A record contract followed, and he released the singles "In My Room" and "Handcuffs Off" from the album "Destiny".
Levi Kereama is part of the band Lethbridge.
[edit] Rebekah LaVauney
Rebekah LaVauney (born October 7, 1977) was eliminated on October 6, 2003, placed seventh. She also released a single cover titled "Headed In The Right Direction".
[edit] Kelly Cavuoto
Kelly Cavuoto (born May 21, 1981) finished eighth in the first series of Australian Idol.
Kelly had many years singing experience with rock bands throughout South Australia, before auditioning for Australian Idol in 2003. Dubbed "The Rock Chick" by judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson, she covered a selection of harder edged rock songs throughout the series, at odds with most other contestants who chose to cover pop songs.
During the 2003 Australian Idol series finals, Cavuoto sang:
- Top 12 Heat: Evanescence - "Bring Me to Life"
- The '70's: Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
- Australian Number Ones: Silverchair - "Tomorrow"
- Aussie Made: Killing Heidi - "Mascara"
In January 2004, Cavuoto appeared as a co-host for Channel Ten's Video Hits music program. Her contract however came to a premature end in November after she was accused of excessive alcohol consumption and using inappropriate language while watching a Guy Sebastian video during the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards, in Sydney, New South Wales.
[edit] Lauren Buckley
Lauren Buckley (born March 29, 1986) finished in 9th place. Also memorable was her elimination from the show, in which she broke down and cried while singing her farewell song. She completed the song with the assistance of her fellow Idol contestants.
Lauren Buckley's Australian Idol song list:
- Audition - "Turn Me On" (Norah Jones)
- Semi Final Group 2 - "Imagine" (John Lennon)
- Final 12 (70's) - Moondance (Van Morrison)
- Final 10 (#1 Hits) - "Lady Marmalade" (Pink, Christina Aguilera, Mya & Lil Kim). Originally (Patti LaBelle)
Lauren Buckley is currently working on recording her debut album with expected release in 2008.
[edit] Cle Wootton
Cle Wootton (born Cleonie Morgan-Wootton on November 15, 1981) placed tenth in the talent-quest TV program. She has also appeared in the children's drama program Ship to Shore in 1993 playing the character Babe. She also appeared on the reality television program Popstars in 2002.
Coming tenth in the first season of Australian Idol she was an early favourite with the judges, however she failed to maintain an interest from fans.
Cle Wootton's Australian Idol Song List:
- Perth Audition - "Pussy Town" (Machine Gun Felatio)
- Semi Final Group 3 - "Come To Me" (Diesel)
- Top 12 (70's) - "Young Hearts Run Free" (Candi Staton)
- Top 10 (#1's) - "That's The Way Love Goes" (Janet Jackson)
[edit] Peter Ryan
Peter Ryan was eliminated on September 22, 2003, placed eleventh.
[edit] Matthew Chadwick
Matthew Chadwick (born July 19, 1983) was eliminated on September 22, 2003, placed twelfth. He is now under the management of Richard Macionis, who also manages 2004 idol cast off Ricki-Lee Coulter and Idol's musical maestro, John Foreman. Matthew is now performing in Queensland's Draculas Cabaret Restaurant along with Macionis. Prior to Australian Idol he had played Fred as part of the Scooby Doo section of Warner Brothers Movie World in his home state, Qld.
[edit] Elimination Chart
| Date | Theme | Bottom Three | ||
| September 22 | 1970's | Matthew Chadwick | Peter Ryan | Kelly Cavuoto |
| September 29 | Number Ones | Cle Wootton | Lauren Buckley | Kelly Cavuoto (2) |
| October 6 | Australian Hits | Kelly Cavuoto (3) | Rebekah LaVauney | Levi Kereama |
| October 13 | 1980's | Levi Kereama (2) | Paulini Curuenavuli | Shannon Noll |
| October 20 | R&B/Soul | Rob Mills | Cosima De Vito | |
| October 27 | Big Band | Paulini Curuenavuli (2) | Guy Sebastian | |
| November 3 | 1960's | Cosima De Vito (2) | Shannon Noll (2) | |
| November 19 | Finale | Shannon Noll (3) | Guy Sebastian | |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Inaugural |
Australian Idol Season 1 (2003) |
Succeeded by Season 2 (2004) |
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