| Australian Idol | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
| Broadcast from | 13 July 2004–21 November 2004 |
| Judges | Ian "Dicko" Dickson Marcia Hines Mark Holden |
| Host(s) | Andrew G James Mathison |
| Broadcaster | Network Ten |
| Finals venue | Sydney Opera House |
| Winner: Casey Donovan |
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| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Song | "Listen with Your Heart" |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Rock |
| Runner-up | |
| Anthony Callea | |
| Chronology | |
| ◄ 2004 ► | |
| Australian Idol (season 2) | |
| Finalists (with dates of elimination) |
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| Casey Donovan | Winner |
| Anthony Callea | 16 November |
| Courtney Murphy | 8 November |
| Hayley Jensen | 1 November |
| Chanel Cole | 25 October |
| Marty Worrall | 18 October |
| Ricki-Lee Coulter | 11 October |
| Daniel Belle | 4 October |
| Emelia Rusciano | 27 September |
| Amali Ward | 20 September |
| Dan O'Connor | 13 September |
| Angie Narayan | 7 September |
The second season of Australian Idol debuted on 13 July 2004. Over 50,000 people throughout Australia auditioned.
Contents |
As well as the five larger cities, the judges also visited Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and Tamworth this year. Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega.
The winner was Casey Donovan. Runner up Anthony Callea (2nd), Courtney Murphy (3rd), Hayley Jensen (4th) and Chanel Cole (5th). The final 2, as well as Ricki-Lee Coulter (7th), were the only contestants of the Top 12 to score hits, with Callea ending up the highest seller with his first release of "The Prayer" being named the second highest selling song of the last decade by ARIA in January 2009.[1] Chanel Cole and Daniel Belle teamed up under the label Spook to release an album in October 2005, and a bootleg album for Chanel was also released in November 2005. Ngaiire Joseph (Top 30 contestant) and Marty Worrall released a single each in late 2005, and Hayley Jensen released an album in September 2007. To this date Anthony Callea is the only Idol contestant to make the final 3 without being in the bottom 2 or 3 throughout the course of the show. For this second series of Idol, the Grand Finale remains the highest rated Idol show in the whole 5 series.
On a darker note, Telstra, a major sponsor of the series, made an embarrassing error when they issued a series of half-page advertisements in major newspapers congratulating Donovan on her victory, with a reference to her website. However, the address was incorrect, leading to a website about gay porn star Casey Donovan, rather than the singer's. The company issued a prompt apology upon realising their mistake.[2]
After this season, judge Ian Dickson bowed out of the series, later to appear in the Seven Network reality TV shows My Restaurant Rules, Dancing with the Stars and most recently, Australian Celebrity Survivor. The 2004 season was also notable for an Asian contestant named "Flynn", who sang the Freestylers song "Push Up" after being found from a terrible audition, in the same vein as William Hung.
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Advancing to the Top 12: Courtney Murphy, Chanel Cole and Hayley Jensen
Wild Card Contenders: Anthony Callea, Ngaiire Joseph and Emily George
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Advancing to the Top 12: Angie Narayan, Daniel Belle and Amali Ward
Wild Card Contenders: Tara Del Borrello, Adrian Hood and Liza Schulberg
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Advancing to the Top 12: Ricki-Lee Coulter, Casey Donovan and Dan O'Connor
Wild Card Contenders: Garth Ploog, Carlos Velazquez, Emelia Rusciano, Marty Worrall
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Advancing to the Top 12: Anthony Callea, Emelia Rusciano and Marty Worrall
| Date | Week | Theme |
| 5 September | Top 12 | Australian Made |
| 12 September | Top 11 | Pop |
| 19 September | Top 10 | The '60's |
| 26 September | Top 9 | Disco |
| 3 October | Top 8 | Contestant's Choice |
| 10 October | Top 7 | Beatles |
| 17 October | Top 6 | The '80's |
| 24 October | Top 5 | RnB-Soul |
| 31 October | Top 4 | Big Band |
| 7 November | Top 3 | The '70's |
| Order | Contestant | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
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Casey Donovan finished in first place for the second series of Australian Idol. She blew the judges and her fans away with powerful renditions of songs such as "Symphony of Life" and "The Special Ones". She came close to elimination twice when she landed in the bottom two during the Top 6 and the Top 4, thus making her the only winner of Australian Idol to date that has enden up in the bottom group on more than one occasion. All other winners were in the bottom group only once, or not at all. She scored four of Mark Holden's touchdowns during the Top 30, the Top 8, the Top 5 and the Top 3. Casey and season 4 winner Damien Leith hold the record for the most amount of touchdowns at four apiece. After Australian Idol Casey was signed to Sony BMG and she released a number one single and released a platinum selling album. She is no longer with Sony BMG but released an EP independently in 2007 and plans to release an independent album in the near future.
Anthony auditioned and was selected for the final 30 in the television series Australian Idol in 2004. Based on viewer votes, he did not make it through the first round of competition but was invited back as a "Judge's Choice Wildcard", where his performance earned him a place in the final 12.
Over the weeks of the competition his popularity with the Australian public grew. During his run on the show, he gave several performances that earned him high praise from the judges, including Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" and Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion's duet "The Prayer." Judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson said Callea's performance of the latter was the finest he had seen during his two years with the show and rendered him speechless. Mark Holden invented a new concept of the 'Grand Royale' Touchdown for his fine performance. This, to date, remains the only 'Grand Royale' Touchdown given out by Mark Holden.
Courtney Murphy (born 20 November 1979 in Perth, Western Australia) was eliminated on 8 November 2004, making it to the final three.
Murphy played the parts of "Roger" a "T'Bird" in the Grease Arena Spectacular which toured Australia from May until June 2005. He has released a CD in the group "Murphy's Lore" with his brothers.
Murphy appeared as a guest on ABC's "Spicks and Specks" in 2005 and briefly revisited his performance of Billy Field's "You Weren't In Love With Me", causing co-host Myf Warhurst to become visibly emotional. Murphy's performance of the song is credited in the 2005 released Best Of compilation as the impetus for a significant increase in interest in the back catalog of Billy Field.
Murphy performed the Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair" before the test match held between Australia and India at the WACA Ground in Perth, Western Australia on 16 January 2008.
Recording and mixing of Murphy's debut album "Big" was completed in September 2009. Mastering by Sterling Sound, NYC to be completed October 2009. The full length album is set for independent release in January 2010, and features production, performance and mixing contributions from LA-based power pop artist Bleu.
Courtney's brother, Chris Murphy, later competed in the fourth season of Australian Idol, where he was placed fourth.
Hayley Jensen (born 7 January 1983, in Canberra, ACT), was eliminated on 1 November 2004, placed fourth. Like Marty Worrall, she was placed in the bottom 3 five times including elimination.
Chanel Cole (born 13 November 1977 in Hamilton, New Zealand, was eliminated on 25 October 2004, placed fifth.
Marty Worrall (born 8 February 1978, in Kerang, Victoria), was eliminated on 18 October 2004, placed sixth. He was placed in the bottom group 5 times, including elimination.
Independently he released a single "One Day in 2005 which remained in the top 10 of the Australian Independent charts for 6 weeks. In 2006, Worrall participated in the quiz show Australia's Brainiest Idol, and was the winner. 2007 saw Marty form a band called "Inalight" and record an album with Daniel Jones of Savage Garden fame. Band politics saw Marty split in early 2008. He now works as a solo artist and songwriter, his co-penned track "Here She Comes" was recorded by Canadian rocker Jonas Tomalty and was the opening track on his album "Suite Life" which made the top 10 of the Canadian Albums Chart in 2006. Marty also runs team-building songwriting workshops with his company "Songstart" which he owns with his wife Helen.
Currently Marty lives in Newcastle and is a singing teacher at Rosie's School Of Rock, located in Newcastle.
Ricki-Lee Coulter (born 10 November 1985, in Auckland, New Zealand), was eliminated on 11 October 2004, placed seventh. She was the firm favourite to win the series from the Top 12 until the Top 7 where she was shockingly eliminated. Her elimination is still considered to be one of the most shocking moments in the show's history and the judges described her departure as a scandal. Like Daniel Belle, who was elimintated the week before her, Ricki-Lee had never appeared in the Bottom 3 or 2 until her elimination.
Daniel Belle (born 20 May 1983, in Sydney, New South Wales) was the fifth contestant to be voted out of the competition, on 4 October 2004. He also visited Sacred Heart Cabramatta in Sydney with Chanel Cole.
A classically trained singer, Belle was sometimes criticised by the judges for failing to demonstrate his abilities in pop music. Belle was voted into the final 12 by viewers votes, and was selected following a performance of Robbie Williams' "Rock DJ", described by judge Ian Dickson as "ridiculous". It was suggested that following Dickson's severe criticism, public sympathy earned Daniel a place in the finals.
The judges considered that he redeemed himself somewhat after being selected and complimented him on some of his performances, particularly his version of Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up".
Daniel was never in the bottom three until his elimination week.
Emelia Rusciano (born 1980, in Adelaide, South Australia) was placed ninth, being eliminated on 27 September 2004. She gave an outstanding performance of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" on the wild card show, resulting in her being the judges choice to join the Top 12.
Emelia joined Mark Trevorrow (Bob Downe) for the Adelaide Cabaret festival in late 2004 for his highly acclaimed I-Bob show and received rave reviews for her performance. She then went on to work for SAFM filling in for the "Milly and Lehmo show" and doing a number of live performances around Adelaide. Emelia impressed Austereo bosses so much that she was offered a full time breakfast hosting role in Western Australia. In 2006, she participated in the quiz show Australia's Brainiest Idol.
Emelia now lives in Melbourne with her husband Scott Barrow and her two daughters Marchella (5) and Odette (6 months). Emelia hosted breakfast radio for Austereo on Perth's 92.9 with Sam Mac, she resigned in 2009. Emelia recently guest starred in "Hair the tribal rock musical" alongside Idol alumni Cosima De Vito and Rob Mills.
Amali Ward (born 2 July 1988, in Hobart, Tasmania) was placed tenth in the competition, being eliminated on 20 September 2004. Auditioning in Hobart, Amali was one of only two people chosen from Hobart to progress to the Sydney theatre rounds. Born to English and Sri Lankan parents, and the sole finalist from Tasmania, she was also one of the youngest participants, at 16 years old, attending The Friends' School in Hobart.
After the competition, Amali moved to Sydney and released her debut, self written and produced EP. The Daily Telegraph commented "taking her time has paid off" and Amali won a MusicOZ award that year. Since the release of her EP, Amali has toured Australia playing shows including the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, The Southern Roots Festival and 2009 Rosemount Fashion Week for designer Kirrily Johnston. She has supported local artists such as The Bamboos, Paris Wells and True Live and international acts such as Naturally 7, whom she opened for at the Enmore Theatre.
Amali has also done significant co-writing, both locally and internationally, with writers and producers such as Jack Splash (Alicia Keys, Cee-Lo, John Legend), Cristyle (Rihanna, Beyonce, Mariah Carey) and Warryn Campbell (Kanye West, Mary Mary, Musiq Soulchild). Her song 'Ten Things To Prove' was featured in the Sony Pictures film Center Stage 2: Turn it Up.
Amali has also appeared in television commercials for US department store Mervyns, AAMI, Mazda and was chosen as a brand ambassador for Rexona Girl, appearing in a nationwide print and television advertising campaign.
As of October 2011, Amali is hosting the television series Save Point on One HD, discussing video game releases and gaming news.
Amali is currently finishing her debut album, which she has announced will be released early 2012. Amali is recording the album in Los Angeles with producer David Ryan Harris. To promote the album, Amali has released several live versions of the songs from her album on her YouTube channel, including the songs 'Handbag', 'Upside Down' and 'Knock You Out', with the latter winning the 2011 John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the R&B category.
Daniel "Dan" O'Connor (born 23 October 1978, in Sydney, New South Wales), was eliminated on 13 October 2004, placed eleventh.
Angeline (Angie) Narayan (aged 26, from Brisbane, Queensland) was placed twelfth in the contest. Auditioning for Australian Idol in the Gold Coast, she performed Disco Inferno by The Trammps which blew the judges away with her soulful, R&B voice. In the semi-finals, she performed Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools and the judges said it was the best performance of that night and she was the first contestant from her group voted through to the Final 12 the next night. At the first Final 12 live show, she performed A Touch of Paradise by John Farnham, which left the judges a bit disappointed by her performance. Angie told them that she has been suffering from the flu. She was eliminated the next night. Angie, like Dan O'Conner, was not featured on the season 2 finalist's cast album. Why only the Final 10 were featured on the album is unknown.
Since her elimination, Narayan has released several demo singles and written many new songs, and has produced an album named 'Undeniable' through an independent record label called 'Locus Records', in which she covered Aretha Franklins' "Chain Of Fools".
| Date | Bottom Three | ||
| 7 September |
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| 13 September |
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| 20 September |
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| 27 September |
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| 4 October |
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| Bottom Two | |||
| Did Not Perform | Top 30 | Wild Card | Top 12 |
| Stage: | Semi-Finals | WC | Finals | |||||||||||||||
| Week: | 9/8 | 16/8 | 23/8 | 30/8 | 6/9 | 13/9 | 20/9 | 27/9 | 4/10 | 11/10 | 18/10 | 25/10 | 1/11 | 8/11 | 21/11 | |||
| Place | Contestant | Result | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Donovan | Top 12 | Btm 3 | Btm 2 | Btm 2 | Winner | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Anthony Callea | Elim | Top 12 | Runner-Up | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Courtney Murphy | Top 12 | Btm 2 | Elim | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hayley Jensen | Top 12 | Btm 2 | Btm 2 | Btm 3 | Btm 3 | Elim | |||||||||||
| 5 | Chanel Cole | Top 12 | Btm 2 | Btm 2 | Elim | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Marty Worrall | Elim | Top 12 | Btm 3 | Btm 3 | Btm 2 | Btm 3 | Elim | ||||||||||
| 7 | Ricki-Lee Coulter | Top 12 | Elim | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | Daniel Belle | Top 12 | Elim | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Emelia Rusciano | Elim | Top 12 | Btm 2 | Elim | |||||||||||||
| 10 | Amali Ward | Top 12 | Btm 3 | Elim | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | Dan O'Connor | Top 12 | Elim | |||||||||||||||
| 12 | Angie Narayan | Top 12 | Elim | |||||||||||||||
| Wild Card |
Tara Del Borrello | Elim | Elim | |||||||||||||||
| Emily George | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Adrian Hood | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Ngaiire Joseph | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Garth Ploog | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Liza Schulberg | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Carlos Velazquez | Elim | |||||||||||||||||
| Semi- Final 3 |
Christie Green | Elim | ||||||||||||||||
| Billie McCarthy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nicole Wheatley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Semi- Final 2 |
Gabriel Cabrera | Elim | ||||||||||||||||
| Yasmine Dia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chloe Skipp | ||||||||||||||||||
| Barry Southgate | ||||||||||||||||||
| Semi- Final 1 |
Meri Bosenavulagi | Elim | ||||||||||||||||
| Ben Eaton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laurence Sorbello | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prinnie Stevens | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by Season 1 (2003) |
Australian Idol Season 2 (2004) |
Succeeded by Season 3 (2005) |
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