I’m fully beyond caring any more whether or not I’m supposed to like American Idol. I’m nearly beyond even hiding behind the phrase “guilty pleasure.” I’m incredibly excited about the upcoming premiere on Tuesday (BTW, I’m planning on live-blogging the show this year, so stop back by and watch it “with” me!) Anyway. The point right now is that while waiting for the new season of American Idol to start, I came across torrents of Australian Idol, and watched that throughout last fall and winter. And I’m going to share it with you, because it was just that good. (In case it comes up, New Zealand Idol? Not as good…even my friend from NZ agrees.)
A few things that Australian Idol does better than American Idol, or at least did better this year.
- As the contestants get fewer and fewer in number, the time limit on the songs goes up. So the first few weeks, when they’ve got to get through 10 or 12 contestants per show, they have the same 1:40 time limit that American Idol does, but when they get down to four or five people, the songs are up to 2:30 or even 3:00 sometimes. That makes for a) fuller songs giving a better idea of the singer’s talent and b) less stupid filler.
- They let the contestants use instruments! Okay, that was a new step this season, but Australian Idol is the first Idol show worldwide to do that. Hopefully our Idol will do it soon, because it really added a whole new dimension.
- Going along with the instruments, they encouraged singer-songwriters to try out as well as just singers, which brought a lot of depth of interpretation even to the cover songs.
- Marcia Hines, the female judge, is really nice like Paula Abdul, but she’s not HIGH half the time.
Video and audio of the top eleven Australian Idol 2006 contestants after the jump.
So, those tips for American Idol aside, I bring you Australian Idol Season Four. Note: They are in reverse order of their final standings, so the winner is at the bottom. I originally considered putting the winner at the top as the most important (because I hesitate to assume that people will read this whole entry), sort of the newspaper reverse pyramid idea, but I hate the newspaper reverse pyramid idea. So I didn’t. If you want to see the best first, then start at the bottom and go up. The YouTube links were uploaded by user dustieddy. They are higher quality than my captures, which are the ones on dailymotion…I’m only linking mine if she didn’t upload the one I wanted to show.
Reigan Derry - 11th place
Reigan was my favorite from the audition rounds. And I still love her, and she got voted off way too soon. That said, she didn’t give her all to any of the competition performances. In one of the interview/behind-the-scenes segments, her voice teacher said she was really talented, but lazy, and I think that’s probably accurate. She could be great, if she were willing to try hard enough.
One of the things Reigan was criticised for was choosing songs nobody knew, mostly from local Perth bands (where she’s from). I liked the songs she sang, and I think that was a dumb criticism, but it could’ve hurt her, I guess, if people voted based on songs they knew. *shrug* Anyway. The songs are here in the order in which I liked them, best on top (okay, sometimes I like the reverse pyramid thing); same true with the other singers. The top song duplicates the video. BTW, if you like Reigan’s version of “Breathe In Now,” definitely go to george’s MySpace page and hear the original version. As good as Reigan could be, she’s not as good as the george’s lead singer Katie Noonan.
Klancie Keough - 10th place
Klancie is a country girl, and she brought a country vibe to a show which might not’ve been quite ready for it. Apparently, country music isn’t quite the thing in Australia that it is here. Anyway, she’s really sweet, and has a good voice, but she was never quite able to get her nerves under control.
Guy “Mutto” Mutton - 9th place
Mutto is a great guy, total gentleman…absolutely the guy you want teaching your children, which is what he does in his real life. :) He’s got a good stage presence, and knows how to involve the crowd, but I was never that into him. His voice is a tad nasally for me, and he was just a bit on the bland side. I didn’t like any of the videos I have of him, so I didn’t upload any (and neither did anyone else, apparently).
Lavina Williams - 8th place
I don’t fully know how I feel about Lavina. The video I’ve got isn’t my favorite performance of hers (I skipped capturing videos from several shows, not thinking about feeling the need to share). Started out, I knew she could sing, but I didn’t like her at all, which was one of the things the judges criticised her for a lot, not making a connection with the audience. By the last few performances, though, I got to like her quite a bit…but I think it was more for seeing how caring she was toward the younger contestants, especially Jessica Mauboy. More on Jess later. There was a sense of camaraderie here that I didn’t get on last year’s American Idol.
Bobby Flynn - 7th place
Oh, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. The judges totally loved this guy, and I completely could not see it. He’s different, that’s for sure. I admit that he’s a good songwriter (his original song, performed out of competition on a special show along with the other songwriter’s originals, was one of the best of the lot–see video), and that he’s definitely got his own musical thing going on. I just didn’t like it. *shrug* On the other hand, I am really glad that Australian Idol let someone as idiosyncratic as Bobby on the show, just on principle. American Idol wouldn’t have, I don’t think.
Lisa Mitchell - 6th place
Now, Lisa’s very much like Bobby in one way–both folksy, both singer-songwriters, both with a vibe more coffee-shop than concert stage. Except I like Lisa. I didn’t really see her as in the same class with a lot of the other singers at first, but she grew on me mightily, until now she’s one of my favorites to listen to. Definitely not the one to wow you with her vocal power, but very quiet, very personal, very unique.
This show was the first one they let them use their guitars–something Lisa especially had been waiting for forever. She’d been sort of uncomfortable singing onstage without it in her hands, and you can see why. She’s quite good.
“Too Far Gone” is Lisa’s original song.
Ricky Muscat - 5th place
Ricky got through the voting way more often than he should’ve. I don’t dislike him, and I enjoyed most of his performances quite well, but I kept forgetting he was there. Weird. Anyway, it wasn’t so much that I wanted him to go, but that I think Lavina, and Reigan, and Lisa are all better than he is. Ah well.
This performance, though, was dynamite. The theme this week was Big Band arrangements of more modern rock songs. Now, the Beatles aren’t that much more modern, but hey. It works well.
Chris Murphy - 4th place
Chris was just always good. So I sorta tended to forget about him, too, just because I always knew he was going to be good. He’s probably the most “finished” and mature rock singer on the show; unfortunately, his prowess in that area meant that the judges kept jumping on him whenever he tried something different.
This was one of the few times that “always good” turned into “totally awesome.” Especially note the guitar solo just past halfway through.
“Diamond Days” is Chris’s original song.
Dean Geyer - 3rd place
Now, if there’s a guy who looks like an Idol, it’s Dean. He’s the total Idol package, and he’s got the showmanship to go with it. While everyone else was still figuring out where the cameras were and that they needed to impress the audience at home as well as the one in the studio, Dean was working the TV as well as the room. I’ve got two videos of his, simply because they’re both too awesome not to show. His voice is not really quite as good as some of the others, but he more than makes up for it in his performing ability, and it’s plenty good enough when he sticks to the right kind of songs.
Disco Deano! The backflip had everybody going.
And guitar night, wherein Dean plays his guitar well, but then gets rid of it and just connects. That week it was easy for people to use their guitars as security blankets, but Dean refused to do so.
“Change” is Dean’s original song.
Jessica Mauboy - 2nd place
Jessica Mauboy is the singer Katharine McPhee wants to be. If you know me, you’ll know what high praise that is. I sort of overlooked Jessica in the beginning when I was pulling for Reigan, but about the time Lavina left, I realized that Jessica is a GREAT singer. Part of that is because she really has improved over the course of the show. Her earlier songs (which are mostly at the bottom of the player below) are a little unsure, a little nervous, and she struggled with a cold early on in the show as well. Anyway, before everyone thinks I’m dissing Katharine, I’m not. I still love Kat, but see, Jess is good at the kind of singing that Kat wants to do, but isn’t her forte–R&B-inflected belting. Jessica can do Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, those sort of people, effortlessly. Now, if Jess and Kat went head to head on Ella Fitzgerald songs, Kat would win, at least right now, because she’s got the training for it. But Jess if frapping fantastic.
And again, two videos to prove it. The first one is straight-forward, mostly melody singing. Really shows her tone quality. (But yeah, the lipstick’s a bit much…blame makeup.)
The second is Alicia Keys’ “Karma,” which is down-n-dirty R&B, and this is quite possibly Jess’s best all-around performance. She’s got better vocals on some of the other songs, but in terms of just selling this number, and really getting into the character of it, this is perfect.
Note on “Beautiful”–I HATE this song. Every time it comes on the radio, I have a fit. I don’t generally hate Christina Aguilera, but I’m not a fan, either, and this song in particular always rubs me the wrong way. BUT. I like Jessica singing it. I don’t know if it’s because I already liked Jess by the time she sang it (except not likely, because it was one of the first times I really thought, hey, she’s really good), or because it was shorter than Christina’s (entirely possible, since a large part of the annoyance is how redundant it is), or what.
Damien Leith - 1st place
The final two showdown between Jessica and Damien was precisely what I was hoping for between Kat and Chris on last season of American Idol. That is, two singers I love. As opposed to one I love and one I, meh (i.e., Taylor). I truly did not care one little bit whether Jessica or Damien won, because they’re both amazing. Damien is from Ireland, transplanted to Australia, and he’s got the most beautiful falsetto/tenor voice I’ve heard IN MY LIFE. CHILLS UP AND DOWN MY SPINE TAKE MY BREATH AWAY SWOON. It was so hard to choose which videos to put up, but if you go on YouTube and search his name, almost all of his performances are up there, and they’re almost all worth it. (Except “Celebration.” That one was a bust.)
So I chose this one to contrast with Taylor Hicks’ version of “You Are So Beautiful,” which I personally found cloying and annoying. Damien’s made me shiver with delight. Or something. We won’t go there.
And this one, which is one of my favorite Radiohead songs:
Because I feel like it, here’s one of my favorite group performances, the Top 7 group, the week they got their guitars back.
And the Top 12 group performance at the finale:
There. I’m done. I swear. Well, until Tuesday, when I get to start doing it for American Idol Season 6!
Hey, Jandy! I knew Australian Idol existed, but guess I assumed “ours” was better. But from what I just heard, I’m impressed! Allowing more time and a wider variety of genres really results in a more entertaining show, imo. The top 7 performance seems much stronger vocally than a final 7 of Amer Idol would generally be. Damien’s a winner, of course, but I esp liked Chris. We’re wondering how you are able to watch it. Looking forward to Tues with you — and hoping you’re not troubled much by the ice.
Yeah, I assumed ours would be better, too. I originally wanted to watch Aussie Idol because of the accents. :) But then I got hooked. Damien…*sigh* I just hope they release his CD here, or I can get an import or something.
I was able to watch it due to the power of the internets. Somebody in Australia uploaded it as a bittorrent file (the file-sharing mechanism of choice for TV shows), and I have one of the torrent sites notify me when new ones come up, and it came up, and I thought, hey, interesting. Basically, it’s an illegal download, but I can’t see how international attention to their singers could be a bad thing…I mean, I already know I would buy at least three or four of these guys’ albums if amazon.com will import them for me.
There are Idol shows for nearly every country now, but I have been less successful at ferreting downloads of the other ones–I’ve found NZ Idol (not as good, as I’ve said) and some Canadian Idol (which I haven’t actively pursued), but nothing else. I’d like to try Indian Idol, just because Hindi music is cool. ;)
The weather is troubling me only insofar as it’s kept me from going down to Austin this weekend. I was nearly ready to go today, because it’s just cloudy here, but the forecast is for freezing rain tonight, and I didn’t want to be driving back in that. Is it icy down there?
Well, this morning’s rain caused a little icing, from radio news reports(A&D’s co-op was cancelled, so we haven’t tried to go out.) The streets are dry now, but they’re forecasting more precip (freezing rain/sleet, etc.) later today and/or overnight, and with the temps as low as they are, tomorrow doesn’t look too good.
In Dec ‘05,I drove through the I35/290 intersection when it was icy and the other drivers made me wish I were somewhere else (mostly at home and off the road!)
Hope your parents have power — looking at Ameren’s outage map I wondered about them.
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