Australian Idol (season 4)


The fourth season of Australian Idol began on 6 August 2006 and concluded on 26 November.

Overview

Format Changes

Changes for the fourth season of Australian Idol included the cancellation of "Inside Idol", "streamlined" semi-finals, and the contestants were able to bring instruments with them on stage for some of the final shows. The fourth season's television promos promised a change in the viewers' role in the show, which was revealed to be an SMS service called 199-JUDGE which allows viewers to SMS their opinions on the judges' reactions.

Ratings

The show opened with average ratings that were on the whole up from the previous year's ratings. The semi-final shows averaged 1.5 million viewers per night; the ratings remained consistent until the Top 8 show, which averaged 1.89 million viewers, much higher than any of the Top 12 shows the previous year, making it the most watched show on Australian television for that week. The Top 7 Show, which was "acoustic night", was watched by 1.92 million and the final by over 2.1 million people, with the audience peaking at 10.13pm attracting 2.4 million viewers.

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. The auditions identified 124 hopefuls who then 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 to 24. For the first time, contestants were told face-to-face and usually by themselves whether they had made it through to the semi-finals.
The fourth season's broadcasts began on Sunday 6 August 2006 with the broadcast of four audition shows and two shows for the Sydney round.

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. The semi-finals began on Sunday 27 August 2006 and ran daily until the results show on Thursday 31 August 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 D.ring 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.
FemalesMales
Atlanta CooganBrendon Boney
Lydia DenkerBobby Flynn
Reigan DerryJoseph Gatehau
Jessica GriffinDean Geyer
Klancie KeoughChris Graffiti
Raechel LeeDamien Leith
Jessica MauboyChris Murphy
Lisa MitchellRicky Muscat
Lyndelle Palmer-ClarkeGuy "Mutto" Mutton
Rebecca PearceJames Steele
Amanda StreetePaul Vercoe
Lavina WilliamsNathaniel Willemse

Top 24 Guys

GROUP 1 ~ Sunday 27 August 2006
Advancing to the Top 12: Damien Leith and Dean Geyer
Wild Card Contenders: Chris Murphy, Nathaniel Willemse & Brendon Boney
GROUP 2 ~ Tuesday 29 August 2006
Advancing to the Top 12: Bobby Flynn and Joseph Gatehau
Wild Card Contenders: Ricky Muscat, Chris Graffiti & Guy Mutton

Top 24 Girls

GROUP 1 ~ Monday 28 August 2006
Advancing to the Top 12: Jessica Mauboy and Reigan Derry
Wild Card Contenders: Klancie Keough and Amanda Streete
GROUP 2 ~ Wednesday 30 August 2006
Advancing to the Top 12: Lavina Williams and Lisa Mitchell
Wild Card Contenders: none

Wildcards

Advancing to the Top 12: Ricky Muscat, Guy Mutton, Klancie Keough and Chris Murphy

Weekly Song Themes

* Shows in which the contestants brought instruments onto the stage with them.

The Top 12 Finalists

Damien Leith

Damien Leith was the winner for 2006. Originally from Dublin, Ireland and raised in County Kildare, he moved to Sydney, prior to Idol. He and his Australian born wife, Eileen, have two sons. Leith scored four of Mark Holden's Touchdowns over the course of the series and was the only contestant in the show's history to score two in one night when he scored one for each of his final 4 performances.

Jessica Mauboy

Jessica Mauboy was the runner-up for 2006. Hailing from Darwin, Northern Territory, a high school student, she auditioned in Alice Springs. Mauboy received the first Touchdown of the year from Mark Holden for her performance of "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera during the Final 10 week. She received a second Touchdown during the Final 5 week for her performance of "Words" by The Bee Gees.

Dean Geyer

Dean Geyer finished in third place. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Geyer auditioned successfully in Melbourne.

Chris Murphy

Chris Murphy finished in fourth place. Auditioning in his hometown of Perth, Western Australia, Murphy, like his younger brother, Courtney Murphy, was unanimously invited through to the theatre rounds.

Ricky Muscat

Ricky Dean Muscat, from Werribee, Melbourne, Australia, placed fifth. Of Maltese descent, Muscat lives with his mother, and works at a chemical factory. From age 9, he would often accompany his father, a drummer, to the local pub where he would sing '60s hits for the locals. Muscat sangShai's "If I Ever Fall in Love" at the Melbourne auditions, winning the judges over to make the Top 124 in Sydney. Following a controversial falling out on day two of the theatre round with trio member Jorge Bec, Muscat gained a place in the Top 24. During the first semi final round, he did not accrue enough votes to advance but was later chosen by the judges as a wildcard.

Lisa Mitchell

Lisa Mitchell, came in sixth place. Originating from Albury, New South Wales, Miller immediately wowed the judges with her unique voice and talent.

Bobby Flynn

Bobby Flynn, finished seventh.

Lavina Williams

Lavina Rose Williams finished eighth in the contest. She is of Samoan descent and the older sister to Season 3 runner-up Emily Williams. In high school, she became a member of the New Zealand R&B girl group, Ma-V-Elle with hits that charted successfully in New Zealand. As a professional stage performer, Williams played the role of Shenzi in The Lion King from 2004 to 2006.
In February 2007, Williams took over Ricki-Lee's spot in Young Divas temporarily while Coulter went overseas to record her second studio album. In 2009, Williams featured on her brother, J.Williams single, "Stand With You" charting successfully well in New Zealand.

Guy "Mutto" Mutton

Guy Mutton nicknamed "Mutto", finished in ninth place. A rock enthusiast, Mutton was teaching but with his bandSoulframe rising in popularity and gaining national recognition, he was encouraged to focus on music.

Klancie Keough

Klancie Keough, placed tenth. At the Mount Isa auditions, Keough was the first successful contestant into the Top 124 in Sydney, and later the final 24. She did not initially make the final twelve, but returned for the wildcard show and was chosen by the public vote.
Keough is a farm hand and jillaroo on her sister's farm. Before auditioning for Idol, she completed senior studies at The Cathedral School in Townsville and studied Commerce at The University of Queensland in Brisbane. After working in finance, she returned to work as a governess on her sister's property. In December 2006, Keough was signed by the man behind Keith Urban's success, Greg Shaw, to a management deal.

Reigan Derry

Reigan Elisse Derry finished in eleventh place. Born in Maida Vale, Western Australia, Derry attended Perth Modern School on a vocal scholarship. Prior to Idol, she was a member of a duo called Djreamz with Justin Low. Her eclectic musical tastes include jazz and drum and bass, and she is an enthusiast of music from the 1960s. It has been perceived that her elimination on 18 September was the result of a too obscure song choice.

Joseph Gatehau

Joseph Gatehau, finished in twelfth place. Of Tongan and New Caledonian descent, he is the oldest of seven children. From the age of 8, Gatehau has played acoustic guitar and sung, but as the family was not able to afford formal music lessons until he was 14, he is essentially self-taught.
Gateau later released an album called "Move On" made with Donald Tauvao aka Boy Shy from The X Factor winning band Random" in 2005. He was also a contestant on The X Factor in a group called Three Wishez.

Grand final

The Australian Idol Grand Final was held on 26 November at the Sydney Opera House. 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.

Elimination chart


Idol Backstage

Origin and production

In 2006, Fremantle Australia's digital media division launched Idol Backstage, a companion show to Australian Idol distributed by Telstra and promoted in clips on the main show. It followed the pranks, gags and interviews of host Josh Zepps as he roamed behind the scenes of the Australian Idol set while the show went to air. Idol Backstage marked a clear break in style from the rest of the Idol franchise, appealing to a young, tech-savvy audience. The clips were edited overnight each Sunday and Monday into roughly one commercial half-hour per week over four episodes. There were 54 episodes in total, with additional content available on mobile phones and on BigPond's Idol Backstage Online website.

Reaction

Idol Backstage was a popular success, with viewer numbers climbing strongly week-on-week and total Idol web video downloads reaching a record 2.5 million throughout the season. Traffic to the Idol website was up 40% on the previous year with more than 26 million page impressions, and Australian Idol became the most popular television program website in the country.