Australian Idol (season 7)


The seventh and final season of Australian Idol began on 9 August 2009, to determine who would succeed season 6 winner, Wes Carr. Beginning amid controversy, judge Kyle Sandilands was replaced by Sony Music record executive, Jay Dee Springbett. It was the only season where all four final contestants were eighteen years old or younger. Stan Walker was declared the winner on 22 November 2009.

Overview

Format changes

, and Marcia Hines returned as judges; however, long-term judge Kyle Sandilands was sacked after causing controversy on his radio show prior to the premiere, although he was still present for the auditions as they had been pre-recorded some weeks earlier. On 23 August 2009, it was announced on the Idol show that the new judge taking over Kyle Sandilands' spot would be Jay Dee Springbett. Andrew G returned as host, with assistance from Ricki-Lee Coulter due to the departure of James Mathison. The first auditions saw guest judge Brian McFadden join the panel, and his fiancée Delta Goodrem acted as a guest judge for the Sydney auditions.
A further change was also decided for the Top 12 round eliminations. The Monday-night elimination show was axed in favour of a two-hour 'super Sunday' elimination/ performance show, in which a contestant was eliminated according to votes tallied the previous week, followed by performances.

Ratings

The premiere episode which saw auditions in both Melbourne and Brisbane, achieved an audience of 1.3m. This was considerably lower than previous first episodes. In 2006, the premiere garnered 1.4m, the 2007 reached 1.65m and 2008 achieved 1.4m. The peak audience, however, of 1.77m was the biggest-seen in years. The show won the night in the 18–49 demographic.

Auditions

The auditions were held at the following locations:
Town/CityStateArena/AreaDate
DarwinNorthern TerritoryCrowne Plaza22 March
CairnsQueenslandShangri-La Hotel24 March
MackayQueenslandCQ University, Conservatorium of Music26 March
TamworthNew South WalesTamworth Regional Entertainment Centre29 March
BathurstNew South WalesBathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre1 April
NewcastleNew South WalesNewcastle Jockey Club5 April
PerthWestern AustraliaPerth Convention Exhibition Centre19 April
HobartTasmaniaHotel Grand Chancellor21 April
AdelaideSouth AustraliaAdelaide Convention Centre26 April
AlburyNew South WalesThe Albury Convention Centre28 April
MelbourneVictoriaFlemington – The Event Centre1, 2 & 3 May
BrisbaneQueenslandSuncorp Piazza9 & 10 May
SydneyNew South WalesAustralian Technology Park16, 17 & 18 May

^ Auditioning contestants were required to be between the ages 16 and 30 on 30 June 2009.

Semi-Finals

These aired on the week of 24 to 27 August, allowing viewers to vote. The "Wildcard" Performance Show followed on Sunday, 30 August, with live results revealed the following week, on 6 September.
FemalesMales
Nicole BanksCasey Barnes
Sabrina BatshonDarcy Lee
Kate CookNathan Brake
Kim CooperSeth Drury
Jamila IoaneAdam Eckersley
Lucie JohnsonJames Johnston
Aliqua MaoTim Johnston
Tenielle MuslinToby Moulton
Lauren StreetScott Newnham
Ashleigh TooleDaniel Raso
Marijana TopalovicStan Walker
Hayley WarnerEd Zaidan

Group 1

Advancing to the Top 12: Stan Walker & Kate Cook
Wild Card Contenders: Hayley Warner & Toby Moulton

Group 2

Advancing to the Top 12: Ashleigh Toole & Nathan Brake
Wild Card Contenders: Lauren Street & Casey Barnes

Group 3

Advancing to the Top 12: Sabrina Batshon & Scott Newnham
Wild Card Contender: Aliqua Mao

Group 4

Advancing to the Top 12: James Johnston & Kim Cooper
Wild Card Contenders: Ed Zaidan, Lucie Johnson, Tim Johnston & Tenielle Muslin

Wildcard

Advancing to the Top 12 through the Public vote: Toby Moulton and Hayley Warner
Advancing to the Top 12 through the Judges picks: Casey Barnes and Tim Johnston'''

Weekly Song Themes

Group/Guest Performances

The Top 12 Finalists

Stan Walker

Stan Walker was born in October 1990. Although residing in Australia for the past three and a half years, Stan grew up in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand. He works in retail. He has the Māori word ataahua tattooed on his neck.

Hayley Warner

Hayley Warner was born on 23 January 1992 in Sydney. She was the lead singer of her band, Bleached Academy and worked in retail at a surf shop. She was also related to a young and upcoming New South Wales cricket player David Warner.

James Johnston

James Johnston was born on 26 November 1990 in Wingham, New South Wales. He was a part of Starstruck in 2005, performing in front of thousands. He prefers the acoustic/rock style of music.

Nathan Brake

Nathan Brake was born on 27 July 1991 in Guildford, Sydney. He was a student at the Australian International Performing Arts High School. He is the lead singer of his band, Ackolade. Nathan has since performed at a number of events including the 2009 Melbourne Christmas carols with Ricki Lee Coulter.
Nathan Brake has an unofficial fan site Nathan Nation where upcoming events are mentioned and contains a forum for fans.

Toby Moulton

Toby Moulton was born in 1979 and worked as a primary school teacher, born in Melrose, South Australia. He teaches at Star of the Sea primary school in Henley Beach.

Kate Cook

Kate Cook was born in 1983 and came from Lowood, Queensland. She worked as a meat cutter at an abattoir. Her mother, who was her biggest musical influence, committed suicide when Kate was 16. Cook wrote her first single release about her mother, "Make You Stay". She died on 3 March 2019.

Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper was born on 29 November 1987 in Melbourne. At age 17, she moved to Townsville, Queensland, after her father was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. She works in fashion retail.

Scott Newnham

Scott Newnham was born in 1989 and comes from Melbourne. He works as a bricklayer, and before Idol, had never sung in front of another person except his best friend.

Tim Johnston

James Johnston was born in 1981 and comes from Newcastle, New South Wales. He auditioned for The X Factor, the fifth edition, while living in the United Kingdom. He advanced to the bootcamp round, but failed to make the cut for the Visit to the Judges' houses. He works as a barista.

Sabrina Batshon

Sabrina Batshon is an Australian-born singer, songwriter and actor from Rhodes, Sydney. She began singing and dancing at the age of two at the Johnny Young Talent School. She had roles on Australian television including Water Rats, G.P. and Home and Away. She won several talent quests including the McDonald's Performing Arts Challenge. In 2000, she sang with The Australian Girls Choir and Paulini for the Qantas campaign CD, The Spirit of Australia. She was understudy to Nikki Webster as Dorothy in a 2000/2001 stage performance of The Wizard of Oz and was cast as the 'Little Girl' in the 2001 production of The Witches of Eastwick in Melbourne. She attended the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and was named in November 2004 in Parliament by Andrew Refshauge as being one of Australia's best singers. During 2005 and early 2009 Batshon experienced chronic depression, agoraphobia and panic attacks, and was admitted to hospital. Producer Stephen Tate said speaking "openly and honestly" about depression was the way forward for the media and community.

Casey Barnes

Casey Barnes was born on 3 September 1978 in Tasmania. At a young age he became blind in his right eye after an infection. He has opened for Bryan Adams and played alongside Eskimo Joe, Vanessa Amorosi and Diesel during his career.

Ashleigh Toole

Ashleigh Toole was born in 1991 and comes from the Central Coast, New South Wales. A student, she grew up performing in multiple music festivals with her family.

Grand Final Performances

Elimination chart

Did Not PerformSafeSafe FirstSafe LastEliminated