Australian Idol is set to return to our screens at the end of January 2023, and from the looks of things the level of talent this year is quite… mixed.
The return of Idol was first announced back in 2020, but with COVID and all its associated restrictions, the auditions were only filmed in July this year, missing the 2022 primetime debut it was originally slated for.
From January 30th, an all-new panel consisting of Harry Connick Jr., Meghan Trainor, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark will judge the best (and possibly worst) singers Australia has to offer, in a bid to find the next Guy Sebastian – who won the very first season of Idol back in 2003.
The show has shifted to Channel 7, who have breathed new life into the tired format, although they’ve copped some scrutiny along the way for their “lack of diversity”, which Sandilands promptly defended.
The program has offered the first glimpse of auditions for this season, and, well… it’s not looking great.
In response to one young woman singing Paloma Faith‘s ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’, Trainor – clearly the kind judge this season – is at a loss for words before Sandilands interjects.
“I’ll say it,” he says. “No way, that’s crazy. That’s a bunch of crazy.”
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Both of the international judges use variations of the phrase “perhaps singing isn’t for you,” and honestly, as kind as they are I would retreat back to isolation and never return if either of them said that to me.
New host Scott Tweedie commented an enthusiastic: “Let the fun and games begin. So excited,” on the clip.
He will be joined by Idol alum Ricki-Lee Coulter, who came in seventh place on the second season back in 2004, before joining OG hosts James Mathison and Osher Günsberg as a presenter/reporter on the sixth and seventh seasons.
