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Auditions: Australian Idol

Australian Idol's audition tour kicks off this weekend in Darwin. But cost-cutting will see Dicko, Marcia and Kyle just visiting Sydney, Melbourne and Brissy.

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idoljudgingAustralian Idol‘s audition tour kicks off this weekend in Darwin, but Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands will reportedly only be attending in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

As most auditionees known, Idol judges are always screened first by producers before the best -and worst- are delivered through to judges. This is common practice in reality television due to the sheer numbers of wanna-bes.

Idol judges had nearly always visited the stops on the Idol tour, including regional towns. Indeed the show made a point of boasting they had criss-crossed the country to from the coast to the outback. Last year Darwin was off the list, and in some places just one judge attended.

That was before the economic meltdown and before Kyle Sandilands was suppposedly spending a lot of his time in LA. Now it’s cut back even more.

By way of compensation, Idol has offered online audition opportunities this year, allowing some the chance to ‘skip the queue’ and be fastracked to the judging panel. Better than an all night sleep out.

Idol also adds Mackay in Far North Queensland, and Bathurst in the central west of NSW. There are no overseas auditions this year either. Successful auditionees in other cities will be flown to Sydney, Brissy or Melbourne to appear before the judges.

Online Auditions will close at 12 midnight (AEST) on Thursday, April 9, 2009.

DARWIN – SUNDAY MARCH 22
Crowne Plaza, 32 Mitchell Street, Darwin

CAIRNS – TUESDAY MARCH 24
Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina, Pierpoint Road, Cairns

MACKAY – THURSDAY MARCH 26
CQ University Conservatorium of Music, Boundary Road, Mackay

TAMWORTH – SUNDAY MARCH 29
Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, Greg Norman Drive, Tamworth

BATHURST – WEDNESDAY APRIL 1
Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, 105 William Street, Bathurst

NEWCASTLE – SUNDAY APRIL 5
Newcastle Jockey Club, Darling Street, Broadmeadow

PERTH – SUNDAY APRIL 19
Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth

HOBART – TUESDAY APRIL 21
Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey Street, Hobart

ADELAIDE – SUNDAY APRIL 26
Adelaide Convention Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide

ALBURY – TUESDAY APRIL 28
The Albury Convention Centre, Swift Street, Albury

MELBOURNE – FRIDAY MAY 1, SATURDAY MAY 2 , SUNDAY MAY 3
The Atrium, 448 Epsom Road, Flemington Racecourse

BRISBANE – SATURDAY MAY 9, SUNDAY MAY 10
Suncorp Piazza, Cnr Little Stanley & Glenelg Street, South Bank

SYDNEY – SATURDAY MAY 16, SUNDAY MAY 17, MONDAY MAY 18
Australian Technology Park, Bay 4, Henderson Road, Eveleigh

9 Responses

  1. Hii my name is Mariam and i would like to audition for kids Australian Idol.I have a passion for singing.Singing is my hobby.I know a fare bit of singers.I have been singing since i was 2.I would name but theres too much.I’m 12 yrs in January.My favourite 2 singer would have too be Rihanna & Akon.I know all of their songs.My favourite Rihanna song is run this to wn tonight,& my favourite Akon song is sexy chick.

    I would appreciate if someone will consider my attemptto begin my future.
    Yours Sincerely
    Mariam:):):)

  2. For online auditions, do they contact everyone (even via email), if they are successful or unsuccessful?

  4. “You can fly two contestants to Sydney for the price of flying just one judge to Darwin one-way”

    Exactly. Who says you have to fly Kyle back;)?

  5. It’s not just flying the judges and their food, hotels, etc that costs money, it’s all the TV crew and equipment as well.

  6. Craig

    The judges will have in their contracts that they have to fly business class at minimum so it does become quite expensive to fly them around the country. For example, Sydney to Darwin with Virgin Blue economy is $315 but $680 business class. You can fly two contestants to Sydney for the price of flying just one judge to Darwin one-way.

  8. I would have thought the cost of flying contestants to the East Coast would have been equal – if not greater – than bringing the judges to them, unless of course a) the producers don’t expect to find/recruit much talent outside Brissy, Sydney or Melbourne, or b) Dicko, Kyle and Marcia stay at some pretty expensive hotels.

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