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Liza on Australian Idol

Broadway legend Liza Minnelli opened Australian Idol with a spirited, live performance of Cabaret -quite a coup for the show.

lm3Liza Minnelli has arrived on Australian Idol.

The Broadway legend opened the show with a spirited, live performance of Cabaret, before taking up her invitation as guest judge. Having Minnelli as a judge, let alone singing, is quite a coup for the show given she has never visited American Idol.

lm4“I’m thrilled to be here,” she said.

Minnelli also mentored the young singers for a week of stage and screen themes. Her stint on the show proved to be one full of encouragement for the young singers, offering her expertise and positive comments after they had sung. She seemed genuinely grateful to have participated in the show, and the singers were gracious in response. At times fishing for words, it was all genuine and fullsome Minnelli.

Her appearance  follows visits this year by Suzi Quatro, Harry Connick Jr., Brian McFadden and Ross Wilson.

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26 Responses

  1. Well Liza with a Z not with an S was slurring some of her words & I to couldn’t follow what she was saying half the time. But she is still the greatest in days gone by.
    The show isn’t the same with JD, his voice is the same as Dicko’s.
    Stans version of All the single ladies was scary to say the least, but I still like him.

  2. Although it’s great to see the guest judges, I find it really limits what the male judges say. If they say something negative they are given a hard time by the guest judges ( as well as Macia). Are they going to have a week where there are no guest judges, so that Jaydee, especially can feel free to say what he feels?

  3. Out of all the Idol contestants, only Ricki-Lee has done anything truly impressive, I can’t stand Guy and never could (totally overated), Anthony is great but most of what he has released is too “middle ground”, he needs to do a true dance/pop album with someone like Darren Hayes … the rest are forgetable …
    and no-one will care less about this year’s bunch of unripend fruit when it is all over …
    Jack!

  4. Liza was so great on Idol last night. She’s getting on in age, but that woman owned the stage. Her personality, charisma and humour came roaring out in the performance.

    Those contestants need to understand the Enormous opportunity they are being given with these world class performers mentoring them.

    For gods sake Toby, move your body and don’t just stand there like a stunned mullet.

  5. @Better Streep “but former contestants like Guy, Lisa, Jessica refuse to come on because they don’t want to be associated with it anymore.”

    Is this true or just speculation? Can’t say I blame them if it is true. I continue to watch only to see how much more of a train wreck it can be each week. But I really hope this is the final year of Idol (or rested for a few years so that people learn to miss it and maybe some proper talent will grow in that time) – I won’t be back next year if it is, and save myself up to 2 days of my life into the bargain.

  6. They really have managed to stuff this show up, I only caught the middle bit and it was like watching Comedy Inc doing a parody of it.

    Seriously who is producing these shows??? The contestants have about as much personality as the Rice Cakes I snack on during my work day.

    I have a theory, in that if the wrong person wins a reality show it ruins it, Idol never ever recovered from Casey Econovan beating the much more talented Callea in 2004.

    Big Brother never recovered from the Logan twins winning in 2005.

    And the producers of Masterchef will get a nasty suprise when next year the figures aren’t as (g)astronmical as Julie winning totally and utterly ruined the integrity of the show.

    Guess we will watch and wait.

    Somebody please put this old dog out of its misery….

  7. Liza was amazing as always … these amateurs had an amazing opportunity to learn skills that could sustain them on stage for years to come … and it seems most of them wasted the opportunity … yes, I did watch the show because of Liza, but found the contestant performances to be mainly excruciatingly painful! As was some of the judging …
    Jack!

  8. Watched some of the show after weeks away & came to the same conclusion….absolutely embarrising all round. Liza put on a brave face & as usual came out shining.Time to go Idol.

  9. I thought Liza was brilliant last night.

    Didn’t watch the rest of the show because I just felt anything after that performance would have been such a huge let down.

    Such a shame that Idol has had some really great guest judges and performers like Liza, Suzi and Harry – but former contestants like Guy, Lisa, Jessica refuse to come on because they don’t want to be associated with it anymore.

  10. I didn’t watch the show so may not have a proper grasp on the theme ‘Stage and Screen’ but Powderfinger’s ‘These Days’ was written for the film ‘Two Hands’.

  11. I only watched half but agree with the comments re not sticking to the theme and it’s getting annoying. These Days is a great song but didn’t fit the theme. Oh and I think Circle Of Life fitted the theme being known from film and not as a pop song.

    And yes last week was the same ,on big band night Beyonce??? C’mon how about some Sinatra? Don’t just pick your favorite song and try and fit it into the theme.

    Liza was fantastic btw!

  12. I was looking forward to tonight because it hasn’t really been done before in Australia and when it has been done in the US, it usually brings out the best in the contestants (not artists yet).

    What the hell?? You cannot pick a song from Failure to Launch… ummm… it should have been songs from epic films or actual Stage epics… Maybe they should have grouped tonight’s show with judges choice so that we actually had a decent selection of songs. Thriller and These Days were a joke. As was Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

    No one seemed to take it serious, so what was the point?

  13. The producers should have insisted that the songs were written specifically for the stage or screen… Queen, Michael Jackson, Four Seasons, Dusty Springfield, Powderfinger!!??!!!.. seemed to defeat the purpose of the whole night really.

    And I agree with Marco.. Kate is a one-trick pony (no pun intended).

  14. Liza was great. The contestants’ performances not so much. Last week and tonight shows that the interpretation of the theme is so wide that the theme is actually irrelevant. “All The Single Ladies” although nicely performed by Stan was not true to the theme last week. Yes “Thriller” may have been in a film but c’mon let’s get real with these theme nights or just admit you are letting them sing whatever they want. I have always loved idol but tonight I am wondering why I should watch next week. I am truly disappointed.

    1. It felt like about two bonafide songs from theatre: You’ll Never Walk Alone and Phantom of the Opera. Almost all of the others were songs written for pop that were added to stage and screen thereafter. Producers should have had a better grip on this fleeting definition of the genre.

  15. Can’t say I’ve ever really followed her music except for maybe ‘Losing My Mind’ back in the day, but I have to say Liza came across as one classy lady, was a joy to watch, and her dealings with the young kids were full of warmth – such a surprise for someone of her calibre who I’d almost expected to look down her nose at the contestants (and not once did she do that). Bravo Liza!

    P.S. Kate needs to go. There’s been no growth whatsoever since she started. Who on earth is voting for her?

  16. What did Liza call James Johnston? A “character what”? I rewound it a few times and still couldn’t work out what she said. James quick thank-you tells me he didn’t understand either. And wtf was that Thriller performance?

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