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Guy Sebastian stands up for Idol

While it's mostly been copping the criticism, a fair-minded Guy Sebastian finds a nice way to return some love to Idol.

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guy_sebastianGuy Sebastian has weighed into the debate about Australian Idol‘s under-performing year, no doubt as a result of the question being put to him.

He agreed 2009 isn’t the show at its best. But in acknowledging middling performances this year, he was mindful not to slam it home too….

“It’s hard, because you’re not going to find a Wes Carr every year,” he told AAP.

“You’re not going to get those performances all the time, The Prayer by Anthony (Callea), or when Damien (Leith) sang the opera thing or when Shannon (Noll) did What About Me. It just doesn’t happen all the time.”

“People go ‘maybe Idol‘s had its day’, that’s not true,” he said.

He also questioned the loss of Kyle Sandilands, replaced by Jay Dee Springbett.

“You either love Kyle or you hate Kyle but you can’t argue that he brought a point of view and a point of difference to the show.”

Any return for 2010 is going to need further changes to the judging. Last Sunday Springbett and Dicko got into a bit of an on-air stoush which was all rather pointless, and little more than camouflage in an attempt to create some watercooler talk. It was pretty impolite to its A List guest who was getting them that anyway.

Blaming the Idol kids is also pretty unfair. Who were the ones who chose them?

In any case, as even Sebastian would surely defend, winning isn’t everything. Thankfully there are some performers like Carl Risely, Bobby Flynn and Lisa Mitchell who are also working examples of Idol‘s opportunities even though they didn’t necessarily make it to the end of the show.

There’s every chance 2009 performers can yet maximise on their 15 minutes of fame too, but for the network unfortunately the results need to be more immediate.

Source: news.com.au

23 Responses

  1. Get rid Ian Dixon as he is a bully-boy and a fraud, he has no idea about music only what he has picked up from Aust. Idol. The show has gone down hill since he arrived on it, he will kill the show off as he did the other 2 TV shows he appeared on.

    As for his MusicBackground’ which to date no one has been able to verify, who did he work for prior to coming to Aust. No ever heard of him in the muso business both here or the UK
    Bring back Holdon, he was fair and fun too and No Bullyboy tatics and keep Jay Dee as he is genuine, honest and has an interest in the artist appearing on A.I and is not nor need an ego trip

  2. @ Lucy

    I understand charisma and barely any of the idol contestants have it. All you have to do is look at half of them and you know they will never be heard of again.

    Did I touch a nerve having a go a Wes ‘pub singer’ Carr perhaps?

  3. @Someone BBBA Bobby was always a niche performer. He came seventh or something. A major label was never going to sign him and radio was never going to play any of his songs, so really this is no surprise at all and I don’t think any reflection on the show. (Which, for the record, I think should have finished years ago)

  4. Harry I agree

    Give the show a rest for a year.

    Look at the judges and think about scrapping them all and starting again. Maybe think hard about bringing Mark back. It has not been the same without him

    Bring back the results show and maybe tie it in with the 7pm Project (half hr)

    Give the contestants a better pool of songs to choose from. Sick of hearing
    queen songs and the same ones at that

  5. @angelsgal Dean Geyer?? Sorry love, no not a commercial success, at least not as a singer.

    Rob Mills, Cosima and Paulini have achieved more commercial sales han he, and Anthony Callea certainly has.

  6. Guy,being the first Idol is continually asked his thoughts on Idol & no matter what he says,media put their on slant on it.You just have to read the variations of the article to see that.

    SomeoneBBBA I think you need to update your PC maybe?
    I’m not sure re Bobby Flynn but you comments re Guy are way way off
    Guy has had enormous commercial success with all of his albums & it’s all there even in wikipedia

  7. “It’s hard, because you’re not going to find a Wes Carr every year,” – Thank god for that because he is just an overrated pub singer.
    I sometimes wonder if the judges undertsand the meaning of the word charisma – because without it you get nowhere as evidenced by the majority of finalists every single year.

    @Goonies, I’m skeptical you understand the meaning of the word charisma! It’s a subjective concept, Einstein! We don’t all find the same people charismatic, that’s what makes the world go round!

    To many many people, Wes is very charismatic! In fact, I have seen Wes perform live with nothing but himself and his guitar, and he absolutely holds the audience in the palm of his hand. He clearly has something special considering that Ian Moss from Cold Chisel has compared him to himself and thinks he’s a great talent. And that’s just one of the people who have specifically gone out of the way to ask Wes to work with them. You don’t have to like him, you are entitled to your opinion, but being nasty really doesn’t add anything to this discussion.

  8. Wonder if John Foreman not being musical director this year has also had an impact. The music is a huge part of the performance, and it might also affect which songs the Idols can select from…

  9. @Someone BBBA – Bobby Flynn’s doing very nicely away from the mainstream pop scene. And making music without compromising, which I’m sure is the only way he’d have it.

    Ditto Lisa Mitchell, whose debut album is one of the year’s best, has sold a truckload of copies and has gotten her three ARIA Award nominations. IN her case, it was clear right from her initial audition that something special was going on that Idol couldn’t possibly understand. But it gave her the platform to be noticed by people who actually matter.

  10. His statements are perhaps a bit too diplomatic as they can be interpreted in many ways, the yahoo7 homepage reckons that “guy sebastian slams idol”.

  11. @ KFed, the fact that his album isn’t even listed on Wikipedia demonstrates just how low profile and low selling it must have been. It seems a bit strange to me that someone who is watched by two million people on national television can’t even sell enough albums for someone to add them on Wikipedia. Clearly, Idol isn’t a very productive way to launch your career if he’s one of the success stories.

    In 95 percent of cases Idol is a complete waste of time for the contestants. And why wouldn’t it be? Idol is a TV show first and foremost, not a genuine talent competition. Most of the people who watch it couldn’t care less about quality music, so it’s no surprise that someone whose music showed at least a BIT of individuality was unable to tap into the viewer market. Sure, he was an interesting character to keep around for the TV show, but that’s a very different thing to liking someone’s music enough to buy it.

  13. funny that because wikipedia is the beall and end all of infomation,l Especially about australian artists. Bobby Flynn has released albums, I own his first and it is fantastic!
    It is sad cause alot of theese contestants have been trying for years but so many ignorant, ‘i want to be famous’ types make it thru.

  14. i actually have Guys origianl album from when he won and it has a few of his live perfromances from Idol on it. Listen and you can see why Idol is tanking, compared to the past few years the 1st few years contestants and there is a difference in quality. The fact that season 2, 3, 5 and maybe 6’s winners and even contestants on a whole havent achieved much is another reason for this shows demise. Mixed in with 2 many format changes and new timeslot it was never gonna work. Guy, Shannon, Damien, Jessica, Dean and Ricki Lee are really the only ones 2 achieve any commercial success from Idol. Casey, Cate, Natalie havent done much. Its lost its buzz i remember season 4 where Idol had its 1st reboot and every1 at my work was talking about it and we all had our favourites, now if a say who do u like from Idol they’re like dont care, dont watch. Jaydee is an Idot, should of hired Brian McFadden, had much more interesting comments and advice than Jaydee has

  15. Outside Parramatta Town Hall in Sydney this afternoon there was a ‘crowd’ of about 10 waiting one of the contestants from Idol to appear. Whoever he was, he was up the road outside Westfield doing a piece to camera before 4 curious onlookers. Says it all really …

  16. I believe DIcko and Jay Dee very genuinely hate each other, and Dicko surely isn’t the only one sick of his inane bable. It’s true to say viewers can’t blame the contestants, but maybe the country really has run out of willing Idol victims…

    @Someone BBBA Reasons not to trust Wikipedia part 5463: Bobby has released an EP and an album with another album due out this year. You can check out his website, MySpace, Facebook, etc…

  17. They must
    1) Get rid of Jaydee Springbett. Hes the worst thing to ever happen to Idol.
    2) Give the show a 1 year break – think of some real twists / fresh ideas.
    3) Bring the show back to its roots. Harsh judging.
    4) Get rid of the 2 hour show. Use half hour elimination next night.

  18. “It’s hard, because you’re not going to find a Wes Carr every year,” – Thank god for that because he is just an overrated pub singer.

    I sometimes wonder if the judges undertsand the meaning of the word charisma – because without it you get nowhere as evidenced by the majority of finalists every single year.

  19. Let’s face it the Australian music industry does not need Idol to be the fertile and lively business that it currently is. If Lisa Mitchell, Jess Mauboy, Wes Carr had not been on it – there are plenty of diverse artists and groups that are joslting for sales and ARIA’S – Little Birdy, Jade Macrae, Paul Dempsey etc. As a tv program it is in a bit of a slump – too many changes in one season – loss of a co-host, rightful sacking of that ignorant clown of Bile, an industry bore replacement – bookended by another bore who just says shocking things for the sake of it. Some of the interesting singers were eliminated early, and a competitive timeslot and an ill considered revamp of the weekly program have all made it hard for the show to hit its stride.
    It has in the past generated some great talent for the industry. I for one still enjoy it, warts & all! More changes required if it is to survive.

  20. Not surprised jay and dicko clearly don’t get on.

    For me the big mistake was getting rid of Holden it’s left a huge hole that random record company guys can’t fill. We could have the original panel this year if not for that huge blunder.

    Not that i don’t like jay i do but the shows flat and like him or loathe him the show was never flat with kyle around.

  21. Not so sure about Bobby Flynn being an example of the show’s opportunities. He hasn’t even released anything since the show finished according to Wikipedia.

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