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Royston wins Australian Idol 2023

23 year old queer Indigenous singer from Mapoon, Cape York, takes out the crown in Seven talent quest.

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23 year old queer Indigenous singer Royston Sagigi-Baira has been voted Australian Idol 2023.

The vocalist from Mapoon, Cape York wins $100,000 plus a contract with Sony Music and releases a new single, Invincible.

“I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who voted for me. Thank all this mob up here, all my family and friends for coming. Everyone who’s been voting, thank you so much!,” said Royston.

He defeated 15 year old Phoebe Stewart from Busselton, who becomes runner-up and Josh Hannan from Melbourne in third place.

The live finale was not without its mishaps with audio problems during Royston performing his new single, and Phoebe taking a tumble down the stairs.

“I just want to say thank you, everyone, and for not laughing too much when I fell down the stairs,” she said. “Seriously, this has been the best. I’m so proud of myself and everyone. This has just been a gift. I’m just so grateful for everything.”

Josh added, “I’m just so grateful for everything…thank you to everyone else who voted for me. Thank you very much. This is not the end for me.”

The series hosted by Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie, with judges Harry Connick Jr, Meghan Trainor, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark, came with high hopes for Seven, even returning to Live television for select shows.

Yet despite uncovering some strong young talent it trailed Married at First Sight and Australian Survivor in ratings.

Seven is yet to confirm its future plans for the show.

Updated.

21 Responses

  1. I liked Idol but putting Kyle and Harry together was a weird mix to watch and they had no chemistry, you could tell Harry was like why am I here with this radio announcer big noting himself every night. Kyle and Jackie should stick to radio they both come across a bit bogan on tv, but they are great on radio together. Josh was the true superstar and we voted for him, I’m not sure enough people watched it for him to leverage off it, but I hope so. It’s a tough gig going up against MAFS. Idol did 850-900 with catch up so that’s not a bad result, and the grand final did much better, and not far off Survivors finale result. Amy was a surprise stand out judge and her song with Sam Fischer ‘High on you’ they performed together is so good. I hope Idol comes back but maybe replace Kyle with John Stevens or someone that can sing with more credibility. I also liked Marcia on it this year she was sassy and cool and had heart.

  2. Congratulations Royston!!! Disappointing that the series was too rushed having two leaving from final 12 each week and finale wasn’t at the Opera House.

  3. What ruined the season for me, was surprisingly not Kyle (not a fan). But Meaghan, constant screaming when critiquing every performance. Much preferred Harry and Amy.

  4. from what I saw; Royston has the vibe of a ‘The Voice’ winner. he has a great voice but not a commercial act, good for one single, a telethon and a Carols in the domain performance. Josh seemed like he could have a real career.

  5. I felt like Josh was the only one of the Top 3 even remotely close to being prepared to embark on a music career. As others have mentioned, many previously have succeeded without winning though. I thought the series improved significantly once they got to the performance shows. It is a shame the ratings and demos weren’t stronger. If it did happen to return, yes changes are needed but I thought overall 7 gave it a decent effort this series.

  6. Never watched it but…I just want to congratulate those who took part because it cannot be easy to be judged on your ability to sing or not on national TV and suffer endless criticism, critiquing and judgments from armchair viewers and the likes watching who think they know a thing or two about music. “Congratulations” you made it and more importantly you come through unscathed.

  7. Congratulations Royston! Phoebe and Josh were great top 3 finalists as well!

    I’ve really enjoyed watching Idol. Despite ratings being quite low, I hope it comes back, somehow. I think MAFS and Aus Survivor both have dedicated fans and so it was tough for Idol to put a dent in those shows.

  8. I think it was a decent finale but not singing their winners single on the night before they were crowned i think was a huge mistake. If anything it should have happened last week so we can vote on it. None the less so happy for Royston. He was one of the strongest in the competition from the start and Phoebe she is just a star in the making. I think both have really bright futures. If and its a big If this comes back, Seven really gotta make some sweeping changes. I think Meghan was a standout judge but the rest, the hypocrisy that was there. Telling one singer they didn’t put their original take on the performances (and ended up being sent home) and another praised but didn’t change a thing and was boring. Anyway. One thing is for sure though, Kyle needs to go. He never should have been attached to this from the get go and honestly i think its why a lot of people tuned out to begin with. The majority just don’t like him (even if he does have the #1 radio show in the country).

  9. Now is the critical moment. They’ve got to make it work. If not, the show is over.

    Kyle’s comments are no good. I’m thinking it might be a case of ‘prove me wrong’. The singers might prove Kyle wrong, and the Kyle detractors would love nothing more than to prove Kyle wrong. A great incentive and reason to get behind the singers.

    Prove Kyle wrong!

  10. 20 years ago this was absolute national event TV. I’m sure nobody was watching and will have learnt of the mayhem on news articles this morning.

  11. Even though it was 20 years ago, when Guy beat Shannon, they both got deals so I hope Phoebe gets signed as well. She is an amazing talent. I always think it is a hard ask after just winning to perform the single and Royston was clearly not ready and was not able to hear the band and was not in time with the arrangement. My heart sank for him, as it did for Phoebe on the tumble. As you day David, Live TV.

    If they do another season, please, replace Kyle. His final comment to the final two was just mean and unhelpful. He added nothing to the series imho.

      1. David ,is there any reason you mention that he is both Queer and Indigenous in the same sentence I am curious to know why the runners up just had their names mentioned and not their race or sexual preference.

        1. There definitely is. Royston mentioned both in his speech, and staying true to his identity was a big part of his remarks, week in, week out. If you look at almost any winner story you’ll see the editorial balance is on winners not runner up. TVT began in the LGBT media (as it was known at the time) so there’s a history of highlighting diversity and I make no apology for that. It was great to see Seven’s audience backed him, particularly when the network sometimes cops it for lack of diverse content.

          1. Totally agree too bad so many bigots out there are calling it a token and PC. When he is actually talented too but along with Phoebe and Josh

      2. Asked just before the final reveal for the final 2, to the winner, Kyle said something about playing one on the radio tomorrow and the other never to be heard from again; words to that effect. Just soulless and unnecessary and as David pointed out above, the runners up have done well over the years.

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