Look what’s coming back after a LONG hiatus! Australian Idol is casting for its 8th season, set to air in 2023.
The Aussie version of Idol premiered in July 2003 on Network 10, and ended it’s inaugural season on November 19, 2003 by crowning its first winner, Guy Sebastian. The singer served as a judge on X Factor Australia between 2010 and 2012. He also served as the Australian entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015.
Other notable alums include 2006 runner-up, Jessica Mauboy who currently serves as a coach on The Voice Australia.
Australian Idol, Season 7, the last to air, ran from August 9 2009 to November 22 2009 and crowned Stan Walker the winner.
Seven Network announced the Australian Idol reboot at their annual upfronts in 2020, with a 2022 target date. But, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premiere was pushed back to 2023 due to the pandemic.
“Idol is the granddaddy of them all!”
Angus Ross, Seven’s director of programming, said in 2020: “Idol is the granddaddy of them all! The biggest show in the world comes to Seven…and we know Australians are going to love it. We can’t wait to bring Idol back to Australian audiences…putting our primetime content line-up even further ahead of the competition.
We’re home to the biggest franchises in television at Seven, and Idol is the biggest of them all.”
Fremantle Asia Pacific chief executive officer Chris Oliver-Taylor said at the time: “Idol is renowned for launching global music artists. That’s what we’ve done here in Australia and across the world.”
Similar to Australian Idol, American Idol was cancelled by one network and eventually picked up by another. But instead of a 14 year gap, fans only had to wait two year for its return. American Idol ended on FOX in 2016, returning to the airwaves on ABC in 2018. The show celebrated its 20th anniversary–five season on ABC–in 2022.
Applications are now open with singers aged between 15 and 28 invited to apply from anywhere in Australia by either uploading a video or singing face-to-face with an Australian Idol producer for a chance to advance to the judges’ audition round of the competition.
IF YOU’RE AUSTRALIAN Click HERE to sign up.
