Australian Idol winner meets his idol Jessica Mauboy
Australian Idol winner Royston Sagigi-Baira has opened up about representing his community and following in his idol’s footsteps after taking the top spot on national TV show.
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Winner of Australian Idol 2023, Royston Sagigi-Baira - also known as Royston Noell - has been getting used to his new-found fame while following in his idol Jessica Mauboy’s footsteps.
Mr Sagigi-Baira, 24, grew up Mapoon, in a small Indigenous community in Far North Queensland with little to no music exposure in the region.
As the only singer at his school, he looked up to former Australian Idol contestant and Australian musical sensation Jessica Mauboy.
“She was my biggest inspiration growing up,” he said.
“I remember seeing her and thinking, she’s a blackfella just like me, doing things I dream of doing,” Mr Sagigi-Baira said.
“It put this fire in me and now there’s this full circle moment where I’m on Australian Idol where she started and I’m signed to Sony like she was for so many years.”
Mr Sagigi-Baira said seeing Ms Mauboy on the show inspired him to follow in her footsteps and he hoped one day, he could inspire more Indigenous kids to follow in his.
“Representation is so important, especially to see someone on TV who looks like you and went through the same experiences as you,” he said.
“I hope kids from back home or from other Indigenous communities around Australia can connect with me and what I’ve been through. I want them to know they can do anything they set their minds to.”
Mr Sagigi-Baira said going to boarding school helped to grow his resilience and inspired him to work hard to achieve his dreams.
“It can be hard culturally to transition from being in the community to being in the big city,” he said.
“It was tough for me being homesick but I knew from a young age I had to push myself.
“I want kids back home to know that they can do these amazing things too.”
Mr Sagigi-Baira said he hoped to go back to community to do workshops with school kids as he didn’t have much exposure to music growing up.
“We used to get a lot of sports people coming to school but not really any musicians,” he said.
“Now I’m living my dream and it’s everything for my younger self.”
Mr Sagigi-Baira also opened up about the technical issues on Sunday night where the judging panel and studio audience could not hear him perform his hit new single Invincible.
“I remember singing and thinking everything was fine because I had in-ears so I couldn’t hear the outside audio. Then I saw the other contestants in the lounge looking at me funny and the audience looking at me funny and thinking, what’s going on?” he said.
As the finale was live, he decided to continue singing despite the technical difficulties to make sure the show and the song ended with a bang.
“I remember thinking we couldn’t do another take or restart it so I focused on the song.
“It was sad we had technical difficulties but it was good for making people listen to my song,” he said.
Mr Sagigi-Baira’s song Invincible is available across all platforms.
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Originally published as Australian Idol winner meets his idol Jessica Mauboy
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