Australian Idol post urging fans to ‘please respect’ artists backfires

There was a revolving door of bad auditions on the Australian Idol premiere – and now, they’ve begged fans to “please respect” contestants.

Viewers have called out Australian Idol for a “hypocritical” post urging people to have respect for the contestants.

The iconic TV talent show finally returned to screens on Monday night after a 14-year hiatus, premiering its debut audition episode on Channel 7 with Kyle Sandilands returning to the judging panel.

He was joined by newcomers, US musicians Meghan Trainor and Harry Connick Jr., and local hit maker Amy Shark.

There was no shortage of terrible auditions during the episode, a surprising move given how society has evolved since Idol first aired back in 2003 when ex judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson was able to openly reprimand a female contestant for having “tuck shop lady arms”.

And given its airing for the first time in the age of social media, it seems producers have felt compelled to issue a plea urging fans to “please respect” the artists.

Here's your golden ticket to a respectful season of #AustralianIdol 💙 pic.twitter.com/t1R2gZk0XO

— Australian Idol (@AustralianIdol) January 30, 2023

The good-hearted sentiment backfired – with many pointing out Idol’s decision to air “woeful” auditions was the problem.

Many also suggested Sandilands’ brutal feedback to budding contestants was worse than any comments on the internet.

In one of the auditions, Sandilands told rock singer Ben Sheehy he had a “weird, serial killer vibe”.

We’re happy to convince awful singers to audition and film them and then use the footage to humiliate them on national tv but seriously guys show some respect!!! #australianidolhttps://t.co/mtKK7TLOFQ

— Radio Mike (@itsradiomike) January 30, 2023

Please respect the singers, but it’s ok for Kyle to insinuate that Ben’s a serial killer 🙄 #AustralianIdol

— Mike (@bikeymikey70) January 30, 2023

#AustralianIdol back to its old ways of humiliating young people.

No I don’t watch it, but I read what happened.

This garbage should be banned.

— Rick (@colonelhogans) January 30, 2023

Have you guys actually watched the show? Kyle has the nasty covered for everyone 🤷

— Michael Coates (@MG_Coates) January 30, 2023

Granted, social media didn't exist during the original run, but when the EP / Production team decide to air the worst auditions, they have to expect a degree of blowback... IMO the Celine Dion cover should have gone through, albeit only just

— Simon Birmingham's Empathy Consultant (@Lieberal_Aus) January 30, 2023

So why hire Sandilands then??? Pretty hypocritical tweet

— MetalMilitia (@DaveyJayBlues) January 30, 2023

Among the many bad auditions was starry-eyed 19-year-old law student, Imogen Ledell, who refused to take “no” for an answer.

After her sketchy rendition of Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down, Sandilands brutally told her that her “vocal is not great at all, you must know that’s pretty woeful”.

Connick Jr. was equally as scathing, telling her, “Making a living as a singer is not in your future. You can’t hear, you can’t phrase, you have no time, you don’t know how to interpret lyrics,” he added.

Australian Idol returned to screens last night.

The budding star begged for an opportunity to “prove” them all wrong, before all four judges delivered her a resounding “no”.

Not ready for her Idol journey to end there, Imogen continued to plead for a chance.

“Yeah, but I feel that … Please I promise you…,” she began, before Connick Jr interrupted: “You have to be respectful of the process. There’s other people waiting, you had your chance. Thank you for coming.”

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more uncomfortable, Imogen stepped off the podium and began circling the room belting out a song in French, waltzing around the large space while making direct eye contact with the judges.

“What’s going on? I’m scared,” Shark said during the bizarre scenes, adding: “That’s better, you should’ve auditioned with that.”

Australian Idol continues Tuesday on Channel 7 at 7.30pm