Guy Sebastian on The Voice Australia reality singing stars: ‘You have to work harder than ever’

After landing his big break on Idol, Guy Sebastian has a blunt message for the reality stars seeking fame on the latest season of The Voice Australia.

The Voice Australia’s coaches Adam Lambert, Kate Miller-Heidke, LeAnn Rimes and Guy Sebastian.

Winning a TV talent show will only get you so far. At least, that’s what Guy Sebastian has always told the hundreds of contestants who have auditioned for him, first in his role as an X Factor judge and now as a coach on The Voice Australia.

And he should know: Sebastian got his big break some 21 years ago, when he won the nation’s first Australian Idol.

But the ARIA Award-winning singer – who has since represented the country

at 2015’s Eurovision Song Contest and performed for the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Queen Elizabeth II – is adamant that his 2003 television victory was not solely responsible for his continued success.

“After winning Idol, I never had the mentality: ‘OK, I’m all set!’” Sebastian tells The Binge Guide. “I wanted to be a sponge, learn as much as I could and run with it.”

He now urges The Voice contestants to follow his lead and “seize the opportunity”. Not with the sort of old-school snark that contestants once weathered on Idol, but with constructive criticism he reinforces even when the cameras aren’t rolling.

Guy Sebastian. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

LeAnn Rimes. Picture: Nick Wilson, Stellar

“Often, what surprises me is there’s still this mentality: ‘I’m going on the show and then my life will be set …’ The world has changed so much. You have to work harder than ever before,” he says.

“It’s not the landscape anymore where you’re young and you get signed – and then there’s this whole department that is just focused on creating an aura or an album or a sound for you.”

Joining Sebastian in the spinning red chairs this year will be three new judges – LeAnn Rimes, Adam Lambert and Kate Miller-Heidke – each of them bringing their own unique style and sound to the show for its 13th season.

Having navigated the music industry for almost 30 years after finding fame at just 13 years old, Rimes feels she is well placed to guide aspiring singers through their first steps in the spotlight.

“I had such a soft spot for them, because I know what it’s like to be in their shoes, to be so young and in an adult world,” Rimes tells The Binge Guide. “I really taught them to speak up for themselves if they weren’t comfortable. That was one of my biggest things with my artists: to teach them you’re your own best advocate.”

The Voice Australia coaches star on the cover of The Binge Guide, out today on the flip side of Stellar.

But, as a novice to the TV judging realm, Rimes also sought guidance from show stalwart Sebastian. Not, he says, that she needed much steering.

“LeAnn was very nurturing and very protective of a lot of the young ones,” Sebastian reveals. “But then again we were also shocked that some of the young ones who came out were a thousand times more confident than the older ones.”

There are good reasons for that. Far from seeing social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube as a threat to the pool of fresh talent auditioning for TV contests, Sebastian believes “if there was ever a time for shows like Idol or The Voice, it’s now.

“When I went on Idol all those years ago, it wasn’t like it was the usual thing to do – especially for guys. It wasn’t the norm to get in front of cameras and sing and take that big leap of faith.

“Now, more than ever, there are people who back themselves because of social media.

“It has made it so accessible for kids to get out there and really learn everything, even right down to recording themselves and producing tracks.”

The Voice Australia season 13 premieres at 7.30pm on August 19 on the Seven Network. For more from Stellar, click here.

Originally published as Guy Sebastian on The Voice Australia reality singing stars: ‘You have to work harder than ever’