Humpty Doo musician inspired by dad makes Australian Idol finals

With her dad playing bongo drums by her side for support, Humpty Doo’s Prayer Colby performed for Australian Idol judges with hopes of landing a music contract and $100,000.

Prayer Corby is a homegrown talent who is through to the finals of Australian Idol. Picture: Supplied

Humpty Doo woman Prayer Corby, 23, faced the judges in the first round of singing competition, Australian Idol, Tuesday night and walked away with a golden ticket as one of the final 30 contestants.

A nervous Corby performed Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone for judges Amy Shark, Kyle Sandilands and Marcia Hines with her “Australian Idol” by her side in father Doug, a Darwin musician, on the bongo drums.

Corby looked so nervous before starting her performance that it prompted Hines to give her some quick advice “most importantly, breathe, take your time, whenever you are ready darling”.

Prayer Corby is a homegrown talent who is through to the finals of Australian Idol. Picture: Supplied

Playing guitar and singing, Corby rolled her eyes a couple of times during her performance before stating she “wasn’t happy” with how it went, which prompted another piece of advice from Hines.

“A large part of any performance is connecting to an audience, you’ve got pretty eyes and you have got to learn to look up,” she said.

“You have got to learn to try and look up and connect because that’s not going to fly.

“And when you make a mistake, keep it to yourself.”

That would be the last criticism that Corby would hear, with Sandilands stating “as much as you’re disappointed, I thought it was beautiful”.

Corby was then sent through to the waiting room with the other top performers from the day to later find out if she had made it through to the finals..

At final judgement Corby was called into the room with rock girl Olivia, who was quickly given her golden ticket through to the finals, while Corby had to wait.

She didn’t have to wait long though before Hines broke the good news.

“Trust me on this, you have got a beautiful voice and it is important that you step up and you be who you are,” she said.

“Come here, come get your golden ticket.”

It was a moment of pure joy for the Humpty Doo local who will now battle it out with the other 29 finalists for a recording contract with Sony and $100,000.

Doug Corby (middle) with Howie Morgan and Matt Scullion of Fat Finger. Picture: Supplied

Doug Corby playing the bongo drums. Picture: Supplied

In her introduction on the show Corby spoke of her special connection with her father and how he inspired her.

“When I was little my Mum moved to Sydney when I was about five and Dad sort of had me full time from then on,” she said.

“So, Dad was my best friend; he has been my rock for I don’t know how long. He is just everything to me quietly, he is my idol - he is my Australian Idol.

“I used to go to all of Dad’s gigs, he played drums. Dad did a lot of pub gigs up in Darwin, he still does.

“I think seeing Dad do it all the time drove me to want to do music myself and as soon as I could kind of do it all a little bit, I was off. That was it.”