Australian Idol 2023: How voting public will choose winner

Up until now, the fate of Australian Idol contestants has been in the hands of celebrity judges. But that all changes as the 12 finalists line up for the first live shows. Have your say.

As Australian Idol returned to its first live performance shows in more than a decade, some of those in the crowd were heard wishing it was an all-Aussie panel of judges.

“Bring back Marcia Hines – and let’s keep Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark,” one said, before adding.

“Maybe Troye Sivan would be good as well, or even John Farnham.”

While many were thrilled that Channel 7 had snagged two international faces – Meghan Trainor and Harry Connick Jr – when the network revealed its panel for its reboot of the reality show last year, social media exploded with dismay at the lack of diversity in the all-white cast.

Fortunately the same can’t be said of the recently announced, quite diverse top 12 – Amali Dimond, 16 (NSW), Angelina Curtis, 15 (WA), Anya Hynninen, 19 (Vic), Ben Sheehy, 24 (Qld), Harry Hayden, 18 (Vic), Jasey Fox, 25 (NSW), Josh Hannan, 20 (Vic), Maya Weiss, 28 (Vic), Noora H, 27 (NSW), Phoebe Stewart, 15 (WA), Royston Sagigi-Baira, 23 (Qld) and Sash Seabourne, 25 (WA) – who were filmed live in front of a 1500-strong crowd at the Sydney Coliseum theatre in Rooty Hill.

The audience, however, was rippling with praise for former Idol contestant, Ricki-Lee Coulter, who co-hosts with Scott Tweedie, with many labelling her the new Sonia Kruger.

The 2023 top 12 of Australian Idol. Picture: Supplied

So what can viewers expect from Sunday night’s live performance show?

The top 12 singing No. 1 Hit songs from throughout the decades.

A self-described “dumpster fire” performance from one of the favourites.

Sandilands still keeping his judging largely kind, with only a couple drawing boos from the largest crowd Australian Idol has seen.

And stay tuned for a surprising twist at the end of the show – which could just infuriate the voting public.

Unlike its network stablemate – fellow reality singing show The Voice – the contestants’ songs will not be released to music streaming service Spotify.

Australian Idol Hosts, Ricki-Lee Coulter and Scott Tweedie, pictured at the filming of Auditions in Sydney. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Voting lines open as soon as the show has finished and viewers can vote for their favourite performance of the night up until the show airs in the eastern states on Monday night, when the results will be tallied and announced live.

Seven will be hoping the interactivity of the live performance shows will draw more viewers. Idol has been attracting an average of 412,000 eyes nationally. It was likely the network anticipated its reboot would be beaten by the juggernaut that is Married At First Sight and its plethora of drama and cheating scandals. The reality love show has solidified its No. 1 spot in primetime, consistently drawing more than a million viewers when catch-up is factored in.

What’s been more of a surprise perhaps is that Australian Survivor and its twisty-turny game playing and tribal councils in what has – rightly so – been dubbed the local franchise’s best season ever, has taken a decisive second spot in the battle for primetime averaging around 492,000 nationally.

Australian Idol, Sunday, 7pm; Monday, 7.30pm, Seven

Originally published as Australian Idol 2023: How voting public will choose winner