Australian Idol contestant Anya Hynninen’s cheeky response to Harry Connick Jr sledge

Anya Hynninen has revealed her cheeky on-air response to judge Harry Connick Jr’s sledge and the lengths she went to appeal to “conservative” Australians.

Anya Hynninen did not make it to the Australian Idol grand final. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

IT was a blink and you missed it moment but Australian Idol Anya Hynninen got the last word in after Harry Connick Jr’s unfair spray about her “stealing” arrangements for her performances of well-known songs.

The 20-year-old singer and songwriter copped a oxygen-sapping, bizarre rant from Connick Jr for doing “karaoke” – on a covers show – during the last two weeks of live performances.

“When I got through to the top 6, after the whole Harry comments that I stole the arrangement, I made a fake fart noise and said ‘Suck it!’ on national TV,” she said.

“It was very quick, but that was my little moment of being funny … but for the most part I tried to remain composed otherwise they will paint you as being crazy for having any reaction.

“Australians are still so conservative with that kind of thing – Why is she crying? Why is she angry? – particularly for women showing any kind of intense emotion.”

Anya Hynninen in Australia Idol semi-final. Picture: Supplied / Seven

The powerhouse singer, who has already released three songs on Spotify as Anya Alchemy, hopes to get back in the studio soon to record her next single and take back control of her image and sound.

And she will never wear sequins again.

“They said they were ‘elevating my look’ but I would never wear sequins ever again; I had this sequined jumpsuit and the legs stuck together, I was walking like a Lego figure,” she said.

The pink-haired bluesy artist wasn’t the only quirky Idol 2023 singer to get the chop ahead of the grand final this week, with rock god Ben Sheehy shocking himself and Australia by making it the semis.

Sheehy said the judges’ opinions that he didn’t stand a chance of winning because he is a classic rock singer only served to rally voters behind the enthusiastic underdog.

Ben Sheehy was the 2023 Idol underdog. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

And he plans to take on Amy Shark’s advice to form a band.

“I think people gravitated towards me because I never changed anything about me,” Sheehy said.

“Australia is a rock country – maybe it’s a bit asleep – but look at Gang of Youths, they’re doing extremely well.”

Sheehy believes his 70s rock-style voice stood out in the current pop era where the majority of singers use vocals effects or tuning to improve their pitch or sound like everyone else on the airwaves.

“There was no effects or pitch correction things that are prevalent in music now, everyone was just singing live and that rubs some people the wrong way,” he said.

“It’s kind of sad … probably every voice you are hearing on the radio has been processed so much so when people hear a real voice, as we were on the show, they might find it a bit confronting.”

Amali Dimond could end up working with Calvin Harris. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The big shock of the brutal semis cut came when overwhelming favourite Josh Hannan was pitched against another frontrunner Amali Dimond, with the 16-year-old pop aspirant not making the grand final.

Dimond remained upbeat about not finishing in the top 3, buoyed by the big reveal by judge Kyle Sandilands she was on the radar of the team who manage Scottish electronic music hitmaker Calvin Harris.

“Now that could be a really cool opportunity and I am going to take it because I just want to launch my music career however I can,” she said.

Dimond said she had also heard the rumour Sony Music may reboot the Young Divas girl group to develop and launch the younger female Idol singers to solo careers, as the pop vehicle did for Jessica Mauboy and Ricki-Lee Coulter

“I heard about that, I don’t know a whole lot about what it is, but I think it sounds cool. And I’d look into it and I’d be open to the idea of it, definitely,” she said.

The three grand finalists are 15-year-old Phoebe Stewart, 20-year-old Josh Hannan and 23-year-old Royston Sagigi Baira, with voting now open ahead of the March 26 decider on Seven.

Originally published as Australian Idol contestant Anya Hynninen’s cheeky response to Harry Connick Jr sledge