Harry Connick Jr weighs in on the future of Australian Idol

Harry Connick Jr, who is touring Australia later this year, has weighed in on the future of Australian Idol.

Jazz star Harry Connick Jr will tour here for the first time in a decade but remains uncertain if Seven will continue with Australian Idol next year.

The musician, actor and television personality has booked seven shows in six cities in December after rekindling his fanbase here with his stint on the rebooted television talent quest won by Royston Noell.

“I haven’t heard if they’ve even picked it up (for next year). But I’m always the last to know this stuff anyway,” he said.

“I would think if it were picked up and I were able to do it, it would probably work because the auditions are in October and the live shows are in February.

“But it’s so far in advance, I couldn’t even tell you.”

Connick Jr will return to Australia in December for his first tour in a decade. Picture: Getty

After weeks of sitting at the judge’s panel dishing out occasionally polarising technical tips to the Idol contestants, Connick Jr got to play his 1999 song Come By Me during the finale.

The 55-year-old music veteran, who has been playing live since he was five, said his shows aren’t constrained by the same weight of fan expectation as faced by his pop peers to perform all his “hits”.

So expect the musician, who can play everything from piano to trumpet, to shake up the setlist each night.

Although he concedes his popular interpretation of It Had To Be You from When Harry Met Sally and 1994 song (I Could Only) Whisper Your Name will be in the mix.

“Whenever I do TV shows in Australia and they introduce me, they play Whisper Your Name, which is a song from 30 years ago. Like, I don’t have a string of number one hits. I don’t have a string of top 10 hits. I don’t have a string of top 40 hits. That’s just not the artist that I am,” he said.

“When people come to see me perform, they’re not necessarily coming to see hits, they’re coming to see me perform. So whatever I sing is going to be in the moment for them.”

Connick Jr plans to shake up the setlist every night. Picture: Sasha Samsonova/Supplied

In the social media era where superstars pull back the curtain on what happens behind the scenes, Connick Jr said he likes to maintain the mystery and no longer films himself backstage before shows so fans don’t feel they’ve already seen it all.

He said he took a similar approach to his role as an Idol judge, with a strict no-contact rule with contestants when they weren’t on stage to maintain his impartiality.

“I had a blast doing the show. I mean, I’m more of a mentor type personality. So being a judge is very distant,” he said.

“I don’t talk to the kids, I don’t really meet them until after the whole thing or after they’ve been eliminated from the competition. I don’t even look at them in the hallway because the impartiality is really important to me. That’s why I don’t stand up and applaud.

“Those kids are out there singing for their lives and their families are there and if my child was auditioning, I would want that judge to take it very seriously.”

Connick Jr’s tour opens at Perth’s RAC Arena on December 3 and then heads to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre on December 5, Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre on December 8, Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 12, Canberra’s Royal Theatre on December 15 and Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on December 17 and 18.

A Telstra pre-sale opens at 10am on April 19 with general tickets on sale from April 24 with all details via tegdainty.com

Originally published as Harry Connick Jr weighs in on the future of Australian Idol