Post by Inside Australian Idol on Sept 6, 2003 23:18:43 GMT 10
Fallen idol lands job on FM radio station
September 6, 2003
ANTHONY Sumbati sure must be one forgiving guy. He gave up his job, causing a lot of tension in the family and put his Paddington unit up for sale to fund his dream.
When he was disqualified he was so distraught he was housebound and had to be sedated.
Now he's working as an Australian Idol correspondent for the same people who he claims were responsible for taking his dream away from him, radio network WSFM and he couldn't be happier. It's all a little confusing.
But trying to get a straight answer from any of the players.
Ten say they didn't approve any interview, WSFM say the interview was conducted with the full knowledge of Sumbati's manager Joey Sulfaro and Sulfaro and Sumbati still say they thought they had approval from Ten.
Speaking to Weekend Confidential yesterday, Sumbati strongly denied the whole thing had been orchestrated to generate more publicity.
"There was no set-up, there wasn't anything," his voice trails off. "What do I say, I don't know," he asked Sulfaro before handing him the phone.
Sulfaro then tried to cancel the interview. Sulfaro told Confidential he and Sulvati decided to focus on the positive side rather than complain.
He said they were taken care of by the Grundy Network who "were good and got him on to Rove and Bert Newton".
"I told Anthony he had options . . . and at the end of the day the Australian public love him and that he was a bit of a phenomenon now, people go crazy for him," Sulfaro says.
"He's not a publicity whore, he has to run from it now."
When Sumbati got back on the phone, he admitted he'd had trouble in the past with media who tried to trick him, the same way WSFM did.
"Newspapers had asked me and say I had permission and I asked Steve (Murphy, Idol publicist) and he'd say no," said Sumbati.
So why take WSFM's word for it this time?
"It just happened, I didn't think, I was caught up in the excitement of it," he says.
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=145784
September 6, 2003
ANTHONY Sumbati sure must be one forgiving guy. He gave up his job, causing a lot of tension in the family and put his Paddington unit up for sale to fund his dream.
When he was disqualified he was so distraught he was housebound and had to be sedated.
Now he's working as an Australian Idol correspondent for the same people who he claims were responsible for taking his dream away from him, radio network WSFM and he couldn't be happier. It's all a little confusing.
But trying to get a straight answer from any of the players.
Ten say they didn't approve any interview, WSFM say the interview was conducted with the full knowledge of Sumbati's manager Joey Sulfaro and Sulfaro and Sumbati still say they thought they had approval from Ten.
Speaking to Weekend Confidential yesterday, Sumbati strongly denied the whole thing had been orchestrated to generate more publicity.
"There was no set-up, there wasn't anything," his voice trails off. "What do I say, I don't know," he asked Sulfaro before handing him the phone.
Sulfaro then tried to cancel the interview. Sulfaro told Confidential he and Sulvati decided to focus on the positive side rather than complain.
He said they were taken care of by the Grundy Network who "were good and got him on to Rove and Bert Newton".
"I told Anthony he had options . . . and at the end of the day the Australian public love him and that he was a bit of a phenomenon now, people go crazy for him," Sulfaro says.
"He's not a publicity whore, he has to run from it now."
When Sumbati got back on the phone, he admitted he'd had trouble in the past with media who tried to trick him, the same way WSFM did.
"Newspapers had asked me and say I had permission and I asked Steve (Murphy, Idol publicist) and he'd say no," said Sumbati.
So why take WSFM's word for it this time?
"It just happened, I didn't think, I was caught up in the excitement of it," he says.
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=145784