news articles 17 november

[Inside Australian Idol]

Dad Shannon's a guardian angel
The Eye
17nov03

AUSTRALIAN Idol finalist Shannon Noll believes his father Neil, who died in a farming accident two years ago, has been watching over him during the competition.



Finalists Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll.


Noll, 28, told The Eye that two twists of fate which had a major impact on his standing in Australian Idol had made him step back and think of his father.
One was his initial audition in Melbourne, and the other was choosing to sing What About Me by Moving Pictures, which was a stand-out performance.

"Things have happened during the competition and I've sort of stepped back and thought, that's strange," Noll said.

"From the start, being in Melbourne the week before the auditions started when we go to Melbourne only twice a year, that was one.

"The second thing was when I chose to sing What About Me.

"But somebody (pig farmer Peter Ryan) had already chosen it but they ended up getting voted out and singing that song has been a pinnacle part of the whole thing.

"It's like things were getting set up before they happened."

Noll said since his father's death, the family had struggled to survive the drought, and had leased their farm in Condobolin, in rural NSW.

Even if he lost, Noll said Australian Idol had had such a positive effect on his entire family.

"I've always felt (Dad) was there helping me through it, because we've done it really tough without him," he said. "It's just been so good on the flip side for the family, because they have got a new focus now.

"It's been hard work, but it's just amazing and I'm just humbled by it all."

Noll said singing the new Idol single, Angels Brought Me Here, last week made him a little teary because it brought back lots of memories.

"Being away from family and being by myself in the house a lot of the time, when you're getting a quiet moment, you're missing everybody," he said.

"It just brought back a bit of pain of missing Dad."

Shannon, his fiance Rochelle and children Cody, 3, and Blake, 16 months, are expected to move to Sydney regardless if he wins the competition or not.


www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7886008%255E2902,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Pair note their world title chances


November 17, 2003

GUY Sebastian and Shannon Noll are now competing for more than just the title of Australian Idol. The winner will be flown to London next month to take on the world in a global sing-off.


Guy or Shannon will go up against America's Kelly Clarkson, Britain's Will Young, South Africa's Heinz Winckler, Norway's Kurt Nilsen and five other winners from the international franchise to determine who will be crowned World Idol.

The competition will take place in London and is due to air on Christmas and New Year's Day on Fox.


Details of how the voting process will work is yet to be confirmed but it's believed viewers won't be able to vote for the singer from their own country.


However it is run, the revenue for a worldwide phone-in will be extraordinary with Australian Idol already netting Ten a reported $10 million.


Once again the singers will be critiqued by a panel of judges with one representative from each country.


Is the world ready for bada-bing bada-boom mighty mighty touch down?


And with the talent search juggernaut powering on, it seems only a matter of time before Universe Idol is announced.


* * *


WHILE waiting in the Qantas lounge of Brisbane airport, a man approached Guy and asked if he wouldn't mind saying hello to his daughter who was waiting on the mobile. Being the nice Guy that he is, he obliged and had a short chat with the young girl.


Soon after they hung up, the father disappeared and emerged a few moments later with a necklace. He asked Guy to give it to his mother (Nellie) as a present for "raising him so well".


dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=499092

[Inside Australian Idol]

Australia's first pop idol
By Bill Casey
17nov03

GUY Sebastian, Shannon Noll and Derek Lee. Derek who? For a brief period 40 years ago more than a few Australian pop fans could have told you about Derek Lee – the first Australian Idol.

The Idol phenomenon is not new to Australian television. In early 1964 Johnny O'Keefe ran a national talent quest on his TV show Sing Sing Sing.
Performers sang live in the studio while a small but enthusiastic audience jumped and screamed.

The judges used the audience reaction to pick the winners.

Viewers liked the instant democracy – it was quick and decisive. The TV network liked it, too, mostly because it was cheap. There was no need to pay staff to log phone calls or count postal votes.









Sponsored by the Sitmar shipping company, the Star Quest offered identical prizes to the winning male and female singer: a recording contract with Festival Records, a TV appearance contract with Channel 7 and a trip to England.

O'Keefe knew his audience of predominantly teenage girls would always scream loudest for a male singer. He pushed for the two awards to highlight the talented girl singers overlooked by the local record industry. (Wave your hands please, Paulini and Cosima.)

Channel 7 was so impressed with the four finalists that all of them were signed to exclusive contracts with the network.

This was great – provided the network actually used the artist. If they didn't, the act was denied the publicity provided by performing on other channels.

Seven's main pop program was O'Keefe's, and the fate of his TV show followed the trajectory of his faltering health.

After a near fatal car crash, O'Keefe had suffered breakdowns, depression and battles with alcohol and drugs.

After J O'K spent another period in hospital, Sing Sing Sing was put into mothballs.

Those exclusive contracts, that had cost the network nothing, had done little to benefit the four recipients.

On final night, April 19, 1964, the female winner was a sweet-voiced young blonde from Melbourne. The male winner was Derek Lee, a 1.90m tall former electrical mechanic from Wollongong.

Apart from movie star looks, Lee was a wonderful singer with a style that merged Elvis and Cliff Richard, the two most popular male singers of the day.

With a convincing mastery of fast rockers and ballads, he played guitar, bass, piano and drums. Fellow Wollongong singer Ron Garbutt said of Lee, "I was in awe of Derek. Top voice, looked great, had all the dance moves."

Throw in Derek's songwriting ability and it was obvious that here was one very worthy winner.

J O'K predicted a big future for him. Lee issued two singles, the second with his Wollongong band, The Del-Fi's. Both singles sold well but weren't hits. In 1965, Lee had throat problems. (Wave your hand again, Cosima.) After an operation to remove nodes on his vocal cords, he was unable to sing for several weeks. He took his trip to England and signed a trial contract with EMI.

Back from the UK Derek moved to Sydney. The Del-Fi's, some of whom were married and all of whom had day jobs in Wollongong, stayed behind. Another Wollongong group, The Chevrons, moved to Sydney and worked as Lee's backing band. In mid-1966 Derek returned to England. The trial contract with EMI fell through. After 1966, as far as Australia was concerned, Derek Lee had disappeared.

His old bands, The Del-Fi's and The Chevrons, didn't hear a peep, nor did any of his old school mates in Wollongong. For 35 years Derek Lee's role in Australian pop was forgotten.

His name appeared in none of the Australian rock encyclopedias and songs he'd written were credited to other writers.

Lee's manager had been Ossie Byrne, producer of the Bee Gees' first international hits, and a vital contributor to the success of Spin Records in Australia.

As part of research on my book on Spin Records, I set out to find Derek Lee. Having been told he was a Wollongong boy with an Aussie accent, I assumed there might be relatives in the Wollongong area. A fruitless 18 months ensued.

I eventually discovered an interview with him in the defunct South Coast Times newspaper. Lee had been born in Stoke-On-Trent, England, in July, 1944, and had come to Australia with his parents when he was nine years old.

The trail got warmer after an e-mail to BBC radio. Then I hit paydirt. Following an interview with BBC announcer, Kevin Fernihough, a cousin of Lee's and an Australian friend living in Britain, contacted the station. They confirmed Lee was alive and well and running a charter boat service.

I finally spoke with an unmistakably English-sounding Lee in October, 2003. He and his Turkish-born wife were on board his boat, Bluebelle, moored at a marina in southern Spain. Lee was contracted to sing at a nearby hotel.

He told me he had continued his singing career in England and Europe but had rarely recorded.

He said, "I was so busy with the singing I hardly found the time to get married."

In fact, only four times. The very charming Derek Lee sent his best to all surviving members of The Del-Fi's and The Chevrons.

Meanwhile, the girl singer who had won the Sitmar Star Quest, the sweet-voiced teenager from Melbourne, did rather well for herself. Her name was Olivia Newton-John.

• Bill Casey is writing a book on the history of Spin Records in Australia.


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