news articles 4 december

[Inside Australian Idol]

'Fro no show for shopping
December 4, 2003

GUY Sebastian, the beau with the 'fro, has been forced to cover up his iconic boof of late to avoid being identified by his legion of adoring fans.


Incognito: Guy hides his afro as he goes shopping on Oxford St yesterday.

The Australian Idol winner, subtly disguised in an army bandanna and brown trucker's hat, hit the streets of Sydney yesterday to search for a winter wardrobe to see him through his World Idol visit to England.

After trying on a chocolate suede jacket at Calibre on Oxford St, Paddington, the World Idol hopeful moved on to K Optica where he fell in love with a pair of Romeo Gigli sunglasses with inverted A-shape lenses and silver trim.


In between trying on shades – some of which were "a little too bling, bling" for the rising star – Sebastian happily signed autographs and shook hands with a small crowd of excited fans that had gathered inside the store.


One lucky lady even managed to score a kiss.


While Sebastian told reporter Laura Hanks-Ruttyn he was shopping for some stressed jeans, a couple of long jackets and some Calvin Klein jocks, his stylist, Juice, said his on-stage World Idol look would be a lot slicker.


"We'll be keeping with his current style but tightening it up a little and making it a little more polished without losing that funky edge," she said.


"Let's just say he's going to look unique. His [World Idol] outfit can't be bought anywhere."


Sebastian launches his debut album Just As I Am this Sunday in Martin Place at noon before leaving for London on December 13.


"I'm really excited, not only because the album's being released but because I just can't wait to see the people's response and hear their feedback," Sebastian told Confidential yesterday.


dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=582919

[Inside Australian Idol]

Dicko to be judge
December 04, 2003


JUST as he thought it was over, they pulled him back in. Despite telling Confidential he would not be the Australian judge at World Idol, Ian "Dicko" Dickson has been confirmed for the job, the Ten network said yesterday.


Now the rest of the world can enjoy Dicko's jibes.

Dicko had thought he was going to be heading to the UK just as a BMG representative to look after Australian Idol Guy Sebastian.

But yesterday he said he was pressured into the job, where he will sit alongside his mate and fellow World Idol judge Simon Cowell.

"I've got green and gold coursing through my veins on this one, I really want Guy to win," Dicko said.

"I'm not going to have as much of a good time as I thought I was going to have."

Andrew G will be joining Dicko and Guy, as he takes on the role of the Australian host.

The boys are all heading off to London next Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph

entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,8059115%255E10229%255E%255Enbv,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Summer's poster boy pops up
By Simon Canning
December 04, 2003

Months after turning down a role with the Ten Network's runaway success, Australian Idol, Pepsi has swooped to sign the series' crown jewel Guy Sebastian to front its ongoing $5 million summer outdoor campaign.

Pepsi, which launched an unprecedented outdoor blitz last month, has been relying on images of Harry Kewell and Holly Valance to drive its brand.

Pepsi marketing director, Tony Thomas, says the company was originally approached with a view to sponsoring Australian Idol, but recoiled at the length of the commitment required.

"I am happy with the decision not to be a sponsor with the show," Thomas says. "It was a long program and we were looking at other things."

Pepsi has signed a contract with the talent quest winner which runs through mid-next year. The release of posters featuring Sebastian is expected in mid-December to coincide with his debut album. "Our contract with him is a medium-term one, but we do see a future with Guy besides this campaign," Thomas says.

Thomas has declined to say how much it cost the soft drink company to sign Sebastian, but says "he was within our budget". Industry sources suggest it would be in the range of "tens of thousands of dollars". The deal was also done directly with the singer rather than through the producers of Australian Idol. "We are portraying Guy the recording artist, not Guy the Australian Idol winner," Thomas says.

Sebastian is expected to continue to attract media attention in coming weeks as he takes part in a global competition between winners of the show from the US and UK.

Thomas has also noted that Sebastian's management appear to be cautious about who they allow the singer to do deals with. "His management are going to be careful about his progress. He happens to like Pepsi as a brand and wanted to be associated with Pepsi first up."

At the same time Thomas has talked about the success of Pepsi's $5 million outdoor poster campaign – one of the most significant investments in outdoor by a single advertiser in Australian history. The campaign is slated to run until the end of the year. "We have had an extremely good reaction from both the trade and the public," he says. "We have not broken our sales analysis yet, but we suspect sales are in the vicinity of 15 per cent ahead of previous years." Aside from adding Sebastian to its campaign, Pepsi has also increased the print run of posters following a spate of thefts. Sebastian's image is expected to feature on 2500 outdoor sites around the country.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8042020%5E7582,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Ten hits idol status
By Jane Schulze
04dec03

SHAREHOLDERS in the Ten Network have reaped the rewards of the group's 37 per cent jump in first-quarter earnings, with the TV network lifting dividends for the second time in three months.

In the quarter to November, Ten broadcast its two highest rating programs for 2003 - the AFL Grand Final and the Australian Idol finale - contributing to a 20 per cent jump in TV revenue over the same quarter last year.

That aided the hike in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $105 million, and enabled the network to lift the interim dividend from the previously flagged 8c to 9.5c a share.

That will be paid in January when shareholders will also receive the special 5.5c dividend Ten announced in October, derived from a $62 million tax gain.

Ten executive chairman Nick Falloon told yesterday's annual meeting in Sydney the network had made an "exceptional start" to 2004 and he expected "good growth in revenue and earnings in the current financial year".









He would not reveal his annual profit forecast - most analysts expect 2004 EBITDA of $240 million - but Mr Falloon noted the first quarter was traditionally the strongest for TV advertising revenue.

Ten TV chief John McAlpine expected the network to record "low double-digit (revenue) growth" in December and maintained his belief the TV advertising market should grow by 4 per cent to 5 per cent in 2004.

Ten won its preferred 16 to 39-year-old demographic for the third year in 2003 and lifted ratings in its secondary 25 to 54-year-old market. Mr McAlpine said this put Ten in a strong position for current TV ad-rate negotiations.

He would not predict Ten's likely rate increase, saying "we will get the increase we deserve".

Mr McAlpine said the January TV schedule was "the most competitive I have ever seen" as rivals such as the Seven Network broadcast new programs to boost ratings before the start of the official TV ratings season in February.

And, given the success of the reality genre in 2003, a swag of new reality programs are planned for 2004.

Mr McAlpine was confident Ten's new offerings, including The Hothouse and The Resort would fare well against the new competition.

"It's a raffle and we have had a terrific success rate, and that will continue ... we have discipline in our structures and are confident about the outcome," he said. "Three years ago we started this process (with Big Brother) ... will it go another five or 10 years? The consumer will judge that."

Mr Falloon said Ten remained on track to lift costs by 3 per cent to 4 per cent this year and was "encouraged by the steady improvement" at its outdoor business, Eye Corp.

Eye chief executive Gerry Thorley said the outdoor advertising industry's revenue rose 10.5 per cent in the three months to September and the final quarter was "a little stronger than that".


townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,8060558%255E462,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Bert Newton's boy is back and branching out

04dec03

HE'S been around for years on Bert Newton, but Australian Idol dramatically raised the profile of music man John Foreman.

Foreman often had to work with very little time and impressed everybody, including the Idol finalists, with his dedication and professionalism.
His next move will be to host the 2003 Schools Spectacular.

From December 8, Foreman will be back as musical director on Good Morning Australia.

The Schools Spectacular will air on the ABC at 7.30pm on Sunday night.

IN more Idol news, Guy Sebastian's debut single Angels Brought Me Here is going gangbusters.

Not only did it top the ARIA singles chart on its first week in, but it seems record stores are having to impose controls on Guy mania.

An amused Eye spy told us she saw a sign above a pile of Guy singles at JB Hi Fi's Eastland store telling eager buyers there was a limit of five singles per cus-tomer, per day.


heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8055221^28957,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Family more than idol talk

By Amanda Connor

ONE Narre Warren South family was cheering louder than most when Adelaide’s Guy Sebastian was last month declared the inaugural Australian Idol.

Guy’s grandmother Felicitas Sebastian, uncle Larry Sebastian and aunt Yvonne Ganeshvaran and their families hosted a celebration of their own at home when Guy was named the winner of the channel 10 talent quest in Sydney.

The 22-year-old was instantly awarded a recording contract with BMG Australia and stormed to the top of the Australian singles chart with his debut song ‘Angels Brought Me Here’.

He has appeared in newspapers and on television and radio stations across the country, and will release his debut album next week.

And it’s just not Guy who has found himself in the limelight, with Larry, Yvonne and their families also being swamped for autographs.

"It is something that ourselves are discovering," Larry said.

"My boys are getting asked out by girls because they are Guy’s cousins and they are just nine and 10!" Larry said.

"It is just not bizarre, but at times can border on being a little irritating.

"We are just normal people."

Guy’s cousins Angie, Lavinia and Gayathri Ganeshvaran said it was still surreal to see one of their family members gracing the cover of ‘TV Week’.

"I have girls coming up to me saying that they want to marry Guy and I am just like, ‘What?!’" Angie said.

Although stunned by the interest Guy has created, Larry said he always knew his nephew had something special.
"Even when he was younger he had a rare talent with his voice," he said.

"I mentioned to someone that it was like a voice that Australia hadn’t heard.

"I remembered thinking that the power of his voice showed that he could really go far, but none of us really knew that the competition would amount to this much."
Despite living in different states, Yvonne, Larry and their brother Ivan – Guy’s father – remain close since migrating from Malaysia and hope to catch up at Christmas depending on Guy’s schedule.

Larry said he had also bestowed his family’s love of music upon his children and nieces.

They regularly participate in services at the Casey City Church in Berwick where Larry is the senior minister.
However, Larry said he has advised them if they choose to pursue their talents professionally, like their cousin, they must work hard just as he has done.

"Guy has been helped with the support he has received from the family, church and friends," he said.

"He has already been incredible in the way that he has handled things and how he communicates with his ideas, so we are quite confident that he will hold himself well."


www.senews.com.au/webstory/wsbpage.cgi/berwick/49.2003/story1_252799