news articles 3 january

[Inside Australian Idol]

Everyone's a winner baby, says good Guy
By Peter Fray, Herald Correspondent in London
January 3, 2004


Still a wonderful world . . . Guy Sebastian after the winner of World Idol was announced in London. Sebastian finished seventh. Photo: David Rose


He did not win, but he did not really lose either. Australia's Guy Sebastian bowed to the unstoppable Norwegian Kurt Nilsen in the final of the World Idol singing contest, but, as thoughtful, quirky and Christian as ever, Sebastian said he had no regrets.

"You are never going to lose in a show like this. I was stoked with the way I sang. I had really good feedback and I had fun too. Everyone wants to win. But we always knew that winning is not what it's really about. Full credit to Kurt because he did an amazing job."

Sebastian, who finished seventh in the field of 11, said he found the World Idol sing-off a very different beast to the Australian Idol TV show.

"We are in a show where it's not always about the singing. It's about who had an argument with who, you know, or what one of the judges said about someone.

"There are all sorts of elements in a TV show. No one in the world knows who I am. Everyone back home got to grow with my personality."

Show insiders suggested Sebastian's trademark quirkiness - and his radical reworking of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World - may have counted against him among some voters.

Others wondered whether the European voters stuck together to pull Nilsen, who sang U2's Beautiful Day, to the front, ahead of US Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, the hot favourite. But even Australia put Nilsen in first place.

Sebastian, 22, confessed he had no idea why he did not win.

"This show, a lot of the time it's about the underdog. Kurt, he hasn't got the typical look of a pop star and he was called all sort of names.

"He was called a Hobbit by our judge [Ian Dickson]."

The reaction to Sebastian in Australia has been phenomenal. His first hit, Angels Brought Me Here, became the top selling single of the year, in about a month.

For diehard fans, such as Leayshia Gaston, 28, who travelled with her mother, Lyn, from Sebastian's hometown of Adelaide to watch him perform in World Idol, the singer can do no wrong. She did not even mind him losing out to Nilsen.

"We didn't come over to see him win," she said.

"We just came over here to support him. He's awesome."

Having travelled to London twice in a month for the show, a still jet-lagged Sebastian will arrive back in Australia tomorrow morning and start on a new job: buying furniture for his recently bought flat in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Then he is off on tour with Australian Idol Live.

How is he handling the pace when everyone wants a piece of him? "I guess I'll give as many pieces as I can. I think people know you can only do so much as you can. I'm so glad I've got to touch people with my music. That's the best feeling."

As a joke, he added: "I will try and give people as many pieces as I can until I burn out."

www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908901075.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Now all the world's a stage
January 3, 2004


Everyone's a judge ... our Guy (front left) with World Idol winner, Norwegian Kurt Nilsen, (back right).


The real winner of World Idol may turn out to be the viewer. Kirsty Needham reports on a revolution in what the world wants on TV.

World Idol has proved to be just that, simultaneously topping the ratings from Brussels to Brisbane, as audiences in 11 countries crowded an electronic colosseum to cheer the home side and vote in a "world cup" of warbling, tears and caustic judges. It has achieved audience numbers few sporting events can command and, in the process, may have changed the way local television executives think about the sometime wasteland of summer viewing.

In Australia, where the first World Idol singing quest was shown on Boxing Day - normally a ratings desert - a record 2.3 million viewers tuned in to "go the Fro" in support of Australian contestant Guy Sebastian.

"That's an extraordinary figure," says Channel 10's general manager of programming, David Mott. "There has been a perception in the past that people are doing other things across summer."

Mott reckons the result demonstrates that, like sport, reality television "is more than a TV show, it's an event".

Kip Williams, professor of psychology at Macquarie University, thought two years ago that reality TV would quickly die out, but admits he underestimated the public appetite for humiliation.

"I'm not sure World Idol can go any further unless they discover musical talent on other planets," he says.

In the northern hemisphere, World Idol screened on Christmas Day and topped the ratings in Belgium (with 42 per cent audience share), Germany, Canada (twice the audience of the next show, ER), Poland and the Netherlands. In the US, Fox won the day among viewers aged 34 and under.

Fremantle Media, the British company that created World Idol - and the franchise that spawned it, Pop Idol (renamed Australian Idol here) - says that in Britain the show garnered a respectable 17.5 per cent market share despite being up against the always popular Eastenders Christmas Special.

Rival reality television production houses are already jumping on the bandwagon. Celador, the company behind Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, will hold The World's Greatest Singer in October, another televised "event" with not 11, but 24 finalists. And there is speculative talk about whether the enduring Big Brother could make the leap to an international household.

JOHN Penn, business development manager for Fremantle's Australian subsidiary, Grundy TV, admits he scratched his head when told about plans for a world sing-off.

"It is hard to understand how audiences would be motivated to vote when you didn't know any of the contestants. We expected there would be less votes cast on this one-off because there was less involvement," he says.

Mott says: "I don't think you could have had a world competition without having a local competition first to get emotional attachment. Australians were turning on to see Guy and to see if those other finalists were as good as our Guy. Everyone's a judge. That is the beauty of the format. You can imagine the talk in the house when World Idol went to airr."

Grundy Australia won't disclose the number of votes cast locally. "The voting results are above our expectations," says Penn, who guesses there was also a strong contingent of expats voting for their home country's performer.

The timing - during the non-ratings period and in the one week of the year when most Australian offices are closed and Sydneysiders hit the beach - is designed for the US and British TV markets where Christmas is "a very big TV watching time", says Penn.

Mott says World Idol was nonetheless a commercial success for Ten as it boosted the "Idol brand" as each of the TV networks moves into 2004 schedules vying for the reality TV vote among viewers. Ten will soon start screening American Idol, with the second series of Australian Idol due in July. "No matter what the result, it says this is a worldwide event," says Mott.

But Professor Ian Buchanan, cultural studies chair at the Charles Darwin University in Darwin, does not think high ratings mean the public has an unending appetite for reality TV, but rather that there is nothing else to watch. "Television loves making it because it is much cheaper to make than drama," he says.

In an environment of generally declining television audiences, the added cross-marketing opportunities and revenue from telephone voting make reality TV low-risk, he says.

The crucial elements are the vote (what the audience says counts) and humiliation. On a world stage, national pride magnifies these, Buchanan says.

Mott defends reality television as classic entertainment where the audience can develop an emotional attachment to characters and competitors over the course of a series.

With a slew of look-alike shows now being pumped out of the US, he says it is those with a point of difference that will attract big audiences.

"Could there be a global Big Brother where you have the previous Big Brother winners? There is no reason it couldn't be looked at, but it is not in the pipeline."


www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908901335.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Hobbit wins World Idol
By eBroadcast staff and agencies.
Jan 3, 2004, 11:15


Labeled a ‘Hobbit’ by Australian judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, 24 year old Norwegian singer Kurt Nilsen is now on his way to world domination.

Nilsen took out the World Idol title yesterday in London, leaving our own Guy Sebastian far behind in 7th spot.

The man the judges said had the 'voice of an angel but looked like a Hobbit earned maximum points in almost every country.

Kurt looked completely stunned but he wasn't speechless for long as he wished everyone a Happy New Year, told his fellow contestants he loved them and took the stage for another rendition of 'Beautiful Day' by U2 - his all time favourite band.

The top 5 spots were taken by Kurt, Kelly Clarkson from the USA, Peter Evrard from Belgium, Heinz Winckler from South Africa and the UK's Will Young.

© Copyright 2003 by eBroadcast.com.au

www.ebroadcast.com.au/entertainment/news/publish/Hobbit_wins_World_Idol.shtml

[Inside Australian Idol]

'Fro no: Guy misses out

By BEN ENGLISH in London

January 3, 2004

GUY Sebastian yesterday lost the official World Idol crown to a Norwegian plumber the judges wrote off as a "hobbit".


World Idol winner Kurt Nilsen from Norway (C, with trophy) poses in London


Silken-voiced, gap-toothed Kurt Nilsen topped the polling in all but one of the 11 countries participating in the made-for-TV global talent quest.

While there was no doubting the Sam Gamgee lookalike's abilities, the result may have been as much a collective middle-finger delivered by viewers to the show's judging panel, some of whom bluntly derided Nilsen's unusual looks.


Sebastian finished sixth, despite performing so well in last week's sing-off that some judges tipped him as an outside chance for the title. But the 'fro-topped crooner did not appear too crushed by the outcome.


"It's cool," he said. "It's a singer's dream to be able to showcase your voice on a world stage and that's all I really cared about.


"I thought, 'this is an opportunity'. The voting is really pretty irrelevant.


"I'm just really happy with how I sung and the feedback I got."


That feedback – from music executives and talent scouts attending the show – looks likely to translate into the breakthrough Sebastian may have dreamt of when he showed up for his Australian Idol audition a lifetime ago.


Sebastian's record label BMG is in talks to release a single in major Pop Idol markets, including the US and Britain, following his London TV performance.


"We'll definitely be talking to all the other territories," a spokeswoman said.


"It's been quite wonderful because a lot of people have been saying how well Guy would do in their territory. The feedback has been so positive. We will take one of his singles to radio in other markets, see if it works and take it from there."


But Sebastian has his own plans for world musical domination, starting with the National Idols tour by the 12 Australian finalists beginning later this month.


Next month it's back to London and on to Los Angeles to write more songs for his next album before returning to form his own band.


"Then I'll do my own tour," he said.


But first the Aussie Idol has some domestic chores to attend to, such as furnishing his new beachside apartment at Clovelly in Sydney's eastern suburbs.


"At the moment I'm going home to a bare floor and that's it," he said.


"So I've got to go out and somehow do a whole lot of shopping."


Since winning Norwegian Pop Idol last May, Nilsen has become his country's most successful artist.


His platinum-selling single She's So High was No. 1 for nine weeks and became Norway's largest-selling album.


Australian judge Ian Dickson said he believed that Sebastian's unusual look, in contrast, had probably counted against him in the international tally because it was so unlike what other countries would have assumed an Australian popstar would be.

dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=710319

[Inside Australian Idol]

Sebastian misses World Idol title


January 3, 2004

NORWAY'S Kurt Nilsen has won the World Idol crown, beating 10 other contenders including Australia's Guy Sebastian.



Winner of "Australian Idol" TV show competition, singer Guy Sebastian (R) with runner-uo Shannon Noll, at the finals inside the Sydney Opera House.


Sebastian, 21, from Adelaide, wowed judges in the international contest which was taped in London before Christmas and broadcast to a world-wide audience of 100 million viewers on Boxing Day.

But Sebastian's rhythm and blues version of the Louis Armstrong ballad What a Wonderful World was not enough to secure the title over Nilsen.

The competition tested the talents of the winners of Idol shows from 11 countries around the world.

Viewers had 24 hours to phone or text message their votes after the Boxing Day broadcast, with no nation permitted to vote for its own representative.

Sebastian's main rivals were believed to be American Kelly Clarkson, 21, and Nilsen, 24.

Other contestants were from Britain, South Africa, Germany, Norway, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada and the Pan-Arabic region.

AAP

dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=709724

[Inside Australian Idol]

Guy gracious as Norwegian wins quest
By Peter Fray, Carolyn Webb
January 3, 2004


Left: Guy Sebastian after the final. Right: Winner Kurt Nilsen was blasted by the judges.


He didn't win, but he didn't really lose either. Australia's Guy Sebastian bowed to the unstoppable Norwegian Kurt Nilsen in the final of the World Idol singing contest, but, as thoughtful, quirky and Christian as ever, the Malaysian-born singer with the magical 'fro had no regrets.

"You are never going to lose in a show like this," Sebastian said. "I was stoked with the way I sang. I had really good feedback and I had fun too. Everyone wants to win. But we always knew that winning is not what it's really about."

In a post-show interview, Sebastian, who finished seventh out of 11, said he found World Idol a very different beast to the Australian show that brought him instant stardom.

"We are in a show where it's not always about the singing. It's about who had an argument with who, or what one of the judges said about someone. There are all sorts of elements in a TV show. Everyone back home got to grow with my personality."

Show insiders suggested that Sebastian's quirkiness and his radical reworking of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World may have deterred some voters. Others wondered whether European voters stuck together to put Nilsen ahead of US Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, the hot favourite. But even Australia put Nilsen in first place, after top marks went to Sebastian as the home talent.

Sebastian, 22, confessed he had no idea why he didn't win. "This show, a lot of the time its about the underdog. Kurt, he hasn't got the typical look of a pop star and he was called all sort of names."

Sandy-haired Nilsen, dressed in denim, sang a passionate version of U2's Beautiful Day, but the multinational judging panel was vicious.

"You have the voice of an angel but you look like a hobbit," said Australian judge Ian Dickson. "If they had a Middle-earth Idol, you'd be it."

US judge Simon Cowell said: "We have allowed a lot of ugly people to become recording artists. If this was on radio, rather than television, you'd walk it."

But voters from nine nations ranked Nilsen first.

Australian Idol judge Mark Holden said he was disappointed Sebastian didn't make the top five but Nilsen winning was "one of those wonderful surprises that happens in this kind of competition . . . where these not-cardboard cut-out, cookie-cutter type people are managing to get through, based on some X-factor and being fantastic singers".

The reaction to Sebastian in Australia has been phenomenal. His first hit, Angels Brought Me Here became 2003's top-selling single in about a month.

For diehard fans, such as Leayshia Gaston, 28, who travelled with her mother, Lyn, from Sebastian's home town of Adelaide to watch him in World Idol, the singer can do no wrong. She didn't even mind him losing.

"We didn't come over to see him win," she said. "We just came over here to support him."

Having flown to London twice in a month for World Idol, a jet-lagged Sebastian will return to Australia tomorrow morning and start buying furniture for his new flat in Sydney. Then it's off on tour with the Australian Idol show.

How is he handling the pace when everyone wants a piece of him? "I guess I'll give as many pieces as I can. I think people know you can only do so much. I'm so glad I've got to touch people with my music. That's the best feeling."


www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908911383.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Never judge a plumber on looks alone
By Carolyn Webb
January 3, 2004


Kurt Nilsen is a plumber and father of two from Bergen, the second-largest city in Norway after Oslo. He's chubby, gap-toothed and was last week told by a World Idol judge that he looked like a hobbit.

Nilsen, 24, silenced his critics by scoring 106 out of a possible 112 points. He finished nine points ahead of the favourite, American starlet Kelly Clarkson. Behind her came Belgium's Peter Evrard, South African Heinz Winckler, Britain's Will Young, Canadian Ryan Malcolm, and then our Guy Sebastian.

Although ratings for yesterday's Results program, which was screened live from London on Channel Ten at 6.30am and repeated at 7.30pm, were not available last night, the performance component, on Boxing Day, attracted 2.4 million Australian viewers.

Nilsen, sandy-haired and dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, sang a passionate version of U2's Beautiful Day. A proud Berit Stensrud, an attache at the Norwegian embassy in Canberra, said Nilsen would return home a national hero. "We are a small country, just 4½ million people," Ms Stensrud said. "It's not so often we win a big international competition like this one, especially in pop music." Ms Stensrud said she was not surprised that Nilsen won. "I think he won because he had the best voice," she said. "He looks to me like a nice guy. Maybe not the prettiest, but nice."


The World Idol finals combined the bloodthirsty thrills of a gladiator contest with the kitsch of Eurovision. The first singer, Germany's Alexander Klaws, chose a 1980s song, Maniac, from the movie Flashdance, but failed to sing in tune.

Contestant two, Diana Karzon, from Jordan, had the judges stumped when she sang a love song in Arabic. They praised her beautiful voice, but ruled her out. So much for the equality of nations.

Belgium's Kurt Cobain clone, Peter Evrard, scored points with me for lashing out at the judges who called him unoriginal. Who was British judge Pete Waterman - who churned out disco pop for Kylie Minogue - to say that?

Canadian idol Ryan Malcolm sang a splendid version of the Hollies' He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother but was dismissed by vicious US judge Simon Cowen as having a "sort of quirky personality, but so what?"

Clarkson already has a worldwide hit with her song Miss Independent. Her piece, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, was stage-managed to within an inch of its life.

Guy Sebastian lit up the stage with his great big smile and that white suit. And the judges loved him. But Nilsen was the much-deserved winner. Because, as an Australian, I couldn't vote for Sebastian, I voted for Nilsen, too.

www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908911386.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

World's voters in tune
Ben English
03jan04

VOTING patterns across the world for the World Idol were -- with the exception of Arabic viewers -- remarkably uniform.

Norwegian Kurt Nilsen topped the voting in nine of the 11 countries or regions polled.
Kelly Clarkson, the American pop diva who has become a genuine chart-topper since her Idol victory, was a consistent runner-up with her rendition of Carol King's classic, Natural Woman.

Long-haired metal-head Peter Evrard, from Belgium, regularly filled third place in each voting region with his version of Nirvana's Lithium. And that's how the top three finished.

Australia's Guy Sebastian failed to set the world alight in the same way he ignited Australian Idol fans' passions.


Sebastian finished sixth, but encouragingly did best in the world's biggest pop markets, America, Britain and Canada. There and also in Holland he finished fifth.

Nilsen eventually won with a comfortable nine-point margin in the poll.

But the contest's Eurovision-style voting system appears to have turned off viewers from voting.

Officials conceded far fewer viewers voted than expected, although in most regions Nilsen led by a wide margin.

Only the pan-Arabic states region crowned German Alexander Klaws its World Idol, placing Kelly sixth, Kurt seventh and Guy ninth. In most other polls, Klaws finished last.


www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8307485%255E2902,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Just look at who beat our Guy . . .
Ben English
London
03jan04

GUY Sebastian lost the World Idol crown yesterday to a Norwegian plumber whom the judges wrote off as an ugly hobbit.

Silken-voiced, gap-toothed Kurt Nilsen won the poll in all but one of the 11 countries participating in the made-for-TV global talent quest.

While there was no doubting Nilsen's ability, the result may also have been a collective middle-finger delivered by viewers to the show's judging panel, some of whom bluntly derided Nilsen's unusual looks.

Sebastian finished sixth, despite performing so well in last week's sing-off that some judges tipped him as an outside chance for the title.

But the fro-topped crooner did not appear too crushed by the result.


"It's cool," he said.

"It's a singer's dream to be able to showcase your voice on a world stage and that's all I really cared about.

"I thought, this is an opportunity. The voting is really pretty irrelevant," he said.

"I'm just really happy with how I sang and the feedback I got."

That feedback -- from music executives and talent scouts attending the show -- may lead to the breakthrough Sebastian may have dreamed of when he auditioned for Australian Idol.

Sebastian's record label, BMG, is in talks to release a single in the US and Britain following his TV performance.

"It's been quite wonderful, because a lot of people have been saying how well Guy would do in their territory. The feedback has been so positive," a spokeswoman said.

"We will take one of his singles to radio in other markets, see if it works, and take it from there."

Sebastian will take part in a national Idols tour by the 12 Australian finalists this month.

Next month, it's back to London and on to Los Angeles to write more

songs for his next album before returning to form his own band.

But first the Aussie Idol has some domestic chores to attend to, such as furnishing his new beachside apartment at Clovelly, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

"At the moment I'm going home to a bare floor and that's it," he said.

Though Norwegian Nil sen is unknown across the planet, he is as famous as the Vikings in his homeland.

Since winning Norway's Pop Idol last May, he has become his country's most successful artist.

His platinum-selling single She's So High was No. 1 for nine weeks and became Norway's biggest-selling album.

After Nilsen blew the others away with his Boxing Day version of U2 hit It's a Beautiful Day, British Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell chose to focus on his looks. "If this competition had been on radio, you'd walk it. The problem is you are ugly."

Australian judge Ian Dickson said: "You have the voice of an angel and the face of a hobbit.

"If they had a Middle Earth Idol, you'd be it."

But Nilsen had the last laugh, defeating a fully fledged pop star -- US Pop Idol Kelly Clarkson -- by 106 votes to 97.


www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8307482%255E2902,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

7th placing for Malaysian singing sensation

MELBOURNE: Malaysian-born singing sensation Guy Sebastian, representing Australia in the World Idol competition, came out seventh in the grand finals but said he is not disappointed with the results.

“I am not really disappointed. I am happy it is over and I get to come home,” said Sebastian, from Adelaide, who gave a rhythm and blues version of the Louis Armstrong ballad What A Wonderful World.

Norway’s Kurt Nilsen, a plumber and a father of two, was the winner with his rendition of U2’s Beautiful Day in the contest which was taped in London before Christmas and broadcast to a worldwide audience of 100 million viewers on Boxing Day.

The competition tested the talents of the winners of Idol shows from 11 countries including Germany, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada and the Pan-Arabic region. The United States’ Kelly Clarkson came second, followed by South Africa’s Heinz Winckler and Britain’s Will Young.

Sebastian, formerly from Klang, shot to national stardom after winning the popular “Australian Idol” reality television series in November. – Bernama

www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/1/3/nation/7028305&sec=nation

[Inside Australian Idol]

Malaysian-born Guy misses World Idol title

MELBOURNE Jan 2 - Norway's Kurt Nilsen has won the "World Idol" crown, beating 10 other contenders including Australia's Malaysian-born singing sensation Guy Sebastian.

Sebastian, 22, from Adelaide, wowed judges in the international contest which was taped in London before Christmas and broadcast to a worldwide audience of 100 million viewers on Boxing Day.

But Sebastian's rhythm and blues version of the Louis Armstrong ballad "What a Wonderful World" was not enough to secure the title over Nilsen's rendition of U2's "Beautiful Day".

"I'm shivering right now you could say," Nilsen, a plumber and father of two, is quoted saying after taking out the title.

Nilsen impressed judges during the competition but received mixed reviews about his looks. Australian judge Ian Dickson likened Nilsen to a hobbit from the "Lord of the Rings" films.

"You have the voice of an angel but you look like a hobbit," Dickson said after the winning performance. "If they had a Middle Earth Idol you'd be it."

US' Kelly Clarkson came second, followed by South Africa's Heinz Winckler and Britain's Will Young. Sebastian came seventh but said he was not disappointed. "I am not really disappointed. I am happy it is over and I get to come home," said Sebastian, formerly of Klang.

He said he had a lot to do setting up his new apartment, which has no furniture, when he gets back to Sydney.

Some local critics have suggested it was Sebastian's song choice which lost him the competition. However, it was actually the producers that chose the song from one of three of his choices.

"They do it a lot differently here. It is a bit more clinical," Sebastian said from London.

"Australia was heaps more on the fly and more spontaneous. Here they re-do a lot of stuff so the recording of the actual show takes forever." He said the experience "couldn't hurt" his international career.

"I have had really good feedback from the really musical people around the place and good feedback from all of the other idols and their representatives from BMG around the world," Sebastian said.

Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham made a special appearance along with veteran singer Sir Elton John who dropped in to belt out a tune.

The competition tested the talents of the winners of Idol shows from 11 countries around the world. Other countries represented were Germany, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada and the Pan-Arabic region.

Viewers had 24 hours to phone or text message their votes after the Boxing Day broadcast, with no nation permitted to vote for its own representative.

Sebastian, who sported his trademark afro and wore jeans and a black suit jacket, shot to national stardom after winning the popular "Australian Idol" reality television series in November.

Sebastian has since proved that a television competition can create a pop star, storming to the top of the Australian single charts with his first song, "Angels Brought Me Here". His debut album, "Just As I Am", has also gone platinum four times. - Bernama

www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2004&dt=0103&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Entertainment&pg=en_03.htm

[Inside Australian Idol]

Our Guy proves no world idol



World Idols: Germanys Alexander Klaws, Netherlands Jamai Loman, Will Young, runner-up Kelly Clarkson, winner Kurt Nilsen, Canadas Ryan Malcolm and Pan Arabs Diana Karzon. Front: Polands Alex Janosz, Guy Sebastian, third placed Peter Evard and Heinz Winckler.


HE may not be on top of the world but stepping up to the mic on the international stage is unlikely to harm the career of Australian World Idol contestant Guy Sebastian.

Adelaides Sebastian, 21, wowed judges in the singing contest, which was broadcast to a worldwide audience of 100 million viewers on Boxing Day but failed to bring home the crown.

Norways Kurt Nilsen instead stole the show, beating another 10 contenders with a rousing version of U2s Beautiful Day.

The favourite, American Kelly Clarkson, was runner-up, followed by Belgiums Peter Evard, South Africas Heinz Winckler and Britains Will Young.

Sebastian placed seventh with a rhythm and blues version of the Louis Armstrong ballad What a Wonderful World.

Australian Idol judge Ian “Dicko” Dickson said Sebastian felt like he had disappointed his fellow Australians.

“He feels like hes let the country down but I told him not to be such a silly ass, told him to get his bum back on a plane and come back and see what a superstar hes become in Australia,” he told the Ten Network.

Sebastian admitted that the World Idol experience “couldnt hurt” his career.

“I am not really disappointed. I am happy it is over and I get to come home,” Sebastian said.

The singer with the trademark afro hairdo shot to national stardom after winning the popular Australian Idol reality television series in November.

After just five weeks of release, his single Angels Brought Me Here became Australias highest-selling single of last year while his debut album, Just As I Am, has gone platinum four times.

“I have had really good feedback from the really musical people around the place and good feedback from all of the other idols and their representatives from BMG around the world,” Sebastian said.

Some local critics suggested it was Sebastians choice of song which lost him the competition.

But ultimately it was the shows producers who chose which of three short-listed selections would be performed.

“They do it a lot differently here. It is a bit more clinical,” Sebastian said.

“Australia was heaps more on the fly and more spontaneous. Here they re-do a lot of stuff so the recording of the actual show took forever.”

Sebastian said he had picked Nilsen to win.

“He loves music. He is a cool guy so Im really glad he won,” he said.

The Norwegian plumber and father of two said he was “shivering” after scoring the title.

“Im sorry about my English right now,” he told viewers.

Nilsen impressed judges during the competition but his looks prompted mixed reviews, with Dickson likening Nilsen to a hobbit from Lord of the Rings.

“You have the voice of an angel but look like a hobbit,” he said after the winning performance.

“If they had a Middle Earth Idol youd be it.”

The show was spiced up by an appearance by Victoria Beckham and a performance by Sir Elton John.


Guy Sebastian


www.bordermail.com.au/newsflow/pageitem?page_id=673379

[Inside Australian Idol]

Nilsen is lord of all that he sings

By Torrance Mendez



ah GAP-TOOTHED Nor- wegian Kurt Nilsen - the hobbit with the voice of an angel - has beaten Australia's Guy Sebastian and American Kelly Clarkson to become World Idol.

Viewers around the world chose the 24-year-old singer from 11 candidates. His winning rendition of U2's It's A Beautiful Day opens a path to international stardom.

Nilsen defies the norm for popstars with a pudgy face, rounded physique and background as a plumber and father-of-two.

"Sorry about my English," he said as he struggled to find words after millions of television viewers around the world saw him sweep to victory in the early hours yesterday.

His "hobbit" descriptor was uttered by Australian judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson who said of Nilsen's performance in the show broadcast on Boxing Day: "You have the voice of an angel but you look like a hobbit. If they had a Middle Earth Idol you'd be it."

Dickson said yesterday that his comment was never meant to be offensive. "He (Nilsen) seems to have captured the world's imagination," he said.

Sebastian was disappointed and had felt he might have performed better after finishing seventh with a reworking of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.

"I told him not to be so stupid and get on with his career," Dickson said.

He said Sebastian had been praised by all judges in the show a feat that was not matched by any other candidate.

Sebastian said he picked Nilsen to win.

"He loves music. He is a cool guy, so I am really glad he won," he said from London.

It was revealed yesterday that the show producers picked Wonderful World for Sebastian from three choices.

Dickson said he was happy with the choice.

Sebastian did not attract more than six out of a possible 10 points from any country.

Viewers voted over 24 hours by SMS and telephone. No nation could vote for its own singer.

Each singer automatically got 12 points from their respective countries.

Winner Nilsen polled 106 points from a possible 112. Only the Pan-Arabic region failed to put him top of the list, awarding him 4 points out of a possible 10.

Closest rival and hot favourite Kelly Clarkson was visibly disappointed by the outcome, barely able to muster a smile as nation after nation awarded her 9 points to Nilsen's 10.

Her status as favourite was based on international sales success and a professional association with stars such as Christina Aguilera.


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All Rights Reserved.

www.thewest.com.au/20040103/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto117921.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Busy Guy wants to stay on world stage
By BEN ENGLISH in London
03jan04

GUY Sebastian may have missed out on the title of World Idol but he has already drawn up his own plans for world musical domination.

A hectic schedule starts with a national Idols tour by the 12 Australian finalists beginning later this month.

Next month, it is back to London and on to Los Angeles to write more songs for his next album before returning to form his own band.

"Then I'll do my own tour," the Adelaide singer said.

Earlier yesterday, the official World Idol crown was won by a Norwegian plumber the judges wrote off as a hobbit.

Silken-voiced, gap-toothed Kurt Nilsen topped the polling in all but one of the 11 countries participating in the made-for-TV global talent quest.

Sebastian finished seventh. But the "fro" did not appear too crushed.

"It's cool," he said.

"It's a singer's dream to be able to showcase your voice on a world stage and that's all I really cared about.

"I'm just really happy with how I sung and the feedback I got."

That feedback looks likely to translate into an international breakthrough. Sebastian's record label, BMG, is in talks to release a single in major Idol markets, including the US and Britain.

"We'll definitely be talking to all the other territories," a spokeswoman said.

But first the Aussie Idol has some domestic priorities, including furnishing his new beachside apartment at Clovelly in Sydney.

"At the moment I'm going home to a bare floor and that's it," Sebastian said.

"So I've got to go out and somehow do a whole lot of shopping."

Norwegian Nilsen blew the competitors away with his version of the U2 hit Beautiful Day.

This was despite US judge Simon Cowell saying "the problem is you are ugly" and Australian judge Ian Dickson quipping "you have the voice of an angel and the face of a hobbit".

Nilsen defeated the pre-contest favourite, US singer Kelly Clarkson by 106 votes to 97.

Peter Evrard, of Belgium, finished third, followed by South Africa's Heinz Winckler and Britain's Will Young.

Nilsen is planning to release his single in Australia later this year.


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