news articles 13 april

[SoCrazyInLoveWithGUY]

Assessing idols

# ON the subject of Idols, two of the reigning Idols were in town (like you didn't know). Yes, yes, Gareth Gates of UK's Pop Idols and Australian Idols champ Guy Sebastian were definitely the toast of the town when they were here last weekend, riding on the success of the syndicated talent show.

But Gareth aside, SO WHAT? takes its hat off to Guy. The chap may have arrived at an ungodly hour of 1.30am at KLIA, but he was all smiles.

Tired as he was with his packed schedule, and especially after his five hour flight, it was surprising, and pleasing to find out that he indulged SO WHAT? with banter ranging from his memories here to his camaraderie with R&B giant, Brian McKnight.

But it was also interesting to note that despite his star status, Guy arrived ALONE! at the airport, without any entourage, not even a manager. And with just one suitcase and a smaller bag! What's more, by the time he checked into the hotel at 2.30am, SO WHAT? heard that the lad only slept at 6am (we don't know why, though), but was up by 8am, and ready to go for the day's packed schedule. Now...THAT'S a star!

www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Monday/Entertainment/20040412110800

[comet]

Damn. get some sleep Guy

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Gospel music gathering stretches amphitheatre
Tuesday, 13 April 2004

Organisers of the Australian Gospel Music Festival are keen to work with Toowoomba City Council to expand the Queen's Park amphitheatre.

Official crowd numbers over the weekend will not be known for a week, but tickets sales were up 50 per cent on the previous year.

Festival chairman Ian Anderson says they have already begun organising a repeat of this year's sell-out event, but more space may be needed.

"It wasn't just the main events with Guy Sebastian, Kid's Corner sold out on Friday...you couldn't get a ticket for that for the rest of the weekend, it was just all sold out," he said.

"So the whole event appears to have hit the right chord, and one of the interesting things is the amphitheatre which seats between 10,000 and 11,000 people, it was sold out and filled four times over the weekend."

www.abc.net.au/southqld/news/200404/s1085954.htm

[Skip]

Locals audition for Australian Idol
Emma Gibbs
Tuesday, 13 April 2004



THREE potential Australian Idols will travel from Inverell to Tamworth tomorrow, to compete for a place in the Channel Ten reality television show.

Inverell Idol winner Troy McLachlan, 17, will be joined by Inverell Idol participants Melinda Luxford, 19, and Kylie South, 19.

They will be put to the test against hundreds of competitors from around the region and beyond.

Yesterday Melinda was unsure of how well she would do at the first round of auditions, but said she would enjoy the experience.

She also said she was not scared of judge Ian "Dicko” Dickson, who was notorious for his blunt criticism in last year's competition.

"If anything he'll give some constructive criticism,” Melinda said.

"Everyone reckons he's scary but I don't know”.

Kylie said she was confident but was also unsure of what Dicko's reaction would be to her performance.

"I'm anxious about what he's going to tell me,” Kylie said.

"I'm confident that I will give it my best shot, and I hope they make the right choice about my talent and performance.

"There's a lot of good talent out there and it'll be pushing me to do my best.”<br>
Melinda said she was still deciding on which song she would sing in the audition, although it would probably be the one she sang when she competed in Inverell Idol recently.

"I'll probably decide in the car on the way over.

"If I can't decide on one I'll sing 'Heaven' which was originally recorded by Brian Adams but has been re-mixed by DJ Sammy,” she said.

Kylie was also unsure what song she would perform although she thought she might sing 'Black Velvet' recorded by Alannah Myles.

Melinda said she and some friends would travel over early Wednesday morning to get a good place in the queue outside the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre.

The auditions will start at 8.30am and both Melinda and Kylie will arrive early.

"I'll leave at three or four in the morning to get there about sixish,” Melinda said.

"There's a limit of auditions so you have to get there early to wait.”<br>


P Australian Idol auditions start at 8.30am at Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre tomorrow.

inverell.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=299399&y=2004&m=4

[Inside Australian Idol]

Would-be idols head to Tamworth
Tuesday, 13 April 2004

Tourism Tamworth says it is expecting about 1,000 people to travel to Tamworth for tomorrow's Australian Idol auditions.

The program will be welcomed to the city with a parade down Peel Street featuring the judges of the show.

There is also a concert scheduled at Bicentennial Park tonight.

Tourism Tamworth's chief executive officer, Dean Bell, says he is expecting people to travel from all over the region and even Sydney and Brisbane to take part in the audition process.

www.abc.net.au/newengland/news/200404/s1085952.htm

[Inside Australian Idol]

Cosima finds her voice

Guy, it’s Cosima’s time to shine!

Yet another Australian Idol could soon be soaring up the music charts – Cosima De Vito.

Hot on the heels of the news that Paulini Curuenavuli has signed a four-album deal with Sony Music, Cosima has revealed her plans to release a remake of Cold Chisel’s classic “When The War Is Over” in May.

Cosima, who made it to the top three on Idol but withdrew after developing throat nodules, says she’s been approached by “a few” record companies.

“My manager has just been sorting through everything and we will be announcing in the next few weeks what is going on,” she says. “Regardless of what happens, I’m going to be releasing the single. If we have to we’ll release it independently.”

Cosima says her fans have been “really, really supportive” since she left Idol. “They offered to put all this money in to back a single, but we were like, ‘Wow, thanks, but it’s OK.’ It’s like I’ve got an army behind me. ”<br>
Cosima, who has moved from Perth to Sydney to concentrate on her music career, has been busy sourcing and writing songs for her album, which she says will contain “a lot of strong tracks, strong ballads and strong, up-beat songs.” She also has good news on the romance front.

“There is someone special. He lives in Brisbane. He’s a real estate agent and a soccer player. He is Italian. That’s all I’m going to say.”<br>

tvweek.ninemsn.com.au/tvweek/special.asp

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Shannon's no-show takes the shine off parade
By Matt Adams
Tuesday, 13 April 2004


Anyone seen Shannon? Mark Holden participates in yesterday’s street parade. Photo: Barry Smith

THE Australian Idol phenomenon kicked off in Tamworth yesterday when several thousand people lined Peel St to welcome the judges and crew of the second series to the city.

However, there was disappointment at the non-appearance of Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll, who had been expected to join the parade and following concert.

Despite the country-boy-farmer-turned-singer's absence at the parade, it didn't stop more than 2000 people turning out to officially welcome Australian Idol judges Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Ian "Dicko" Dickson, hosts Andrew G and James Mathison and crew.

Following the parade, the sea of enthusiastic Idol fans made their way to Bicentennial Park for the concert, which featured mock auditions, an impromptu performance by Mark Holden and a show-stopping appearance by Tamworth band The Baileys.

Having travelled from Queensland, teenager Alissa O'Brien said she was disappointed Shannon didn't turn up, but thought the parade to welcome the judges and crew made up for it.

"There were people everywhere," Alissa said.

"It's great to see so many people come out for the special launch parade and concert ahead of the auditions tomorrow.

"I was disappointed that Shannon didn't come, because so many people were looking forward to seeing him here.

"However, it was great of the judges to get out there."

One third of the Australian Idol judging team, Marcia Hines, said she was stunned by the overwhelming support and the huge turnout of people who were there to welcome the series to the city.

"It's just fantastic," she said.

"We couldn't have asked for a warmer reception."

tamworth.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=299433&y=2004&m=4

[Inside Australian Idol]

Is Troy next big thing?
Tuesday, 13 April 2004

INVERELL teenager Troy McLachlan is already a star in his hometown and now the talented singer hopes he has what it takes to conquer the Australian Idol auditions in Tamworth today.

The 17-year-old gave friends, family and the Inverell community a little taste of what judges of the second series of the hit television show can expect in Tamworth on Wednesday when he took out Inverell Idol last week, a spin-off singing competition held during National Youth Week.

Troy admits that he only entered Inverell Idol for enjoyment and was shocked to come out and win the singing competition.

"I never expected to win," he said.

"I went in it for a bit of fun, so it was a huge surprise for me to win."

He was up against 15 competitors and made it through to the final with the first verse and chorus of the Robbie Williams hit, Angels.

From there he managed to out sing six semi-finalists and take out the competition, winning himself a recording session with Chris Richter.

Like Inverell Idol, Troy only decided to audition for Australian Idol at the last minute, but is looking forward to the experience.

"It's going to be fantastic," he said.

"Australian Idol is a little more serious than Inverell Idol. Actually it's very serious.

"So I'm going to be putting a lot more effort into my song choice this time around.

"I'm not sure whether I'll resurrect Robbie [Williams]. We'll just have to wait and see."

Troy said he had a passion for music and had been singing on and off now for the past four years.

"I like to sing," he said.

"I enjoy music and what I found when I entered Inverell Idol was that the reaction of the audience really encouraged me."

Troy is currently in the process of writing his own material, which he hopes to record in the coming weeks.

He will be joining fellow Inverell Idol hopefuls Melinda Luxford and Kylie South in Tamworth.


tamworth.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=299437&y=2004&m=4