news articles 1 may

[Inside Australian Idol]

Singing a different tune


May 1, 2004

IT'S been six months since Robert "Millsy" Mills went to Paris – or that's how one of the Paris Hilton jokes he's still getting goes.


Bet you think this song is about her..Millsy shooting the Ms Vanity video.

When Confidential asks what's been up since that snog on the balcony in November, Millsy clearly doesn't want to "go there".

Times have certainly changed from last year's Melbourne Cup when he followed the hotel heiress around like a lost dog.


Now Millsy is wise and mature, he'd rather talk about his single which went to radio this week, Ms Vanity.


But the lyrics to Ms Vanity only bring to mind the name of that French city again.


Calls at 3am. Stands you up again. Has 10,000 friends/Never waits in line, never has the time.


Sounds suspiciously like he wants to talk about Paris.


"Well then, while we're on Paris," Confidential slips in.


"Ah, that sounds like you're on Paris, are you?" the cheeky bugger replies, before giving in.


"OK, no. I haven't seen her. I've been too flat out. I've been in the studio since she's been here," he said coolly.


Describing a high-heeled sunbaking Hilton poolside at the Gold Coast didn't even get the man excited.


"Yeah. I knew she was up there," he said.


Filming the Ms Vanity video at Sydney University's Seymour Centre this week, Millsy was forced into a position we know he'd have no issues with, surrounded by a dozen beauty queens vying for his attention.


The beauty pageant theme required Millsy to be "slick and charming" while "playing it up to the camera."


"Yeah, it's been tough," he says.


One last thing: "I didn't write the Ms Vanity lyrics by the way," he says.


Millsy's debut album is out on June 17.

dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1266&storyid=1273653

[Inside Australian Idol]

5000 at Idol auditions
May 01, 2004


A RECORD 5000 people turned out for the first day of auditions for Network Ten's Australian Idol show in Melbourne today.

Budding stars began queuing at 8pm (AEST) yesterday and by this morning, thousands were lined up despite the chilly conditions at the Melbourne Park Function Centre.

The show's producer, Grundy Television, said the turnout was unprecedented, and as a result it would extend Melbourne's round of auditions from two days to three.

Auditions will now be held on Monday, as well as over the weekend.

Idol judges Ian 'Dicko' Dickson, Marcia Hines and Mark Holden are on hand to pick Melbourne's top talents in their search for the next Australian Idol.

The first Australian Idol winner, Guy Sebastian, and runner-up Shannon Noll have already shot to stardom and broken chart records in Australia.

Dickson said the next Australian Idol would have to stand out from the crowd.

"We are looking for someone with a special quality that makes them shine above the crowd," he said.

"We are not looking for any particular style of music genre - we're looking for great young talent."

After the Melbourne auditions, the Idol judges will continue their national search for a star in Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth and Sydney.

The next Idol will win a record deal with music industry giant BMG.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9440197%255E1702,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

The story so far
May 1, 2004

Movies are still tops - although we'd rather watch them at home than at the cinema, finds David Dale.

It's called trend analysis. There are people in this town who charge $500 an hour to spot and explain shifts in the mass behaviour of Australians. This column gives it away.

While those guys do it quarterly or half-yearly, we do it thirdly, following the rhythms of the ancient school year. Now that the April holidays are over, here's the meaning of the first four months of 2004.

The flicks

Distributors discovered two new audiences - fundamentalists and Women of a Certain Age (WOCAs). Ticket sales suggest there are 1.5 million of the first group (the seriousness of The Passion of the Christ charmed even those who thought moving images were the work of Satan) and 1.6 million of the second (Something's Gotta Give showed a fiftysomething woman getting naked with a sixtysomething man, while Under the Tuscan Sun showed a fortysomething woman renovating with Italians).

Group One probably won't visit the flicks again this year, but Hollywood now sees Group Two as a profitable alternative to its traditional targets of young males (who liked The Last Samurai) and young females (who liked 50 First Dates).

The discs

During the third just ended, Australia crossed the threshold - more than half our homes now have DVD players. DVD sales now outnumber video sales four to one. Only kids' stuff still sells on video, while adults become scholars of the art of film via the bonus features.

More than half the movies released this year will make more money on DVD than they do at the cinema. That explains why they're in the stores only weeks after they're in the multiplex. Even embarrassments such as Matrix Revolutions get a new life on disc. They should rename it Matrix Resurrections.

The box

Yes, reality is dead, at least as a label. Using the original definition (fly-on-the-wall documentary about people doing embarrassing things), and excepting Australian Idol, which is a talent quest, every form of reality this year has been unsatisfactory - for the viewers and for the networks. And the results for Popstars Live suggest that the talent quest is dead too - at least when it's judged by dorks.

American crime is what pays this year, plus a bit of American comedy, in the form of Friends. But Nine shot itself in the foot by replacing the unusual Malcolm in the Middle with the standard Two and a Half Men.

Among the networks, the big loser has been Seven, which cannot find a hit, and the big winner has been the ABC, which is using animal acts and quality crime to pick up the under-20s and over-50s.

The under-20s will shift to Ten for Big Brother Sunday night. But a solid block of over-30s will have to join them before reality can achieve its second coming.

Films

Longest-lasting films released since January 1

1 Something's Gotta Give (11 weeks, total $15.5 million)


2 21 Grams (11 weeks, $3.5m)
3 Under the Tuscan Sun (10 weeks, $6m)
4 The Passion of the Christ (9 weeks, $14.5m)
5 The Last Samurai (9 weeks, $12.5m)

- MPDAA

TV

Most watched this year

1 Nine Sunday news
2 CSI
3 Friends
4 CSI Miami
5 Without a Trace

- OzTAM

CDs

Top-selling albums released since January 1

1 That's What I'm Talking About (Shannon Noll)
2 Feels Like Home (Norah Jones)
3 Sunrise Over Sea (the John Butler Trio)
4 Patience (George Michael)
5 Confessions (Usher)

- ARIA

DVDs

Top-selling, released since January 1

1 Finding Nemo
2 The Lion King
3 Pirates of the Caribbean
4 The Matrix Revolutions
5 The Terminator

- GFK Marketing

www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224576911.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Class of '94
May 1, 2004

Ten years on, Bernard Zuel reappraises the big hitters and asks if their beat goes on.

If history is bunk then pop music history is bunk in leather pants. But since we're doomed to repeat it we may as well try to understand it. In the past 10 years, while technology has flummoxed as much as it has facilitated - CD to DVD to MP3 to iPod - the music has perplexed as much as it has excited. Hip-hop and R&B took over the American charts, teen pop rediscovered sex, the single disappeared, underground rock went overground and then promptly returned to its hole, guitars returned, as did irony and myriad sub-genres and subplots sprouted.

And somewhere out there, people bought Shannon Noll albums.

When the thousands of albums released 10 years ago are reappraised, the distance does bring clarity. (Why 10 years? There's no such thing as beginnings and ends - hard rock did not begin with Led Zeppelin; Elvis Presley did not invent teenagers; Kurt Cobain's death in 1994 did not mark the end of rock'n'roll - so taking an arbitrary date is as valid as any approach.)

Which albums from that year still rate? What trends are evident now? What will be remembered? And will we want to hear that the biggest selling album in Australia in 1994 was Music Box by Mariah Carey?

This will please one Herald reader, Jason Englisbe, who recently wrote: "Mariah Carey's collaboration with rapper ODB on Fantasy helped usher in the trend of the rap/sung collaboration. That trend is still going strong 10 years later, and it did more to change where music was going than Nirvana did. Why do we never see articles about Mariah's influence? I guess if she had killed herself in 1992 she would get more respect." Now there's a thought.


TLC, CrazySexyCool

Then Not trying to match the swaggering gangstas, nor offering themselves as throwaway teen queens, TLC (Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas) were where R&B and hip-hop met sexy, smart pop.

Now Much smoother sounding than contemporary highly sexed R&B, it sounds almost sweet, but Waterfalls remains a killer tune. However, with Lopes dead, the band is no more.

Side effects Producers such as the Neptunes, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri and others tried out their moves on TLC.

Lasting effects Beyonce (and the rest of Destiny's Child), Kelis and Pink, not to mention every second Australian Idol contestant can be traced back to this. R&B's dominance of the American charts began here.


Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York

Then An acoustic set in a TV studio gave us Kurt Cobain's hushed take on The Man Who Sold the World and revealed gems such as About a Girl and On a Plain. The fact that Cobain killed himself not long after helped make the album a must-have.

Now Still the most accessible and lasting Nirvana album.

Side effects Hair-metal bands such as Bon Jovi and Motley Crue fell by the wayside. Fellow grunge bands Pearl Jam (Vitalogy), Soundgarden (Superunknown), Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream), Stone Temple Pilots (Purple) and Alice In Chains (Jar of Flies) dominated the upper reaches of the American charts. Second-wave acts enjoyed success, too, with Live's Throwing Copper, Bush's Sixteen Tons and Hole's Live Through This.

Lasting effects Only Pearl Jam and Live survive. The tropes of grunge have morphed into the likes of Nickelback. Flannelette is no longer cool, hair-metal is coming back and Courtney Love still gets attention.


Portishead, Dummy and Massive Attack, Protection

Then A pair of dark, moody albums from Bristol that took dub reggae and hip-hop techniques and meshed them with the feel of spy film soundtracks in tragi-romantic songs.

Now Neither band has managed to top these and may never record again, but play either album now and the mood automatically thickens.

Side effects Another Bristol act, Tricky, completed the trip-hop trio with Maxinquaye. None of the three acts sold mega quantities but they provided the soundtrack to cafes, dinner parties, student hostels and many a herbal smoke-filled chill out.

Lasting effects From Lamb and Sneaker Pimps to Goldfrapp, innumerable commercials and even the likes of U2, the sample-heavy sounds, moody vocals and slow-drag beats suffused '90s music.


Korn, Korn

Then Heavy down-tuned guitars, some hip-hop and dance meets Rage Against the Machine and none of the punk influences of grunge. This was the new face of metal.

Now Overtired and overdone, it nonetheless has so much grunt and pure assault that it can't be ignored.

Side effects Nine Inch Nails's 1994 The Downward Spiral was preparing the mainstream for Marilyn Manson.

Lasting effects: The metal/dance mix and angst-ridden lyrics inspired followers from Limp Bizkit and Deftones to our own 28 Days. Baggy shorts sales went through the roof.


Jeff Buckley, Grace

Then Vocal soaring, dipping, sweeping and showing-off gave these songs emotional weight. Taking from his father, Tim Buckley, Led Zeppelin and Edith Piaf was bold. Being pretty didn't hurt.

Now For all the extravagances of his vocals, there's no getting past the beauty or the memory of his first Australian tour. His version of Hallelujah is still definitive.

Side effects An industry sprang up to release anything he had ever recorded.

Lasting effects Radiohead (then recording The Bends) Coldplay, Cordrazine, george and just about every underground pop band used the dramatics, the vocal stretches and the heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics.


Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Then The sardonic Americans kept to their mix of Lou Reed and Sonic Youth as imagined by a loose and sonically ordinary pop group, but the melodies kept sneaking through.

Now The affectations grate, but the songs hold their shape.

Side effects Sebadoh's Bake Sale, Guided By Voices's Bee Thousand and Built To Spill's There's Nothing Wrong With Love filled the alternative charts.

Lasting effects The birth of lo-fi, which sustained the American underground for a decade, spawned careers for the likes of Dave McCormack and inspired a reborn Blur.


Oasis, Definitely Maybe and Blur, Parklife

Then The Beatles versus the Kinks, the north versus the south, the street versus the art school. But everyone united against grunge and all things American. It splashed in the UK, but barely rippled here.

Now The heavy-handedness of both albums (Noel Gallagher's blatant rip-offs; Damon Albarn's contrived Cockney-ness) doesn't hide all the tunes. But it's hard to see what the fuss was about from this distance.

Side effects The rise of laddism - pervy magazines, beer, Union Jack knickers - Britpop, the resurrection of Paul Weller and New Labour's inexorable path to power.

Lasting effects Cocaine blizzards, Stereophonics, more English bands declaring themselves the greatest and Tony Blair. Oasis made progressively worse albums, while Blur made progressively more interesting, but less commercially successful, albums.


Ben Harper, Welcome to the Cruel World

Then Blues, folk, slide guitar and finger picking and a Cat Stevens voice singing songs with a quasi-spiritual bent. It sold quietly.

Now Rough and raw, but it still feels more real than Harper's later albums.

Side effects His first show at the Metro is still talked about.

Lasting effects The Waifs, John Butler Trio, Jack Johnson, Pete Murray, Donovan Frankenreiter, Xavier Rudd.


Green Day, Dookie

Then Snotty Californian kids with just enough of a punk look and plenty of pop hooks to snare every 13-year-old boy.

Now As punk as your grandmother. Bright, buzzy pop songs of little depth but plenty of fun.

Side effects Offspring sold almost as many copies of their album Smash and, between them, they gave birth to "Cali-punk".

Lasting effects A decade of spiky hair, low-riding pants, fast riffs, fart jokes and Blink 182.


You Am I, Hi Fi Way
f

Then Tim Rogers's Who/Kinks/ Rolling Stones love affair runs headfirst into his craving for hard and fast garage punk. The result is power pop and thrillingly tangible lyrics.

Now Fresh, angular and jam-packed with hooks.

Side effects The Cruel Sea make the top 40 at the end of year, and win a swag of ARIAs (as will You Am I a few years later); Spiderbait, Regurgitator and others make "alternative" mainstream.

Lasting effects Jet, the Vines, Sleepy Jackson and every band that picks up a guitar in Australia in the next decade do so inspired by seeing You Am I.


Beck, Mellow Gold

Then White-boy hip-hop blues that sounds trashy, but reveals an alternative anthem in Loser.

Now Not as bronco-busting as the subsequent Odelay but, like Pavement, Mellow Gold showed you can write odd songs that still sound like they've come from familiar roots.

Side effects Popularity of term "slacker", Ethan Hawke looking cool.

Lasting effects Both Jack White of the White Stripes and Eminem, Cody Chestnutt and Dan Kelly.

www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224573924.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

When life imitates reality (shows)
May 1, 2004


All of us may have something to learn from reality TV about the vagaries of life, writes Chris Fotinopolous.

My wife and I were recently impressed by the ability of our friends' 11-year-old son to bring to life the drama of reality TV in his parents' living room.

His performance repertoire ranged from his heartfelt description of his friend's dysfunctional family (drawing from Big Brother), to his distress at the decrepit state of his other friend's house (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Backyard Blitz, The Block), his own anxiety about forming his band (Pop Stars), and his sense of alienation in a competitive and depressing school environment (Survivor, Big Brother again).

If this boy owned a mobile phone, no doubt he would, as most of my teenage students do, send streams of SMS messages to his friends as a sign of spiritual consolation. No different, really, to Big Brother fans pressing a series of buttons on their phone keypads to register support for their favourite housemate.

So do these reality shows prepare children for the real world? No doubt they highlight the continuous interconnectedness that most young (and older) adults yearn for.

I expect to see the top of students' heads before I see their eyes these days. Whether they're waiting for a bus, sitting beside mum in the car, or behind a school desk, their heads are likely to be bowed as they enter text messages of love, affection, friendship and support in their mobile phones.

In this modern posture of prayer they wait for a response - a confirmation of union.

Big Brother, along with similar reality programs, appeals to our need to become, as the slogan for a large telecommunications company once put it, part of something bigger. These programs not only provide us with the opportunity to engage in a community of ethical appraisal by entering a series of numbers or text messages on a phone, but offers temporary respite from the everyday pressures of work, school and home by diverting our attention away from our problems and towards the stresses experienced by those who are nothing more than poorly paid TV celebrities.

I often tell students who approach me with a problem to try to view their situation from a distance. I suggest that the further they pull away, the smaller the problem becomes - to the point were it is reduced to a tiny drop in a vast ocean.

I guess this is what we do when we sit down to watch the dramas that unfold before us on our television screens. Anxieties about work, school, relationships and life seem to dissolve as our problems are sublimated in the lives of strangers that we gradually get to know - albeit superficially.

The anxieties experienced by reality show contestants reflect the emotional turmoil many of us experience. For instance, many working adults fear the possibility that they may be the next to be sacrificed at the altar of economic rationalism when summoned to the boss's office for a workplace performance review. They leave in the hope that they've done enough to avoid their name being used in the phrase that begins with the words "It's time to go . . ."

Big Brother is, after all, a television game based on the principles of workplace reductions. Perhaps this is a lesson worth teaching if we want our youth to survive and succeed in the "real world".

The Big Brother house offers the participants not only a chance to form new friendships, but the opportunity to make money - lots of it. It's a game that rewards the individual by disbanding the very community that once offered friendship, security and purpose.

And just like the competitive world in which we work, study and live, Big Brother contestants are forced to shaft their friends as a means of ensuring a greater financial windfall for themselves. Friends become combatants in the quest for more money and success. Perhaps this is a lesson children ought to learn before they set out into the "real world".

Reality programs such as Big Brother, The Block, My Restaurant Rules, Australian Idol and Pop Stars provide viewers with the opportunity to collectively judge others. Who should we reward? Those who lie, cheat and deceive the best? Or those who display virtues that are considered important to a community? The decision ultimately lies with the public. And this can't be a bad lesson for young adults living in a democracy.

I often ask myself when watching a Big Brother evictee whether it's the 250 grand that has slipped through their fingers or the dissociation from their new circle of friends that has drained the colour from their faces. I suspect it's both, but they usually talk about the friendships, the fun, and the memorable moments gained from the experience.

After all, it is in times of disappointment when many of us turn to the positives that come from being part of something bigger. This, surely, is another worthy lesson in life.

Chris Fotinopoulos teaches media studies and philosophy at Rowville Secondary College.

www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224579774.html