news articles 6 april 2005

[Inside Australian Idol]

Callea loses top spot
April 6, 2005

American teen heart-throb Jesse McCartney toppled Australia's Anthony Callea from the top spot in this week's Aria singles chart.

McCartney's Beautiful Soul went up two places to number one, while Callea's double release Rain/Bridge Over Troubled Water fell to number five.

Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden's Almost Here remained at number two, while 50 Cent's Candy Shop went up two positions to three.

Two new releases made the chart's top 10, with Lonely No More by former Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas at eight, and Mariah Carey's It's Like That at nine.

There was better news for Callea in the albums chart, with his debut self-titled release taking the number one spot in its first week.

Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams was relegated to two after several weeks atop the chart, while John Farnham and Tom Jones' Together in Concert rounded out the musically-diverse top three.

Il Divo's self-titled album continued its rise to be at four.

Last week's number two, Lullabies to Paralyze by Queens of the Stone Age, fell six spots to eight.

Australian singles chart

1(3) Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney
2(2) Almost Here - Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden
3(5) Candy Shop - 50 Cent
4(4) Let Me Love You - Mario
5(1) Rain / Bridge Over Troubled Water - Anthony Callea
6(8) 1, 2 Step - Ciara
7(6) Rich Girl - Gwen Stefani
8(-) Lonely No More - Rob Thomas
9(-) It's Like That - Mariah Carey
10(11) Switch - Will Smith

Australian albums chart

1(-) Anthony Callea - Anthony Callea
2(1) In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
3(3) Together In Concert - John Farnham & Tom Jones - John Farnham & Tom Jones
4(6) Il Divo - Il Divo
5(5) The Sound Of White - Missy Higgins
6(4) It's Time - Michael Buble
7(7) American Idiot - Green Day
8(2) Lullabies To Paralyze - Queens Of The Stone Age
9(10) Hot Fuss - The Killers
10(9) The Massacre - 50 Cent

AAP


www.smh.com.au/news/Music/Callea-loses-top-spot/2005/04/05/1112489475221.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Shannon Noll blows his licence

06apr05

AUSTRALIAN Idol star Shannon Noll has been fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for nine months for drink-driving.


Licence suspended: Singer Shannon Noll leaves Condobolin court house after pleading guilty to drink- driving.
Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Noll, from Sydney, was visiting his home town of Condobolin in central west NSW last December when he was stopped by police for a defective headlight.

A random breath test found Noll, who had just left a hotel, had a blood alcohol reading of 0.110 -- more than twice the legal limit.

Noll appeared in Condobolin Local Court yesterday, supported by his brother Adam and cousin Nathan Swadling.

He pleaded guilty.

A previous court hearing was told that when Noll was stopped and asked to submit to a random breath test he replied: "What's the point, mate? I'm over."

His solicitor, Peter Martin, told the court Noll jumped into the car to get away from a crowd wanting to follow him.

Magistrate Howard Hamilton said his explanation for getting into the car was inadequate, and convicted Noll.

He fined him $1000 and banned him from driving for nine months.


www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12768142%255E2902,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Noll says drink-driving irresponsible, dangerous
Wednesday, 6 April 2005.

The solicitor who represented singer Shannon Noll on a drink-driving charge says his client admits his actions were irresponsible and dangerous.

Noll, a former Australian Idol finalist, was yesterday disqualified from driving for nine months and fined $1,000 for driving with a blood alcohol reading of 0.110 in December.

His solicitor, Peter Martin from Matthews Williams, says Noll felt he was given a fair hearing in Condobolin Local Court.

"The automatic period of disqualification for this offence within the legislation is 12 months, but that can be reduced to a minimum of six months and certainly in this set of circumstances the magistrate didn't think the minimum period was appropriate and gave Mr Noll the nine-month period which is certainly more serious," he said.

www.abc.net.au/news/items/200504/1339169.htm?centralwest

[Inside Australian Idol]

These boots are made for walking
By SAMANTHA WILLIAMS Regional Reporter
April 6, 2005

AUSTRALIAN Idol runner-up Shannon Noll had the rock star look in court, but it didn't impress the magistrate, who suspended his licence for nine months and fined him $1000 for drink-driving.


Back on the street...Shannon Noll leaves court after his drink driving conviction yesterday.

Wearing a black pin-striped suit and black boots, Noll pleaded guilty to a mid-range drink-driving offence yesterday in court in his home town Condobolin, in the state's west.

Outside Condobolin Local Court, Noll said his judgment was "clouded" at the time.

"It was the wrong thing and I broke the law. I now have a bit of walking to do," he said. "I am annoyed at myself for doing it in the first place. It wasn't the right thing to do and there aren't any excuses to get out of it.

"My advice to people who think it's OK to drink-drive is that you are dead a lot longer than it takes to walk a short distance."

The court had previously heard that Noll left The Condobolin Hotel driving a ute with passengers after a number of people had "flocked" around him on December 19 last year.

He was then pulled over by local police for a random breath test, which found he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.110 – more than twice the legal limit.

The court had been told that when Noll was stopped by police and asked to take a random breath test he replied: "What's the point, mate? I'm over."

"Since then he has recognised it was dangerous and he is very sorry about it," his lawyer Peter Martin said yesterday.

When questioned by magistrate Howard Hamilton about why he continued to drive when he knew he was intoxicated, Mr Martin said Noll wanted to get away from the people who had surrounded him.

Mr Martin told the court Noll had only been in the limelight in the past 12 to 18 months and was not "accustomed to this behaviour".

The court heard that Noll had contributed to the Condobolin community through fundraising and had been involved in farm safety programs after his father was killed in a farming accident in 2001.

Mr Martin also tendered references which were understood to have come from TV personalities Ian Dickson and Mark Holden and Canadian singer Bryan Adams.

Magistrate Hamilton said he was "disappointed" and banned Noll from driving for nine months with a $1000 fine and $63 court costs.

The suspension dates to December 19 and ends on September 18, 2005.

Noll left court relieved, saying the magistrate had treated him kindly, although the incident had brought back bad memories of his father.

"It makes it harder to deal with, but it has made me think about the big picture," he said.


dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=2920402