Idol Thoughts

First up, you need to know that I am, and always will be, a dag.

Second up, you have no idea how excited I was when I got tickets to be in the audience for Australian Idol (thank you Zoh). Me and my friend Jules seemed to be the last two of our group of friend(s) who were still following the show. After a couple of dud seasons, we were still hanging onto the dream.

This season started off well, but unfortunately fell into karaoke somewhere in the middle so we were off to see what the final five could pull out of the bag.

We were in the car on the way to Fox Studios when I reminded Jules if she had checked her bag to make sure the invite was there. She double-checks shit like that so it was more of a joke than anything. A blank stare followed and even worse when it dawned on us that the invite wasn't there. Back to my place we sped. I ran in, picked up the invite, calmed my scared pussy, raced back out the door and jumped into the car. Jules decided we needed a different route so we sped off down Crown St and immediately hit a traffic Jam. Sexpo was on and so was a soccer match. (It was going to be interesting watching the clash of crowds outside tonight.)

We finally got a park and raced over with less than a minute to spare. We ran out and saw how long the queues were and only then did we allow ourselves to breathe. But then I remembered I didn't have ID. Please don't let them ask me. Please don't let them ask me. Please. There was a fierce glare coming from Jules' eyes. She has been known to start fires with that glare!

Well, we got in (yippee) and got herded into a line, VIP passes and all. We bumped into Jimmy Dee, DJ at Arq Nightclub here in Sydney, who knew Ricky Lee from booking her at the venue. We chatted away and then were ushered into the studio.

So this is where Australian TV history happened. It's quite small and the stage is much closer than I thought but I always knew everything on TV was smaller after appearing on Dina & Percy when I was five. Remember the stuffed penguin? Dina would always put her finger under Percy's wing to make it wave goodbye!

So we ended up being in the second row, right next to the judges on the left hand side. I was that close I could even see Benji Madden's bright blue underwear!

The warm-up guy was appalling and about as funny as a stuffed penguin trying to wave! Andrew G came out 15mins before it started as did the band and the judges. Jules thought G was very handsome. He seemed like an old pro at this now. Dicko looked like he was in a foul mood. Jules said he was just hungry. (He's doing the Jenny Craig thing). Marcia's skin looked incredible although the word 'barnyard' came to mind. JD needed his makeup done every commercial. They shine, those heads.

Three, two, one...and what a night we picked to be in the audience. Our least favourite Idol, Toby, trumped everyone by quitting the competition. We thought about a cheer but it wasn't the moment. I think the only other one to quit was Cosimo. (Who??!!).

On with the show. Joel & Benji Madden (Good Charlotte) came out and were actually really nice throughout the show. Between commercials they were always accomodating fans with photos - very obliging and their comments to the Idols were pretty positive. There was a moment when the warm-up guy mentioned he had pashed Sophie Monk at High School at the Gold Coast so they both had something in common and hugged.

So onto the performances. Nathan was on first and sung Ne-Yo's 'Closer' and we thought it was a good effort. Dicko didn't think so. We did the 'faux' boo then James came on and did a bit of a dud version of John Mayer's 'Daughters'. The incredible thing about these Idols is just how young they are - jeez!. Stan was on next, our fave, and did a version of 'Let Me Love You' by Mario. It was good but not his usual greatness. To me he looked a little puffed at the end. Hayley did her rock thing with The Gossip's 'The Cross' and I mentioned her weird hand movement to Jules, which was later picked up by JD in his comments. I think he called it a 'monkey hand'. I guess he overheard me.

Ricky Lee was doing her bit and luckily she was doing it right in front of us. Jules was a bit worried her blue and white striped top would make her voluptuous breasts more noticeable. I said don't be stupid and told her to get them out of my face!

The second round of songs came about. At one stage there was only Marcia and Dicko on the judging panel. One second to go and JD and the Madden brothers come running in from left of stage. Not sure what was happening but JD was blaming the brothers. Probably comparing tats.

Nathan came on, sat down and sung 'Daniel Merriweather's 'Red'. I thought he should've stood up in the end but it was still good. James did a better performance with 'This Is How A Heart Breaks' by Rob Thomas. But when Stan came on and belted out Miley Cyrus' 'The Climb', it was 'game-on-mole'. There was a standing ovation and of course Jules and I had to partake. It gave us a chance to stretch out legs. Cheap seats! Anyway, he was incredible. A voice like that deserves an ovation. I was really into the foot stomping as well. Nothing better than the sound of sneakers on wooden floorboards, unless they were thongs of course (Juleigh!). Hayley finished with another rocker ('I Don't Care' by Fall Out Boy) which was nothing special. The whole 'getting the crowd to clap' gets a bit tiresome. Speaking of clapping - my hands were so sore at the end from the constant applause. The 'applause' man was right in front of us so we had to at least pretend we were doing it.

The Madden brothers finished the night on a great note with an acoustic version of 'Dance Floor Anthem'. The four remaining idols came out amongst the crowd and ended up right in front of us to watch the brothers perform and it was interesting to see the dynamics between the final four. Nathan looked like he was truly well-liked amongst the four as was Hayley. James just seemed a little lost and was unsure how to act. Stan just seemed to be Stan.

All up, a great night but there was just one thing missing...
...a touchdown!

Murphy.

(Oh yeah, you can see me and Jules in the second part of the Australia Idol episode here. We both look like we have fleas!)