New Zealand Idol

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New Zealand Idol
New Zealand Idol finalists (with dates of elimination)
Idol 2004 finalists
Ben Lummis	Winner
Michael Murphy	May 10
Camillia Temple	May 3
Luke Whaanga	April 26
Dave Houma	April 19
Eddie Gaiger	April 12
Robin Johnson	April 5
Jessie Cassin	March 29
Sela Mahe	March 22
Filipo Saipani	March 15
Idol 2005 finalists
Rosita Vai	Winner
Nik Carlson	October 17
Steven Broad	October 10
Jesse O'Brien	October 3
Teresa Bergman	September 26
Rongo Brightwell	September 19
Frank Andrews	September 12
Ashley Cooper	September 5
Keshia Paulse	August 29
Shelley Paikea	August 22
Idol 2006 finalists
Matthew Saunoa	Winner
Indira Moala	October 29
Aroha Robinson	October 16
Ben Hazlewood	October 9
Kali Kopae	October 2
Toni Baird	September 25
Rebecca Wright	September 18
Clinton Randell	September 11
Ashlee Fisher	September 4
Victor Sulfa	August 28

NZ Idol, more commonly known as New Zealand Idol, is the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series Pop Idol. New Zealand got its first taste of Idol when TV2 aired American Idol 2. After Australian Idol also proved to be a hit, the country decided it was time for its chance to have its very own Idol.

NZ Idol is produced by South Pacific Pictures in association with Grundy & developed by Fremantle Media.

Contents 1 Season one 1.1 Bottom three statistics 2 Season two 2.1 Bottom three statistics 3 Season three 3.1 Bottom three statistics 4 Future of NZ Idol 5 Criticism 6 NZ Idol in the charts 6.1 DVD 6.2 Albums 6.3 Singles 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Season one

The show was hosted by popular TV presenter Dominic Bowden and the panel of judges consisted of Frankie Stevens, Fiona McDonald and Paul Ellis.

The competition was tough in the final few rounds of NZ Idol I but it was finally whittled down to the top ten. Nine of these were voted in by the public through three heats (Camillia Temple, Ben Lummis and Filipo Saipani; Michael Murphy, Luke Whaanga and 'Big' Dave Houma; Robin Johnson, Sela Mahe and Eddie Gaiger). Jessie Cassin was added by the judges as a wildcard. Ben Lummis eventually won the competition despite being in the bottom 3 in the first, third and fourth round of the competition, while Michael Murphy who eventually came second in the season had not been in the bottom 3 at all. Camillia Temple, the oldest contestant at 28, who had been a favourite to win, ended up in third place.

Ben Lummis released his idol-winning single "They Can't Take That Away" which spent 7 weeks at #1, selling over 40,000 units. His Album 'One Road' debuted at #1 on the album charts, selling over 30,000 copies. His second single, "I Love You Love Me" failed to make radio playlists and the single was shelved. His video for the single, however, did play on video music channels.

Second-placed finalist Michael Murphy later went on to release his first single 'So Damn Beautiful' which debuted at #1 on the NZ chart, while his album went gold. He has also released two further singles, which failed to chart. He is currently working with his band 'Five Star Fallout'. Sela Mahe appeared as a co-presenter on the TV2 kids show 'Studio 2' in 2005 but did not come back in 2006. She is currently dating fellow contestant and winner of NZ idol Ben Lummis.

[edit] Bottom three statistics

Date	Bottom Three
March 15	Filipo Saipani	Eddie Gaiger	Ben Lummis
March 22	Sela Mahe	Robin Johnson	Jessie Cassin
March 29	Jessie Cassin (2)	Eddie Gaiger (2)	Ben Lummis(2)
April 5	Robin Johnson(2)	Eddie Gaiger (3)	Ben Lummis (3)
April 12	Eddie Gaiger(4)	Luke Whaanga	Dave Houma
	Bottom Two
April 19	Dave Houma(2)	Camillia Temple
April 26	Luke Whaanga(3)	Camillia Temple(2)
	Final Three
May 3	Camillia Temple(3)
May 10	Michael Murphy	Ben Lummis

[edit] Season two

Auditions for the second series of NZ Idol began in June 2005. The show was once again hosted by Dominic Bowden, with Jackie Clarke replacing Fiona McDonald, who was pregnant with her first child, as one of the three judges. The 9 that got in by public vote were: Nik Carlson, Frank Andrews, Jesse O'Brien, Rosita Vai, Rongo Brightwell, Keshia Paulse and Shelley Paikea. Teresa Bergman, failed to make the top 9, eventually being asked back by the judges in the wildcard, and winning the wildcard vote. Keshia Paulse, who was one of the favourites to win the competition was voted out unexpectedly in the second round. Rosita Vai was the eventual winner of NZ Idol 2 and the first female contestant to win the competition. Rosita had not been in the bottom 3 in the whole season. Nik Carlson from Masterton, came second, while Steven Broad finished in third place.

Rosita released her single 'All I Ask' which spent 2 weeks at #1 and went platinum. However her debut album 'Golden' only reached #15 without being certified and spent only 3 weeks in the top 40 album chart.

In 2006 Ashley Cooper has enjoyed success with her single 'I Want You' debuting at #19, eventually peaking at #11 on physical sales and very little airplay.

While these singers got to high places, there were many wannabe applicants that did poorly. One of note was a certain Liz Shaw, who came not just to audition but to also try and take over host Dominic Bowden's presenting job only to spectacularly fail.

The series once again proved a ratings hit in New Zealand, but Sony BMG were reportedly unhappy with the format and reviewed their role in the program.

[edit] Bottom three statistics

Date	Bottom Three
August 22	Shelley Paikea	Ashley Cooper	Nik Carlson
August 29	Keshia Paulse	Nik Carlson(2)	Teresa Bergman
September 5	Ashley Cooper(2)	Frank Andrews	Steven Broad
September 12	Frank Andrews(2)	Rongo Brightwell	Steven Broad(2)
September 19	Rongo Brightwell(2)	Jesse O'Brien	Steven Broad(3)
	Bottom Two
September 26	Teresa Bergman(2)	Jesse O'Brien(2)
October 3	Jesse O'Brien(3)	Nik Carlson(3)
	Final Three
October 10	Steven Broad(4)
October 17	Nik Carlson	Rosita Vai

[edit] Season three

The third season of NZ Idol began screening in July, 2006. Dominic Bowden returned as host, and judges Paul Ellis and Jackie Clarke were replaced by Iain Stables, a popular radio dj from the ZM station, and Megan Alatini, a former member of girlgroup TrueBliss, the first band created from the popular TV show Popstars. This left Frankie Stevens as the only original judge. In addition to a recording contract, in series 3 contestestants are also in the running for a cash prize of $50,000 and a Daihatsu SUV. The maximum age limit to enter was increased from 28 to 30. Another key difference in the third season is the inclusion of a live band in the top ten shows. On May 31, 2006, South Pacific Pictures announced that SonyBMG was to discontinue its association with NZ Idol.^[1]

On 21st August the top 9 was officially announced. Aroha Robinson, Ashlee Fisher, Clinton Randell, Indira Moala, Kali Kopae, Matthew Saunoa, Rebecca Wright, Victor Sulfa and Toni Baird. On the same night the 3 wildcards were announced. The host, Dominic Bowden stated that the viewers had 12 hours to choice their 10th person to make up the final 10. The 3 wildcards were: Ben Hazlewood, Lenken Issac and Wiremu Hohaia. On 22nd August Ben Hazlewood won the wildcard vote. It had been announced that the top 10 was not going to release a top 10 track, like previous seasons.

On 29th October Matthew Saunoa won the compeition without falling into the bottom 2/ 3 throughout the whole season. Although betting agency Centrebet had Indira Moala favourite to win [1]. His debut single "Hold Out" was written by James Reid from The Feelers. The single charted at #1 in the first week, but failed to reach gold status (at least 5,000 copies sold), and dropped the following week to #3.

[edit] Bottom three statistics

Date	Bottom Three
August 28	Victor Sulfa	Ashlee Fisher	Toni Baird
	Bottom Two
September 4	Ashlee Fisher (2)	Kali Kopae
September 11	Clinton Randell	Kali Kopae (2)
September 18	Rebecca Wright	Indira Moala
September 25	Toni Baird (2)	Ben Hazlewood
October 2	Kali Kopae (3)	Aroha Robinson
October 9	Ben Hazlewood (2)	Aroha Robinson (2)
	Final Three
October 16	Aroha Robinson (3)
October 29	Indira Moala (2)	Matthew Saunoa

[edit] Future of NZ Idol

TVNZ has not announced whether they would renew the show for a fourth season [2].

[edit] Criticism

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Critics have suggested that contestents in all seasons have not been as musically strong as Idol performers from American Idol or Australian Idol, and have referred to the performances as 'karaoke'.

Complaints have been made in regards to a variety of production issues including the lack of a live band in seasons one and two, the lighting and the sound quality.

Concerns have also been expressed about the apparent lack of ongoing opportunities for Idols after the show.

Various New Zealand musicians have openly criticised the show, and refused invitations to appear on it. ^[2] Bic Runga stated that she would rather lick the inside of a toilet bowl than appear on Idol.

TV Guide stated that the show had lost around 100,000 viewers since the first series, and that "if NZ Idol was a horse, you would have to shoot it. It really is that lame". ^[3]

[edit] NZ Idol in the charts

[edit] DVD

• (2004) NZ Idol 1 - Greatest Moments - #4 NZ

[edit] Albums

• (2004) NZ Idol: The Final 10 - Homegrown - #3 NZ (Gold)
• (2004) Ben Lummis - One Road - #1 NZ (2 weeks) (4x Platinum)
• (2004) Michael Murphy - No Place To Land - #22 NZ (Gold)
• (2005) Rosita Vai - Golden - #15 NZ

[edit] Singles

Date	Artist	Title	NZ Chart	Accreditation
2004	NZ Idol: Final 10	"Yesterday Was Just The Beginning Of My Life"	#4	Gold
2004	Ben Lummis	"They Can't Take That Away"	#1 (7 weeks)	4x Platinum
2004	Ben Lummis	"I Love You Love Me"	-	-
2004	Jessie Cassin	"Another Suitcase In Another Hall"	-	-
2004	Michael Murphy	"So Damn Beautiful"	#1 (1 week)	Gold
2005	Michael Murphy	"Music Without A Song"	-	-
2005	Michael Murphy	"How Good Does It Feel?"	-	-
2006	Ben Lummis	"Gotta Move"	TBA	TBA
From Season two:
2005	NZ Idol 2: Final 10	"Dedicated To The One I Love"	#5	-
2005	Rosita Vai	"All I Ask"	#1 (2 weeks)	2x Platinum
2005	Rosita Vai	"Golden"	-	-
2005	Nik Carlson	"I Believe In A Thing Called Love"	-	-
2006	Ashley Cooper	"I Want You"	#11	-
From Season three:
2006	Matthew Saunoa	"Hold Out"	#1 (1 week)

[edit] References

1. ^ Trevett, Claire. "Record giant scratches NZ Idol", The New Zealand Herald, June 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
2. ^ Cook, Stephen. "Kiwi music stars snub NZ Idol", The New Zealand Herald, September 2, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
3. ^ Template error: argument title is required.

[edit] External links

• NZ Idol - Official Site
• NZ Idol - at the Internet Movie Database