Australian Idol Dumped By Ten

Australian Idol will not return in 2010. Network 10 has decided to “rest” the tired talent quest after years of falling ratings.  3.34 million people tuned in to watch Guy Sebastian become the first Australian Idol but last year the audience had dwindled to 1.4 million viewers who came to see Stan Walker win. The decision to axe Idol is a back-flip for the Ten Network after the program was announced to be part of their 2010 line-up back in October. However, ratings for the show no longer warranted the program’s high-profile time-slot and a later time-slot was not an option because of the core demographic teen audience that the show appeals to.    Ten has not completely written off the program. The network is expected to make an announcement in late 2010 to say if they decide to resurrect the show for 2011.  Australian Idol has been hit and miss over the years. mYear one in 2003 delivered long-term talent in Guy Sebastian as winner and Shannon Noll as runner-up but the next year’s winner Casey Donovan sank as soon as she left the screen. The runner-up Anthony Callea did go on to have a long career focused more on stage shows than recording.  Few will remember the 2005 winner Kate DeAraugo or the runner-up Emily Williams.  In 2006 the show was back in form with winner Damien Leith going on to produce three albums since leaving the show and runner-up Jessica Mauboy becoming one of Australia’s biggest female stars of the last few years.  Whatever happened to 2007’s Natalie Gauci and Matt Corby or 2008 runner-up Luke Dickens?  2008 winner Wes Carr has kept his profile high with live performances.  It remains to be seen how far 2009’s winner Stan Walker and runner-up Hayley Warner can go. Many of the Idol finalists have done better tha  the winners and runners-up. Rob Mills (2003), Ricki-Lee Coulter (2004) and Lisa Mitchell (2006) have all developed successful careers without winning the show.   Australian Idol did score some wins in record sales. In the ARIA Top 100 hits of the decade, Idols had 3 of the Top 5 hits. Guy Sebastian had the biggest hit of the decade with ‘Angels Brought Me Here’ followed by Anthony Callea ‘The Prayer’ at 2 and Shannon Noll ‘What About Me’ at 5.