James Mathison

James Mathison (born 14 January 1978) is an Australian television presenter.

Biography

Mathison was born in Sydney, New South Wales and grew up in the northern Sydney suburb of Frenchs Forest. He attended St. Augustine's College, in Brookvale. After leaving school, he worked in various jobs, including working in a warehouse for a mail-order company and as a cashier at a service station, before spending a year on exchange in South America.

In 2001, James Mathison was a contestant on the Channel Ten reality TV show The $20 Challenge, during which he was shown busking on the streets of London for extra money. He achieved second place in the contest. Weeks after returning from London, he auditioned for pay-TV channel Channel [V]'s new reporter search. After making it through to the final 8, he was offered a job there as video journalist.

In 2003, Mathison was appointed co-host of Australian Idol alongside Channel [V] host Andrew G. They created a behind the scenes show for Channel [V] called Australian Idol Extra for the second and third seasons of the programme. On 31 March 2009, after six years with Australian Idol, it was announced Mathison had quit as co-host.

Ricki-Lee Coulter

Ricki-Lee Dawn Coulter (born 10 November 1985), also known mononymously as Ricki-Lee, is an Australian singer, songwriter, television and radio presenter. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, grew up on the Gold Coast, Queensland and began performing at the age of 15. In 2004, she auditioned for the second season of Australian Idol and placed seventh in the finals round. She subsequently signed with Australian independent label Shock Records, and released her self-titled debut album Ricki-Lee in 2005, which yielded the top-ten singles "Hell No!" and "Sunshine". Both songs were certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The following year, Coulter became a member of Australian all-girl pop group Young Divas, before leaving in early 2007 to resume her solo music career.

Coulter's second album Brand New Day was released in 2007 and was certified gold. The album included the top-ten singles "Love Is All Around", "Can't Sing a Different Song" and "Can't Touch It", the latter became a platinum seller. Coulter's first compilation album titled The Singles was released in 2008, with the top-twenty lead single "Wiggle It". In May 2011, she ended her contract with Shock Records and signed with major label EMI. Coulter's third album Fear & Freedom (2012) debuted at number seven and became her first top-ten album. It included the top-twenty singles "Raining Diamonds" and "Do It Like That", which were both certified platinum. "Do It Like That" earned Coulter her first ARIA Music Award nomination for Song of the Year. Her fourth album Dance in the Rain was released in 2014 and became her second top-twenty album.

Marcia Hines

Marcia Elaine Hines, AM (born 20 July 1953 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA), is an Australian vocalist, actress and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. She achieved her greatest commercial successes as a recording artist during the late 1970s with several hit singles, including cover versions of "Fire and Rain", "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", "You" and "Something's Missing (In My Life)"; and her Top Ten albums Marcia Shines, Shining and Ladies and Gentlemen. Hines was voted "Queen of Pop" by TV Week's readers for three consecutive years from 1976.

Hines stopped recording in the early 1980s until she returned with Right Here and Now in 1994, the same year she became an Australian citizen. She was the subject of the 2001 biography Diva: the life of Marcia Hines which coincided with the release of the compilation album Diva. Since 2003 she has been a judge on Australian Idol, and her elevated profile led to a renewed interest in her as a performer. Her 2006 album, Discotheque, peaked at number 6 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums chart.

Australian Idol

Australian Idol was an Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Australian Idol was televised on Network Ten for all seven series, and was broadcast on the Southern Cross Austereo Radio Network between 2005 and 2007. The program would follow a similar format to the earlier live talent performance show Young Talent Time, with on-screen judges, the main difference being the public could vote on contestants, and did not have a regular rotating cast.

The show

Australian Idol sought to discover the most commercial young singer in Australia through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition were determined by public voting. The original judging panel featured Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Ian 'Dicko' Dickson. In 2005, this was changed as Dicko was replaced by Kyle Sandilands.

Australian Idol (season 5)

The fifth season of Australian Idol premiered on 5 August 2007 on Network Ten. It concluded on 25 November.

Overview

Format changes

The series was again hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison, with Ian "Dicko" Dickson returning to the show as one of the judges, along with Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands. The show continued with the new format from Season 4, where contestants were permitted to perform original material for their audition and throughout the season, and play instruments as part of their performances.

Ratings

The premiere episode of the 2007 series had 1.65 million viewers, making it the show's second highest rating series opener and 270,000 ahead of last year. The show was in the top ten most viewed shows for the early part of the series and eventually dropped to around number eighteen and nineteen for quite some time due to hot competition from Channel 7's Kath & Kim. The season was on a low compared to Season 4. The Top 5 performance show marked the re-commencement of higher ratings for the program and it reached number nine.

Australian Idol (season 3)

The third season of Australian Idol debuted on 26 July 2005. The first of three semi-finals was held on 16 August 2005 with three of the Final 12 contenders announced the following night on 17 August 2005. 2Day FM radio host Kyle Sandilands replaced former judge Ian Dickson.

Overview

For the first time in Australian Idol history, thirteen contestants instead of twelve, made it to the weekly finals rounds. As in past years, the Wildcard show would give a further three contestants a spot in the Final Twelve - two chosen by the judges and one by the Australian public. Following the "second-chance" wildcard performance show the previous night, on 5 September 2005, the judges choices were James Kannis and Emily Williams. The public choice was then revealed to be Daniel Spillane. However, it was also revealed a very marginal difference of less than 1% between the next highest voted contestant, Roxane LeBrasse, and the judges deciding that Roxane was too good to be left out of the Top 12, made it a Top 13. Unfortunately this would mean, the elimination of two people with the lowest votes, the following week.

Osher Günsberg

Osher Günsberg (born Andrew Günsberg on 29 March 1974), widely recognised by his former stage name Andrew G, is an English-born Australian television and radio presenter who is best known as the host of the reality series Australian Idol. He is also known for his hosting roles on Channel [V], Live to Dance on CBS and radio shows including Take 40 Australia and The Hot Hits.

Günsberg also narrated the factual television programs Bondi Rescue and Recruits. He is a regular contributor to The Project.

In 2013, he began hosting the Australian version of reality television series The Bachelor.

Early life

At four months of age, Günsberg moved to Adelaide and then to Brisbane, where he spent most of his youth and attended St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace. He had an intense interest in music from a young age, playing in school orchestras, and performing in barbershop quartets and school musicals. In his youth, he learned to read and write music, and to play the bass and double bass, attending music school on the weekends, as well as studying for a year at South Brisbane TAFE where he completed an Advanced Diploma of Contemporary Music majoring in performance.