Last week’s Australian Idol episodes have reinforced the commercial and cultural pull of local music, with the show’s judges citing strong audience engagement as evidence of its ongoing importance to both the industry and viewers.
Seven Network’s “Aussie Music Week” delivered the show’s biggest audiences to date. Sunday night’s episode reached 1.79 million nationally, with an average audience of 938,000, up 8% week-on-week, alongside a 65% lift on 7plus.
Monday’s episode, which hooked 922,000 viewers, was up 6% year-on-year, including a 96% jump on 7plus. Tuesday’s live results show that they scored an 87% year-on-year lift.
“I think the reason the show with all Australian songs struck such a chord with audiences is that music is the tapestry of our lives,” Marcia Hines told The Music Network. Everyone has lived one of those songs at some point, whether they’ve broken up to it, celebrated with it, or turned to it during a moment in their life. That’s why it resonated so strongly this week.”
A number of classic songs were performed on the episode, including John Farnham’s A Touch of Paradise, Olivia Newton-John’s Hopelessly Devoted to You, Bachelor Girl’s Buses and Trains, and The Living End’s White Noise.
“I think Aussie music just connects because it feels really honest, people see themselves in it,” Amy Shark said.
“This week was so fun to watch, and it was cool hearing artists put their own spin on songs we all know. It kind of reminds you how strong Australian music really is.”
Kyle Sandilands, Marcia Hines and Amy Shark.
Kyle Sandilands added: “Aussie songs just hit harder, people know them, love them, and they go off. You could feel it straight away. When you back local music, Aussies show up.”
The news comes after Australian Idol declared it was doubling down on artist development beyond the TV stage, working closely with the local music industry, including Sony Music Publishing, the Annex, and Hive Sound Studios.