Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast to take that right. Hey, guys,
Speaker 1: welcome back to TV Reload. I want to apologize I've
Speaker 1: been of its slack this week. The episodes are a
Speaker 1: little bit backlogged, but I've got some amazing content coming
Speaker 1: up over the next few days, so stick around for that.
Speaker 1: But today we are talking to Kiani Andrea, this week's
Speaker 1: eliminated singers from Australian Idol on Channel seven. Twenty years
Speaker 1: after Guy Sebastian pipped Shannon Nolda become Australia's first Idol,
Speaker 1: the International starmaking reality TV Sensation has returned to Channel
Speaker 1: seven and seven plus and if you aren't watching, you
Speaker 1: were missing out on some sensational television. With the top
Speaker 1: twelve losing two of the most talked about contestants in
Speaker 1: that first week. Each week since then has been very
Speaker 1: hectic and very unpredictable on who is going to go home. Today,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting with Kiani Andrea to get all the goss
Speaker 1: on their time in the competition. We will unpack how
Speaker 1: Kiani's age affected her time on Australian Idol. Drea will
Speaker 1: talk about the judges and if a younger arts us
Speaker 1: with experience in launching music with social media like TikTok,
Speaker 1: could be added to the lineup of judges. Both girls
Speaker 1: will discuss who they think is going to win the competition,
Speaker 1: and I will also ask about that secret relationship that's
Speaker 1: happening behind the scenes, plus how the show might have
Speaker 1: been affected with their never being two separate singing groups
Speaker 1: and the Top twelve always singing together. There's so much
Speaker 1: to unpack today with the girls, and they're really genuine
Speaker 1: and lovely to talk to. So sit back and relax
Speaker 1: as we dive just that little bit deeper into the
Speaker 1: world of Australian Idol. Hi girls, So excited to have
Speaker 1: you both here to talk about Australian Idol. Drea, I
Speaker 1: want to know what has the interaction been like with
Speaker 1: the public so far.
Speaker 2: I've actually had a lot more younger kids approaching me
Speaker 2: with their parents.
Speaker 3: Which has been really really sweet, and even online as well.
Speaker 2: I get a lot of messages from kids being like
Speaker 2: we love watching you and like we're supporting you, and
Speaker 2: we've got everyone in our school watching and I have
Speaker 2: loved that and I think I obviously try and respond
Speaker 2: to everybody. I do stually respond to everybody because it's
Speaker 2: just like, this is what I do it for. Like
Speaker 2: I love I love teaching kids. I love sewing into
Speaker 2: the next generation. So to have that connection with them,
Speaker 2: even in the public is really nice.
Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting that you talk about the younger people
Speaker 1: coming up to you and talking to you about this
Speaker 1: experience on the show KEWNTI. You're actually seventeen, the youngest
Speaker 1: contestant that was still in the competition. What's it been like,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a huge talking point. Is it harder
Speaker 1: to sing up against people that are a little bit
Speaker 1: older than you?
Speaker 4: It definitely was interesting. Like one of the things that
Speaker 4: I think was quite hard for me was seeing that
Speaker 4: I was so young. You know, everyone's so much older,
Speaker 4: They've had more experiences and like I don't mean just
Speaker 4: in music, I mean like in life, you know, so
Speaker 4: you know there's times where they would want to go
Speaker 4: out and drink and party and you know I couldn't go.
Speaker 4: So there was times like that that was hard, being
Speaker 4: you know, underage and being young. But overall, like everyone
Speaker 4: was so sweet and they you know, they treated me
Speaker 4: so well and cared for me and stuff, so it
Speaker 4: was really great.
Speaker 1: Have you made lifelong friends out of these people?
Speaker 4: I definitely have. You know, like there was a few
Speaker 4: people that, you know, some people you would struggle to
Speaker 4: kind of get really well along with. You know, like
Speaker 4: everyone was so sweet and I loved everyone, but there
Speaker 4: was those few people that you got really close with
Speaker 4: and then those people that you talk.
Speaker 1: To, Yeah, you kind of get bonded together in this
Speaker 1: really extreme way, and you know, I can tell you
Speaker 1: that they'll probably be friends with you for the rest
Speaker 1: of your life because no one will really understand the
Speaker 1: experience like the other people that were around you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly, Like it was really great and you know,
Speaker 4: having all that support as well.
Speaker 1: So you know, girls, they say that Idle is less
Speaker 1: about creating TV moments like the Voice and more about
Speaker 1: singing that allows us to see your personalities. Do you
Speaker 1: think Australia has got a real chance or a real
Speaker 1: depiction of who you both really are.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's kind of something that I struggled with a
Speaker 4: lot on the show, just the fact that trying to
Speaker 4: show my full personality and who I am to Australia,
Speaker 4: but you know, people thought I was a bit young.
Speaker 1: Drea, do you feel the same way or do you
Speaker 1: feel like Australia got to know you quite well?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Australia got to see who I am
Speaker 2: as a person. What you see is what you're going
Speaker 2: to get. Like, I'm a bit weird, a bit quirky,
Speaker 2: that is me, and as an artist, I want to
Speaker 2: stay true to that. Like I can be very serious
Speaker 2: and diplomatic when I need to be, I can be
Speaker 2: very emotional at times, and then I can just be me.
Speaker 1: Drea, can you say why you would pick being on
Speaker 1: Australian Idol over doing the Voice or one of the
Speaker 1: other singing shows.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I think there's such a legacy behind Australian Idol
Speaker 2: and how it's impacted the music industry in Australia. And
Speaker 2: for me, like I grew up listening to Guy Sebastian
Speaker 2: and like I bought well, I didn't, my dad bought
Speaker 2: his first CD. And then like I watched Ricky Lee's Journey,
Speaker 2: and then I watched Jessica Nowboy's Journey and like, because
Speaker 2: I met her last year at a gig that we
Speaker 2: both did together, Like it was just like that connection
Speaker 2: was just there. And then Stan Walker absolutely Adored's well,
Speaker 2: so I was kind of like, oh, it would be really.
Speaker 3: Cool to be a part of that history.
Speaker 2: So my heart, I mean, I was like I could
Speaker 2: go on any of them, but my heart was really
Speaker 2: leaning towards Australian at all.
Speaker 1: I actually always want to know from contestants how they
Speaker 1: feel during the night. Did you guys have any idea
Speaker 1: if you were going to be the people being eliminated?
Speaker 1: Did you, Kiani have any idea that that was going
Speaker 1: to be your last week singing?
Speaker 4: To be honest, like I had a really good feeling
Speaker 4: that I was going to be in the bottom four,
Speaker 4: and even like being in the bottom two, I was
Speaker 4: a little bit like I felt like a little bit
Speaker 4: that was going to happen. But there was like a
Speaker 4: slither of hope where I was just like, you know what,
Speaker 4: maybe I can power through this, but no, it's okay.
Speaker 3: I can't know. Had a feeling and then when they
Speaker 3: called the bottom four, I felt peace in my heart.
Speaker 2: I was like it's okay, Like you were fine, You've
Speaker 2: done what you've needed to do, You've achieved more than
Speaker 2: you set out to do, have fun, enjoy the rest
Speaker 2: of it, and then we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: I thought you did such a good job. I mean,
Speaker 1: these judges have big personalities and they've got a lot
Speaker 1: to say. How did you go being critiqued by these people?
Speaker 1: Did you get scared of Kyle Sandalanz? Did you connect
Speaker 1: with Amy? Like what was your interpretation of having to
Speaker 1: perform and then get their critiques?
Speaker 4: It was so cool, you know, like I've always been
Speaker 4: such a fan of Amy, and you know, the first edition,
Speaker 4: I was definitely really scared to meet Kyle because of
Speaker 4: the things you hear and see, but he is such
Speaker 4: a great guy. Like honestly, everyone's so sweet, and especially Marsha,
Speaker 4: Like I'm not gonna lie. Being so young, I wasn't
Speaker 4: exactly too sure who she was at the very beginning,
Speaker 4: you know, I was kind of like Marsia heines, I
Speaker 4: know her, but I don't know of her. So it
Speaker 4: was great, Like they was so sweet and they had
Speaker 4: great things to say, and it it was good.
Speaker 1: Well what do you think of Marsha now? Is she
Speaker 1: your bestie?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 3: Do you love her?
Speaker 4: She's so sweet and so genuine and like even she
Speaker 4: has so much hope for me as well, Like she'd
Speaker 4: talk to me a little bit offset as well, and now.
Speaker 4: She always said to me, age doesn't matter, like she
Speaker 4: came to show at sixteen, and she really believes in me.
Speaker 2: So Miss marsh I would say, is her career has
Speaker 2: spanned for so long and she's seen the changes, but
Speaker 2: she's still incredible in her own right.
Speaker 1: If if that makes sense, does make sense. Something that
Speaker 1: probably didn't make as much sense to some of the
Speaker 1: viewers and to me was the decision to put you
Speaker 1: guys into two separate groups. I wanted to know from you, Drea,
Speaker 1: did do you think that the order on the elimination
Speaker 1: would be the same if you'd all been put into
Speaker 1: a top twelve as opposed to being separated.
Speaker 2: I think what we can learn from this whole series
Speaker 2: is like the shocks and eliminations that happened the first
Speaker 2: week with Ripley and Imagen kind of just proved to
Speaker 2: me that anything can happen.
Speaker 3: So I feel if we had all twelve together, people
Speaker 3: would say.
Speaker 2: Would be a level playing field and we would have
Speaker 2: had different a different top six, But I honestly cannot say.
Speaker 2: I think it was whoever was going to go, was
Speaker 2: going to go kind of thing regardless of the two groups.
Speaker 1: I get the feeling though, with Dylan being in the
Speaker 1: bottom this time and being as popular as he is,
Speaker 1: I wonder whether next week he'll get a lot more votes.
Speaker 1: I actually feel like that's going to help him in
Speaker 1: a way get to the finale, is that we've kind
Speaker 1: of been scared that he's going to go.
Speaker 4: I think so too. He's such an amazing artist. I
Speaker 4: really hope he does get through again. He deserves it
Speaker 4: so much. And yeah, I think it was a big
Speaker 4: scared to Dylan fans because you know, everyone wasn't expecting it,
Speaker 4: Like you should have seen our face drop, Like he
Speaker 4: was honestly the last person I would think that would
Speaker 4: be in the bottom pool.
Speaker 3: So it was crazy.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think everyone will definitely vote for him.
Speaker 3: More now, like you never know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2: And that shocked me seeing Dylan in the bottom four
Speaker 2: because he's an absolutely incredible artist and an incredible human
Speaker 2: being for that fact as well. And yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that will definitely. I think we're all starting to learn
Speaker 2: our lessons that you actually have to vote to keep
Speaker 2: people in this competition.
Speaker 3: If we didn't know that before, how well did.
Speaker 1: You know The song Rush, which was by Troy Sevin
Speaker 1: because as far as group performances go, So I actually
Speaker 1: feel like that you guys nailed that one. The best
Speaker 1: is that because that song was more known to all
Speaker 1: of you, Like, what's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2: Like, it wasn't something that I knew personally, But as
Speaker 2: soon as we were given that song and I just
Speaker 2: heard it was a dance chin, I was all amongst it.
Speaker 3: I was like, I love this, this is right up
Speaker 3: my alley. I'm ready to party with it. And it
Speaker 3: was so much fun. And it's cool because it is
Speaker 3: very modern.
Speaker 4: You know, all the other groups songs we've done, they're
Speaker 4: more older, you know, like I didn't really know Freedom.
Speaker 4: I didn't know was the other one straight Lines?
Speaker 1: Yeah, great lines. Yeah, it's my favorite song of all time.
Speaker 1: So really yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well I wasn't too sure about those ones. But Rush,
Speaker 4: you know, like that's that's in my generation. Like even
Speaker 4: Amy was really funny. When we first heard that song.
Speaker 4: We were all thinking, what is that song because we
Speaker 4: didn't know about the name, and Amy just starts going, ah,
Speaker 4: I feel the Rush, and everyone just starts singing and
Speaker 4: we're all like, we know this song. We finally know
Speaker 4: this song.
Speaker 1: Well, I think being a little bit younger, and we
Speaker 1: think about like the people that and the artists that,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the judges are a little bit older.
Speaker 1: Could you imagine maybe a younger panel, like do you
Speaker 1: think Troy Savann would work? Who's cool at the moment?
Speaker 1: Who do you think would be a good judge on
Speaker 1: this show?
Speaker 4: Oh Man, Noah Kahan, if he was a judge, I
Speaker 4: think I'd have a bloody great chance, to be honest.
Speaker 4: I love Noah Kahan, so him. Even the younger generations
Speaker 4: they love him too well. Tash Sultana, Yeah, I'm just
Speaker 4: listing my favorite artists at this right.
Speaker 1: This is really showing my age because I don't know
Speaker 1: who the hell you're talking about.
Speaker 4: So oh, you should listen to them. They're so good.
Speaker 1: It's interesting when you talk about artists and you talk
Speaker 1: about how people are getting music out these days, it's
Speaker 1: almost worth having someone like Troy Sevan or a person
Speaker 1: who's used TikTok or other social media platforms to get
Speaker 1: their music up. Do you think it's worth putting a
Speaker 1: judge maybe on the panel that's maybe using some of
Speaker 1: these modern ways to get music out. I don't know,
Speaker 1: what do you think Treya.
Speaker 3: I honestly, I kind of agree with you there.
Speaker 2: I feel like, with the way that entertainment is changing,
Speaker 2: sometimes we need to change our viewpoint as well to
Speaker 2: support that. But again, you don't want to lose the
Speaker 2: essence and the realness in what people have done prior,
Speaker 2: which is why I respect someone like Marsha so much.
Speaker 1: What I thought was really funny about watching last night
Speaker 1: was Ricky Lee. Ricky Lee has been through this competition before.
Speaker 1: Did you learn much from Ricky throughout the season?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know, like I've always known Ricky just
Speaker 4: like watching her own stuff, and like even people I
Speaker 4: get people commenting saying that I'm like a young Ricky Lee.
Speaker 1: You rather young Ricky Lee.
Speaker 4: People are saying that, and like even the fact that
Speaker 4: she went out in top eight and now I've gone
Speaker 4: out in Palpe, It's just like, oh my god, she
Speaker 4: had such a cool performance. Like even the fire, the
Speaker 4: fire was insane last night, So.
Speaker 1: I'd be distracted by that fire, That's all I can say.
Speaker 1: The fire would be a little bit distracted. I'd be
Speaker 1: worried that I'd singe myself.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, sane.
Speaker 4: I would have tripped over and probably landed on it
Speaker 4: so to her.
Speaker 3: The first time I met her and I.
Speaker 2: Looked at her and I was like, if I could
Speaker 2: have a dream job or have a dream career, it
Speaker 2: would be hers.
Speaker 3: She still gets to release music.
Speaker 2: She's a radio host, which is so cool, and she's
Speaker 2: a TV show host.
Speaker 3: People know if you say Ricky Lee in Australia, people
Speaker 3: know who.
Speaker 2: She is, and that is a testament to how hard
Speaker 2: she works and the amazing art that she puts out.
Speaker 2: Watching her on stage yesterday was mind blowing. I was
Speaker 2: just gobsmacked. First of all, she's gorgeous address slade, but
Speaker 2: her voice and you could just like the lyrics that
Speaker 2: she's singing like on my own.
Speaker 3: It's such a oh, how do I even explain this?
Speaker 3: Like her journey and I feel.
Speaker 2: Like we've got out at the same spot in the competition,
Speaker 2: So I would really resonate with that, being like she's
Speaker 2: been in the industry, she's had all the management and
Speaker 2: the contract and now she's completely independent.
Speaker 3: She's doing it on her own and she's still killing it.
Speaker 3: So it just goes to show that like her.
Speaker 2: Careers spanned over twenty years, she's had the ups and downs,
Speaker 2: but she's she's still at the peak of her career
Speaker 2: because she's just worked hard, she's just kept going. So
Speaker 2: I was like, I am an ore of you right now,
Speaker 2: and I like, I'm so glad to have met her
Speaker 2: and like to have her in my corner and having
Speaker 2: her encourage me as well, being like you got this,
Speaker 2: I keep going.
Speaker 1: It was it was beautiful, so beautiful. And that CD
Speaker 1: on my own is out now and I believe it's
Speaker 1: doing very well on the charts. You know something that
Speaker 1: we're all talking about in the media. I think Kyle
Speaker 1: Sandy Lands has put a bounty on this is the
Speaker 1: secret romance that apparently is happening behind the scenes. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's okay to ask you guys this,
Speaker 1: but what are your thoughts? What can you tell me?
Speaker 1: Who is having the secret romance?
Speaker 3: Oh? No, Ben, don't do this.
Speaker 4: Sorry, this is gonna hurt so much.
Speaker 3: But no, I.
Speaker 4: Don't know anything.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well you're no good, Drea? What about you? Can
Speaker 1: you help me out? I know that you've been on
Speaker 1: Kyle and Jackie. Oh did they ask you? I got
Speaker 1: tweety's been asked about. Everyone's being asked. Surely you can
Speaker 1: tell me something, Kyle asked again.
Speaker 3: He was like, what what's the gas? And I was like,
Speaker 3: there's no gass, Just focus on the shot.
Speaker 1: No, No, this is what we live for. This is
Speaker 1: what people live for. They want to hear the stuff
Speaker 1: from behind the scenes. I think everyone likes to be
Speaker 1: their own private investigator. I have a feeling that it's Trent,
Speaker 1: and I think it's Trent with someone else. But you know,
Speaker 1: speaking of Trent, he's kind of got the popular vote.
Speaker 1: How do you think he's going in the competition at
Speaker 1: this stage? I mean, I don't think he had the
Speaker 1: best voice to start with, but he's charisma his personality.
Speaker 1: Do you think that's going to help him win the show?
Speaker 4: You know, you brings so much stuff to his performance
Speaker 4: as well, like you know, like even Amios says, he
Speaker 4: hasn't got the strongest voice, but as a person and
Speaker 4: as a performer, he's great. He's so good.
Speaker 1: Well, he's got all of those camels voting for him
Speaker 1: as well, remember and.
Speaker 3: All the girls.
Speaker 4: He's got all the girls voting for him.
Speaker 3: To do that.
Speaker 1: Drea, what what is the plan moving forward? Looking at
Speaker 1: your time after Australian Idol has come to an end,
Speaker 1: what do we to expect to see from you.
Speaker 2: For me, I think I'm going to just go heavy
Speaker 2: on the writing again. I've been taking a bit of
Speaker 2: a break from that, and when I get the chance too,
Speaker 2: I'm going to start up my gigs again in Perth
Speaker 2: and then I'll go back to speaking at schools, maybe
Speaker 2: not just in Wa but maybe across Australia now, which
Speaker 2: would be amazing. And I'm looking forward to going back
Speaker 2: and teaching my students my babies, I missed them so much,
Speaker 2: and maybe doing little tutorial sessions and just you know,
Speaker 2: giving people advice. I'm all for the people I love,
Speaker 2: encouraging the next generation, older generations whoever. So yeah, my
Speaker 2: career is very multifaceted. It's not just music music music.
Speaker 1: Well, guys, I actually think both of you have amazing
Speaker 1: careers to look forward to moving out of Australian idol,
Speaker 1: which you know, a lot of these singing shows are
Speaker 1: a bit of an invitation to a much much bigger career. Kiani,
Speaker 1: I want to know from you. Can you tell me
Speaker 1: who you think is going to win?
Speaker 4: I hope my guesses. I reckon Amy has a really
Speaker 4: really high chance. She's amazing, and you know, like what
Speaker 4: you see of her on TV is the exact person
Speaker 4: she is in real life, which is so important, you know,
Speaker 4: like you want to stay true to yourself through the
Speaker 4: whole show, and she's definitely done that. And yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: like all Australia loves her. We love her, So I
Speaker 4: really hope that she wins.
Speaker 1: Drea, any chance, so you can tell me who you
Speaker 1: think is going to win the show.
Speaker 3: I think it'll be between Dylan and Amy.
Speaker 1: Well, it sounds like everybody is in an agreement with
Speaker 1: Dylan and Amy being in the final two. Who knows.
Speaker 1: I mean, we've seen a series full of shocks. I
Speaker 1: do hope that Dylan wins, but I'm slowly coming towards
Speaker 1: the party of Amy. Maybe we need a female Idol
Speaker 1: winner this year.
Speaker 3: I think we should. It would be great, We need it, Drea.
Speaker 1: I want to finish the podcast with you, what is
Speaker 1: something with some question that I ask everyone who joins
Speaker 1: the podcast. What is something from behind the scenes, something
Speaker 1: that we didn't get a chance to see, kind of
Speaker 1: like a behind the scenes secret from what it's like
Speaker 1: to be on Australian Idol in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: I think I think I'd have to say that the
Speaker 2: friendships that you see on screen are.
Speaker 3: Even more genuine behind the scenes.
Speaker 2: If you ever come into well we ever let a
Speaker 2: camera into the talent hold, a lot of us are
Speaker 2: dancing on tables and franking each other and throwing.
Speaker 3: Kermit around and just having a good old time.
Speaker 1: Kermit of a code for trend chase.
Speaker 2: So the literal kerments at okay, great, no, no, oh gosh,
Speaker 2: that that could be a biscuitstrut.
Speaker 3: No, but yeah, we are all like genuine friends and
Speaker 3: like we supported each other.
Speaker 2: So much, like even when people are having a bad day,
Speaker 2: we kind of like look at them and they're like,
Speaker 2: what do you need? And we genuinely love each other
Speaker 2: and support each other. And it's been the most amazing
Speaker 2: experience to have those friendships on and off camera. And yeah,
Speaker 2: everybody on crew is amazing and I lost them all.
Speaker 1: Kiani. I'm so excited to put this chat out on
Speaker 1: the podcast so people can hear from you. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm in your audience. I can't wait to see what
Speaker 1: you do next.
Speaker 4: Thank you for thank you for talking to me.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me