Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. They might welcome back
Speaker 1: TV Reload listeners, thank you for clicking and downloading. On
Speaker 1: today's episode with Marsha Hines, we will be talking about
Speaker 1: her fabulous return to Australian Idol last night. You'd have
Speaker 1: to be living under a rock not to know that.
Speaker 1: Australian Idol is a singing based reality series which began
Speaker 1: its first season in twenty twenty three and ended its
Speaker 1: initial run in two thousand and nine. Having taken a
Speaker 1: break for well over a decade, Channel seven has reimagined
Speaker 1: the old format and brought the nostalgia back for all
Speaker 1: of those who grew up with Idol as their first
Speaker 1: singing based reality show. Granted, there's now The Voice an
Speaker 1: X Factor. Look, there's plenty of these, but you'd have
Speaker 1: to say this is the mother of reality based singing shows.
Speaker 1: Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was
Speaker 1: created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which has given
Speaker 1: us here in Australia artists like Guy Sebastian, Rob Mills,
Speaker 1: Courtney Act and Paulini, just to name a couple of
Speaker 1: my favorites. No matter what you heard about last year
Speaker 1: reboot of the show, I guarantee you if you watch
Speaker 1: one episode of this new series, you will be addicted.
Speaker 1: Marsha Hines returning has brought experience and insight to the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four panel that rounds out the right balance
Speaker 1: of judges, improving drastically from last year's misstep with Harry
Speaker 1: Connick Junior and Megan Trainer. This year's promising young vocalists
Speaker 1: will also sing in front of Kyle Sandalanz and Amy Shark,
Speaker 1: who have really found their feet when it comes to
Speaker 1: giving critiques on the contestants. There's so much to unpack
Speaker 1: with Marsha, from how the opportunity came up to return,
Speaker 1: who out of her former judges Mark Holden and Ian
Speaker 1: Dixon does she still speak, to how the show has
Speaker 1: changed and why some of the conflict is important to
Speaker 1: the format. I will also ask her about a relationship
Speaker 1: with Kyl Sanderlans.
Speaker 2: How could you not?
Speaker 1: And why competition based reality shows have thrown out their
Speaker 1: tired stereotype of judges. Anyway, let's bring Marsha into the podcast,
Speaker 1: So sit back and relax as we dive that little
Speaker 1: bit deeper into the world of Australian television.
Speaker 2: Hill, I'm good. How are you? I'm good?
Speaker 3: Thank you are just saying I have a doctor called
Speaker 3: Ben Norris. You're kidding, yeah, Benjamin Norris.
Speaker 2: Well that's my name. I'm Benjamin Norris.
Speaker 4: I'm aware I saw your name of I'm not. I
Speaker 4: didn't think I was going to see my doctor today.
Speaker 1: Yeah, prognosis is good, Marsha. Australian Idol is brilliant this year.
Speaker 4: So fingers crossed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I watched.
Speaker 1: The first episode and thought, wow, Idol is back, like
Speaker 1: it actually feels like it's back to glory.
Speaker 2: Day's Australian Idol. And I think, and I think it's you.
Speaker 2: I think it's because you're back.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you very much. It's very kind of you, Ben,
Speaker 4: you can stay. I think it feels good to be back.
Speaker 3: It feels you know, I keep saying everybody and I
Speaker 3: will continue.
Speaker 4: I could act really cool.
Speaker 3: About it, right, but why, I'm stoked. I'm stoked to
Speaker 3: be back. It feels right, you know, it feels good.
Speaker 3: And Amy and Kyl are doing a great job too,
Speaker 3: you know, we've got a great team.
Speaker 4: So fingers crossed It.
Speaker 1: Just goes to show you though, that the chemistry and
Speaker 1: the judges lineup needs to be so succinct and so
Speaker 1: because what happened last year was we got some phenomenal
Speaker 1: big A list names you know, a part of the show,
Speaker 1: and how exciting to bring Idle back with some of
Speaker 1: those people. However, what we learned from watching that series
Speaker 1: last year was that we need Australian.
Speaker 4: Strange to a judge Astrands.
Speaker 2: It makes sense, right.
Speaker 3: I really hope Ben that we might have some because
Speaker 3: back in the day we used to have quite a
Speaker 3: few head las Manelli, we had Liane on Richie, we.
Speaker 4: Had Sydney Lauper guests and Jamaine Jackson. Be great.
Speaker 3: If people are in town and they want to come
Speaker 3: and sit as a guest judge, it's a good thing,
Speaker 3: not a bad thing.
Speaker 2: We don't want them the whole season. We want Marsha.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you, Ben.
Speaker 2: What did the journey back to Idle look like for you?
Speaker 1: Because did they say to you last year, Look, if
Speaker 1: the show comes back in twenty twenty four, we want you.
Speaker 2: Like, well, how did that all happen?
Speaker 4: Nothing like that.
Speaker 3: So they got in touch with my management as you
Speaker 3: would last year and said would I be interested in
Speaker 3: coming back for a few shows, And of course I
Speaker 3: said yes, because I mean that's the show I love
Speaker 3: in a door, right And it helped me immensely in
Speaker 3: my career too, because it introduced me to people that
Speaker 3: didn't know who I was, you know, And so it
Speaker 3: was a good career move on my part to go
Speaker 3: and do it last year. And then we got a
Speaker 3: phone call saying that the response was outstanding and.
Speaker 4: Would I come back to do it in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 3: And I said, let me think, yeah, absolutely, I'm so pleased.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was one of those people, you know watching it
Speaker 1: last year when you had your episodes. There's I don't know,
Speaker 1: there's a humility, there's an honesty that you managed to
Speaker 1: have when it comes to talking to contestants.
Speaker 2: What is the secret? Do you meditate before you get
Speaker 2: in there?
Speaker 1: Because you're so put together and it's so well spoken,
Speaker 1: and it just feels magical to what you talk to
Speaker 1: these young people.
Speaker 3: You know, then we all lead by example. Okay, That's
Speaker 3: that's in life in general. And I had great people
Speaker 3: who helped me out as a kid, you know, because
Speaker 3: I came here at sixteen and I had people like
Speaker 3: John Waters and Reggie liver More and really famous people
Speaker 3: who I don't know. I didn't even know that they
Speaker 3: were guiding me, but I watched them and I learned
Speaker 3: from them and to me, if you're going to criticize somebody,
Speaker 3: give them something that they can take.
Speaker 4: And use in their life, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Constructive criticism is so much better than destructive, you know,
Speaker 3: because I don't know that they hear even the constructive
Speaker 3: because they're standing to be like a deer.
Speaker 4: In the headlights. But you know, you try and get
Speaker 4: through what you can and see that.
Speaker 3: You know, it's very interesting to watch idle because you
Speaker 3: actually you'll speak to the kids and you'll see this
Speaker 3: light come on when they get what you're saying, you know,
Speaker 3: and so you know, I'm just being myself and that's
Speaker 3: the easiest thing to because being yourself you don't have
Speaker 3: to remember, you know what I mean, because that's just
Speaker 3: who you are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, more people need to know that. You know,
Speaker 1: in the first episode, you have a bit of a clash.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say a clash, but you have. You know,
Speaker 1: it gets built up that way on the ads leading
Speaker 1: up to you having this conversation with Arena, who's sang
Speaker 1: holding up for a hero. I wonder whether or not
Speaker 1: people after watching that are going to be polarized by
Speaker 1: her performance and by her manner on the show.
Speaker 4: Well that's what I was trying to avoid on her part.
Speaker 3: I know what I'm seeing, but the general public is
Speaker 3: just starting to see her.
Speaker 4: And there's something to be.
Speaker 3: Said about humility and no matter what you do, even
Speaker 3: if you know you're the best in the world, stay humble.
Speaker 4: And when we.
Speaker 3: Did idle back in the day, I remember the kids
Speaker 3: said to me, what's the difference between somebody with confidence
Speaker 3: and conceit? And I said, someone with confidence you want
Speaker 3: to get to know someone conceded your size step on
Speaker 3: there it is in a nutshell, you know. And so
Speaker 3: I was just trying to sort of help this girl
Speaker 3: through this journey because it's big, you know, it's not
Speaker 3: a little journey.
Speaker 4: Ben, this is big, you know.
Speaker 3: You pluck from obscurity and placed on the screens of
Speaker 3: you know, all of Australia that are watching you. So
Speaker 3: it's important that most importantly stay constructive to who you are,
Speaker 3: not even that's not the right word, stay solid with
Speaker 3: the person that you are, don't act because if you're acting,
Speaker 3: the day you forget you're acting, people are going to
Speaker 3: see who you are.
Speaker 1: Of course a contest. It's more assertive though in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four than when you started in two thousand and three.
Speaker 3: Assertive is not the right word. I wouldn't say assertive,
Speaker 3: I'd say hip. They hip to it, you know, because
Speaker 3: they see it. They see it all, you know, they
Speaker 3: see it all, and they watch other people online and
Speaker 3: they see how it's done and so and they had
Speaker 3: all they had the luxury of watching idle back in
Speaker 3: the day, you know, and so they have an idea of.
Speaker 4: What they need to do.
Speaker 3: But as long as they stay true to themselves, and
Speaker 3: as long as you know they're happy doing this because
Speaker 3: it's big, I won't.
Speaker 4: I won't. It's important that I stress. So this is
Speaker 4: a big thing, it's not little.
Speaker 1: Did you think you know when you stepped onto this
Speaker 1: show in two thousand and three that it would become
Speaker 1: the success that it was? I mean, what was the
Speaker 1: initial gut for you?
Speaker 4: Well know of this? I was advised by a dear friend.
Speaker 3: I have a great think tank, and I've had the
Speaker 3: same manager for my whole career.
Speaker 4: My friend who just passed away.
Speaker 3: His name was Brian Walsh and Brian Walsh brand Foxtelle
Speaker 3: and I remember he spoke to my manager and mindset
Speaker 3: this is really great show coming to Australia and if
Speaker 3: Masha gets a chance to do it, she should do
Speaker 3: it because it'll introduce her to a brand new audience.
Speaker 3: And know and behold, that's exactly what it did. We
Speaker 3: were in Perth filming the last versions of Idol back
Speaker 3: in the day with Dicko and Mock, and Dicko said,
Speaker 3: I think I'm going to go to the pub, you know,
Speaker 3: and hang out with the guys. After we had taken it.
Speaker 3: Mack Holvin said, well, you better enjoy it, man, because
Speaker 3: in a minute you're not going to be able to
Speaker 3: do anything like that again, you know, because Mack knows
Speaker 3: about the stydom of what it's like when you have
Speaker 3: been on television yet, and so it.
Speaker 4: Was just interesting for us.
Speaker 3: Oh, we had no idea the team as the team
Speaker 3: is now. We have an amazing team and a lot
Speaker 3: of the people who did Idle back in the day
Speaker 3: they're back on set. That says something that's a testament
Speaker 3: to the show that it wasn't is. And so look,
Speaker 3: even when I put out an album, I hope for
Speaker 3: the best. You never know, right, and then it becomes
Speaker 3: successful you never know.
Speaker 4: So all we.
Speaker 3: Thought was this is an interesting platform. Let's see how
Speaker 3: we go. And we did real good.
Speaker 4: Yeah we did brilliantly. Yeah we did.
Speaker 2: Have you missed Mark Holden and Dick Ho Like, no, I.
Speaker 3: Joke because I'm quite close to Mark and he has
Speaker 3: a birthday similar around my time, and so we always speak.
Speaker 3: I always speak to him in Christmas or New Year
Speaker 3: with his family. So I'm pretty cool. I'm not spoken
Speaker 3: to Dicko. I don't know where Dicko is. Mark and
Speaker 3: I came up together because back in the day, my
Speaker 3: manager used to manage Mack, so I know mak thel
Speaker 3: commation holding.
Speaker 1: Dude, you know, I'm surprised, Like, yeah, it was interesting
Speaker 1: to say, the dynamics between the three of you back
Speaker 1: then and then the dynamics of.
Speaker 2: What it is now.
Speaker 1: But do you think that do you think the stereotypes
Speaker 1: of judges on shows have changed? Because back in the day,
Speaker 1: it was kind of like, you know, you'd have your
Speaker 1: kind of your silly, you're sweet and your nasty judge
Speaker 1: where the dynamic between the three of you now isn't like.
Speaker 4: That, No, it's not.
Speaker 3: So you know, Kyle comes into the mix because he
Speaker 3: knows the commercial side of the industry, and then there's
Speaker 3: Amy and she represents the youth and the songwriters, and.
Speaker 4: Then I represent the performer and the singer.
Speaker 3: So I think it's a really good mix the three
Speaker 3: of us, And I think three judges is better than
Speaker 3: four as well.
Speaker 1: I don't think you need all of that, and actually
Speaker 1: everyone's serving a purpose.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: Kyle occasionally gets on your nerves throughout this series.
Speaker 1: We see that a couple of times, and I love
Speaker 1: that you kind of look to the camera and say,
Speaker 1: he's kind of getting on my nerves.
Speaker 2: But what I find really interesting about.
Speaker 1: Your dynamic with him is that you can actually see
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of there's a report there between
Speaker 1: the tour.
Speaker 3: I adore him, you know, and the guy's got a
Speaker 3: heart bigger than Texas, but he doesn't want anybody to know,
Speaker 3: and I can see it, and he hates me for it.
Speaker 4: But it's great, you know. No, he's a good guy.
Speaker 3: I mean, back in the day I met his mom
Speaker 3: and dad and he was doing something and he did
Speaker 3: something wrong and his mother said, we did not bring
Speaker 3: you up like that.
Speaker 4: Kyle.
Speaker 3: I loved it, because nobody can embarrass you like your
Speaker 3: parents can they. Yeah, and they just threw him back
Speaker 3: and said, look, behave yourself. But Kyle is Kyle, and
Speaker 3: if he was any different, he wouldn't be as famous
Speaker 3: as he is.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 1: I think he's one of the most misrepresented people in
Speaker 1: so many ways, and he does that on purpose.
Speaker 2: But like I've.
Speaker 1: I've spent plenty of time with him, and you know,
Speaker 1: he's a very kind, very generous person.
Speaker 4: But he Yeah.
Speaker 1: I remember I was doing breakfast radio after three years
Speaker 1: in the studio that he started out doing radio, and
Speaker 1: he said to me, Ben, you know, if you're still
Speaker 1: there in three years and you haven't been picked up
Speaker 1: to be on a national show, you might as well
Speaker 1: be the janitor at that place.
Speaker 2: You know, get out of it, you know.
Speaker 1: But it was that kind of honesty and truthfulness that
Speaker 1: you need.
Speaker 4: You know, Well, he's been through it, Ben, as you know.
Speaker 3: You know he's been through it, you know, the ups
Speaker 3: and downs of the industry, and anybody who hasn't been
Speaker 3: through the ups and downs of the industry has no
Speaker 3: idea about this industry that we're in because it is
Speaker 3: up and down, you know. And look, he's doing very
Speaker 3: very well. He's about to become well. I don't know
Speaker 3: what's part of the Melbourne Radio and that's going to
Speaker 3: be interesting too.
Speaker 4: But I think, I actually thinking and Jackie are going
Speaker 4: to do a great job.
Speaker 1: I really I think that people want authenticity these days.
Speaker 1: I think people don't want to be sort of sugarcoated.
Speaker 1: They want the truth and I think addicted to the
Speaker 1: truth in a way, even though sometimes it can hurt us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it would become addicted to this you or maybe
Speaker 4: not addicted. Maybe we've become more open.
Speaker 1: Yeah, true, that's a better way, Marshall. I'm always putting
Speaker 1: things in the best way. I'd love to have the
Speaker 1: way you are able to explain yourself.
Speaker 2: It's thank you man.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: When you say you're welcome to people, I just think,
Speaker 1: why don't we say more of that? Why don't we
Speaker 1: acknowledge people in a really beautiful way more often in
Speaker 1: our language?
Speaker 2: Every day?
Speaker 4: You know, man maketh the man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, judges often say that that was the
Speaker 1: best song or that was the best version that we've
Speaker 1: ever seen. Of this song on the show. You know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you, honestly, who had the most
Speaker 1: memorable audition that you've witnessed being a part of Australian
Speaker 1: idol over the many years.
Speaker 4: Gy Sebastian.
Speaker 3: Wow, Because I mean, I remember, you know, I'm a singer,
Speaker 3: you know, and I know what my vocabulary as a
Speaker 3: singer is, and I know what I'm capable of doing.
Speaker 4: And this boy stood before us as I.
Speaker 3: Went, oh, Jesus is probably one of the best thingers
Speaker 3: ever heard in my life. And then you know, and
Speaker 3: his cleverness of the song he sang, climberby Mountain. Remember
Speaker 3: that song he sang that? And then I remember getting
Speaker 3: on a plane and Ray Hadley was getting on a
Speaker 3: plane and this great, big football.
Speaker 4: Of a guy said, oh my goodness, it really touched me.
Speaker 3: So I figured if it touched Ray, it must have
Speaker 3: touched the whole country. Here's hoping that's what we'll do,
Speaker 3: you know, this year, because you know, we've really uncovered
Speaker 3: some I didn't know if we would find the kind
Speaker 3: of talent.
Speaker 4: We got back in the day. We got just as good, if.
Speaker 1: Not better, I think so, I think this is a
Speaker 1: really strong season you know, before you go, Marsha, I
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you something I ask everyone who joins
Speaker 1: this podcast. It's the same question. What is something from
Speaker 1: behind the scenes of your return to Australian ID or
Speaker 1: something that we as an audience won't say, but maybe
Speaker 1: kind of a story that you'd like to share with us.
Speaker 3: So we have the desk, you know, and below the
Speaker 3: desk there's a lolli station under there, lollies and chips
Speaker 3: and cookies and it's fat and red Bull. Yeah that's
Speaker 3: the red story. Yeah, that's I learned to drink Red
Speaker 3: Bull during the first episodes of Australian Adult because you
Speaker 3: can't really go to sleep when somebody's singing, right, So
Speaker 3: they turned me on too red Bull and I've never
Speaker 3: changed since then.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's agreed, you need like a drip of it
Speaker 2: just to keep it going.
Speaker 3: But yeah, what I'd like is a sponsorship, all right,
Speaker 3: sugar free red Bull, Thank you very much, anybody who's listening.
Speaker 2: I feel like we've organized that.
Speaker 1: Look, if anyone people listening to this podcast, we need
Speaker 1: the Red Bull sponsorship on the go, thank you very much,
Speaker 1: or the Red Bull.
Speaker 2: Girls to turn up there because they have those little pasts.
Speaker 1: Well, actually, just before we go, because I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you about this.
Speaker 2: In the first episode, we have.
Speaker 1: Lewis who sings the right said Fred song too sexy,
Speaker 1: and it is such a fun moment of television. But
Speaker 1: I wanted to know it's some of those more silly auditions.
Speaker 2: Are they a little bit staged for us?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: No, is that just who Lewis was when he came in?
Speaker 3: And we don't know who's coming Okay, we have no
Speaker 3: idea who's coming in.
Speaker 4: Okay, we might get.
Speaker 3: You get a bit of a page and their name
Speaker 3: and you know where they're from.
Speaker 4: We don't know what they're going to sing, or you
Speaker 4: might see the song. But hey, no, no, all that
Speaker 4: is real and.
Speaker 3: I love it, you know, like I love it because
Speaker 3: that's television, you know, and angst all the serious.
Speaker 4: Singers, it has to be a little bit of silliness, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just couldn't stop. I wasn't laughing at him either.
Speaker 1: It was actually a really fun piece of television, you know.
Speaker 1: You know, he did a good job of singing that
Speaker 1: even though it was bonkers. So good luck to.
Speaker 4: Him, Yes, that's what I say. Good luck to him.
Speaker 2: Good Luck to him.
Speaker 1: Marsha, you are a living legend. I have been in
Speaker 1: your audience my whole life. I grew up with my
Speaker 1: family playing your music, so I've been very excited to
Speaker 1: talk to you this morning.
Speaker 2: And yeah, good luck with Idle.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, Ben, good luck.
Speaker 2: Oh you do to man fantastic. Yeah, I'll chat