Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast last weep Aline. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and this is
Speaker 1: your podcast to get all the inside goss on the
Speaker 1: popular TV shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably,
Speaker 1: our TV sets are a major part of our home
Speaker 1: entertainment and very little is note about how our favorite
Speaker 1: shows get made. Each episode, I find guests that want
Speaker 1: to dive just that little bit deeper into the shows
Speaker 1: they're currently making, so you can hear all their exclusive
Speaker 1: stories and gain access to the biggest names in Australian television.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to
Speaker 1: this podcast. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure
Speaker 1: you leave a comment on your chosen podcast platform and
Speaker 1: I will make sure you feel as included in the
Speaker 1: production of this show as I possibly can. We had
Speaker 1: our top six performers cut down to our final three
Speaker 1: this week. My first guest is Anya Alchemy, a young
Speaker 1: blues singer songwriter from the Depths of the Dandidong Rages Victoria.
Speaker 1: We will talk about the pressure of the show and
Speaker 1: why anyafeld a little cross with the judges comments this week,
Speaker 1: and you will also talk about Royston and why she
Speaker 1: thinks he should win. I'll also find out why she's
Speaker 1: ruled out any more singing competition shows. We will then
Speaker 1: bring Amali Diamond into the podcast and equally get her
Speaker 1: inside story on the Idle journey. Amali was the early
Speaker 1: favorite to win, with an amazing voice for her age.
Speaker 1: The popular teenager from New South Wales took to the
Speaker 1: competition like a duck to water. We will talk about
Speaker 1: the pressures of being the early favorite and how that
Speaker 1: impacted her time on the show. Amali will also revere
Speaker 1: how she really felt during that shock elimination. I'll also
Speaker 1: chat to Amali about her parents' support during her time
Speaker 1: on the show and what they really thought of her auditioning.
Speaker 1: Then we'll bring Ben Sheehey into the podcast and equally
Speaker 1: gets some interesting perspectives on his time in the competition.
Speaker 1: Ben Sheehey is a composer and a musician based in
Speaker 1: North Brisbane, Queensland, and while he wasn't exactly what audience
Speaker 1: has expected, he's certainly left an impression on anyone that
Speaker 1: heard him sing. I will talk to Ben about how
Speaker 1: comfortable he was trying to fit into the Australian idol mold.
Speaker 1: Ben will also share why he thinks audiences were so
Speaker 1: supportive of him during his time on the show, and
Speaker 1: while he wasn't exactly what audience has expected, he's certainly
Speaker 1: left an impression on anyone that heard him sing. I'll
Speaker 1: also talk to Ben about how he discovered his voice
Speaker 1: and where he discovered he could sing big songs. Plus,
Speaker 1: we will get some exclusives on the new series, including
Speaker 1: some behind the scenes secrets from all three guests, which
Speaker 1: I'm sure you will love. However, let's bring Anya into
Speaker 1: the podcast first and stick around for Amali and Ben,
Speaker 1: who'll be coming straight up? Hi Bear, how are you?
Speaker 2: Hi? Good?
Speaker 1: How are you well? Very excited to follow you in
Speaker 1: this competition this year. You were definitely one of the
Speaker 1: standouts as far as my friends were concerned.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so nice.
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming on the podcast and unpacking the series.
Speaker 2: Thank you excited.
Speaker 1: Do you think that they should have stuck with the
Speaker 1: single eliminations this year or do you feel happy with
Speaker 1: the fact that we would do doing two and now three?
Speaker 3: Well, I think for TV it made sense to create
Speaker 3: more drama by like halving the numbers and having two
Speaker 3: people go, but possibly to the public, it felt rushed
Speaker 3: and it felt like you didn't get to see enough
Speaker 3: of people or learn enough about people. So I think
Speaker 3: there's like two sides of it. I would have liked
Speaker 3: there to be more themes and more weeks, so probably
Speaker 3: I would have liked it to be like one person
Speaker 3: a week.
Speaker 1: But that's just me in some ways, though. Is it
Speaker 1: good that you actually have like a couple of compadres
Speaker 1: for you, that there's two other people leaving at the
Speaker 1: same time. Do you think that had you left by
Speaker 1: yourself would seem more stark?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Yeah, that's so true because like that support when
Speaker 3: you go back, it's not like people like, oh, are
Speaker 3: you okay. It's like there's two other people that are
Speaker 3: experiencing the exact same things as you, So it's not
Speaker 3: like people are talking down to you in a sense,
Speaker 3: you know, because they don't know how to deal with
Speaker 3: you going home.
Speaker 1: I could imagine that if I was you, and I
Speaker 1: don't know you, but I feel like I do. I
Speaker 1: feel like you would then be looking after the other two,
Speaker 1: like I feel like you would have been there to
Speaker 1: be moral support for them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, Ben is like cool as a cucumber,
Speaker 3: so nothing really knocks him around. And I think Ben
Speaker 3: and I both kind of you or going home, so
Speaker 3: we were just like high fiving ready to get it
Speaker 3: over with Amali. I think it was really hard, you know,
Speaker 3: she was a favorite and she's so young, and that
Speaker 3: was still a surprise to me, like are you one
Speaker 3: of the favorites was going to go home? But that
Speaker 3: was I think that was half of me to see
Speaker 3: her face and all of that. But yeah, there's definitely
Speaker 3: a lot of support. I feel like a little mother,
Speaker 3: hen so I'm like trying to gather my little babies
Speaker 3: and make sure they're okay. But she'll be fun.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I love Australian Idol because I actually feel like, yes,
Speaker 1: it's a singing show, but also it's always been a
Speaker 1: show where we've gained big personalities in Australia. Although this series,
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily know if everyone we got to know,
Speaker 1: Like for you, you're quite easily accessible, like your emotions
Speaker 1: are on your face and I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: I know you. But do you feel like we could
Speaker 1: have had more interactions with you to find out a
Speaker 1: little bit more about your personality or even have more
Speaker 1: time on stage to actually answer questions.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I think I knew that I wasn't going to
Speaker 3: win from the start because they hadn't given me that
Speaker 3: kind of exposure and they had with everyone else. And
Speaker 3: even even on the last step with the episode that
Speaker 3: I went home last night, they played a snippet of
Speaker 3: everyone else singing but me, like still, and I'm like,
Speaker 3: so from day dot I just wasn't getting the coverage
Speaker 3: that everyone else was getting, and it like they were
Speaker 3: keeping me in but then crapping over me, you know,
Speaker 3: crapping on me on TV and whatever, and so it
Speaker 3: was just like, why still.
Speaker 2: Keeping me in just to do this?
Speaker 3: And a lot of people still don't know who I
Speaker 3: am now because they just haven't shown that. So I
Speaker 3: think it's really hard, Like I've got a massive personality
Speaker 3: and a lot of that was just edited out, and
Speaker 3: it's so hard because I'm like quirky and different and
Speaker 3: loud and opinionated, and all of that was just I
Speaker 3: feel like, minimized.
Speaker 1: But I can see that. I mean, I read people
Speaker 1: quite well and I could see your personality shine. I
Speaker 1: just feel like for the wider audience, you know, we
Speaker 1: might have been stolen from some of those things. But
Speaker 1: I will say to you, I loved that you showed
Speaker 1: your feelings with the judges, and I know that you
Speaker 1: didn't say things back to them, but I could see
Speaker 1: your face reacting to them. I mean, this is my
Speaker 1: question to you. You looked a little unhappy what was
Speaker 1: said this week, and I wondered whether or not that's
Speaker 1: because they're talking to you about the arrangements, which really,
Speaker 1: you guys have no control over. So is that a
Speaker 1: very fair critique?
Speaker 3: That's exactly right, like whatever. Like at the start, it
Speaker 3: was a lot easier to make arrangements, and this time,
Speaker 3: you know, people would just put their opinions in your
Speaker 3: head and say, no, you can't make Flowers by Miley
Speaker 3: Cyrus a ballad. You can't do it your way because
Speaker 3: it's going to drag on. That's not what the public want.
Speaker 3: And so you listen because if you put your foot down,
Speaker 3: you're treated like you're hard to work with or you're
Speaker 3: too assertive or whatever. And then so you sing a
Speaker 3: song similar to the original, and then the judge is like,
Speaker 3: why did you change the arrangements? So it's like you're
Speaker 3: just being hit from both sides. It's so hard and
Speaker 3: you're just standing there having to just know and be like, yep, cool,
Speaker 3: I deserve that. Yep. It's just ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I think that's where Amy Shark will be really handy
Speaker 1: for you, because Amy would know this better than anyone.
Speaker 1: You have to work out how to stand up for
Speaker 1: what it is that you're going to say over pleasing
Speaker 1: people like you will always be put in these situations
Speaker 1: where there'll be a lot of voices in your head
Speaker 1: sometimes saying to people, know, this is how it's going
Speaker 1: to be. Isn't a rude thing to say? Do you
Speaker 1: know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. That's like one of the biggest things I've
Speaker 3: learned is that you've just got to do you and
Speaker 3: put your foot down to be as certain of me,
Speaker 3: like no, this is the way that I want it,
Speaker 3: and still listen to people. But if it doesn't resonate,
Speaker 3: you don't have to do it if you don't want
Speaker 3: to do it.
Speaker 1: Well. I still thought that Flowers and the way you
Speaker 1: sung it was actually quite smart, and I think Kyle
Speaker 1: was alluding to that as well, because in some ways
Speaker 1: it was very close to the original, and I think
Speaker 1: a lot of the people that vote for Australian Idol,
Speaker 1: they don't want too much out of the box, do
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like, I think I'm not
Speaker 1: saying they're not bright, because that's terrible, but I'm thinking
Speaker 1: they want to hear it the way that they know it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard because if you completely dissect a song
Speaker 3: and change it up, then people like, oh, I hate
Speaker 3: that version, like you've ruined it well. And then you
Speaker 3: do the same thing and then they're like, she just
Speaker 3: did does karaoke and this just sounds like a karaoke
Speaker 3: cover and whatever, and so finding that bang is so hard,
Speaker 3: And like the judges comments are so influential on what
Speaker 3: the public thinks, and I don't even know if people
Speaker 3: realize that, you know, they just go off whatever the
Speaker 3: judges say for the most part, and it's just like okay, cool.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I still think you must have resonated pretty well because
Speaker 1: I noticed your lack of screen time and yet people
Speaker 1: were still voting for I me And you've made it
Speaker 1: to the second last episode of this show. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've only got the finale to go, and you still
Speaker 1: have resonated with audiences.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Well, that's what my mom said, And I wasn't even
Speaker 3: shown at all in Top fifty week on the episode
Speaker 3: at all.
Speaker 2: And they knew that I got through.
Speaker 3: So I was just like, no, whatever, I'm just gonna
Speaker 3: see how like it right away?
Speaker 1: For well, what's been your I mean, you've managed to
Speaker 1: maintain you since if you were here today and I
Speaker 1: love what has been your highlight from your Australian Idol journey?
Speaker 3: Obviously meeting all the contestants and they are all really
Speaker 3: really lovely and I'm honest, if they were crappy human beings,
Speaker 3: I would be honest, but they all all really really
Speaker 3: know seriously, I haven't met many that I didn't like.
Speaker 1: I wonder though, you know, with you having going through
Speaker 1: this singing competition, like, do you think that you would
Speaker 1: apply for a singing show like this again or do
Speaker 1: you think that you've done this now and you will
Speaker 1: try and look for you know, resonating with your audience
Speaker 1: in a different way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think that I would do it again.
Speaker 3: I mean it's been full on. I've got like ten
Speaker 3: mouth ulcers just from the stress. But no, I wouldn't
Speaker 3: do it again. I think you do it once and
Speaker 3: it turns out how it turns out, and to try
Speaker 3: and do the kind of saving again a different show
Speaker 3: is just trying to twist your fate, you know. I
Speaker 3: just think whatever happens happens, and the world has a
Speaker 3: plan for everyone, and I'm just going to try and
Speaker 3: follow that and whatever way it guides me. But it's
Speaker 3: been an incredible experience. It's been one of the hardest
Speaker 3: things I've ever done. Emotionally. I've cried on TV like
Speaker 3: twenty times. But that's okay, you know, it's fine, it's real.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I'm excited to work on a lot of
Speaker 3: new music. Like I'm a songwriter. I'm a singer songwriter.
Speaker 3: I play piano and guitar, so that's like my main thing.
Speaker 3: So I'm excited to get the EP going.
Speaker 1: I think, well, I mean, you have an accomplished sound,
Speaker 1: so I think it'll be very easy for you. What
Speaker 1: sort of advice are they giving everyone that's leaving the competition?
Speaker 1: Are they saying music these days is best distributed through TikTok?
Speaker 1: Are they still saying that a record dealer is the
Speaker 1: only way forward? Like, what kind of advice are they
Speaker 1: leading you with? You know, walking out of this competition?
Speaker 3: Well, I think obviously social media now is really really important,
Speaker 3: and if you don't go, I think record labels. Basically
Speaker 3: what they've said is record labels are important unless you're
Speaker 3: massive on social media and can do it independently through that,
Speaker 3: and you can market yourself through your own socials because
Speaker 3: they're popping off. But if they're not, then a record
Speaker 3: label is really important because they can do that marketing
Speaker 3: for you. And like, I feel like that is what
Speaker 3: it comes down to most of the time, is marketing
Speaker 3: is a lot of what makes songs pop off, and
Speaker 3: a lot of what makes artists who they are and
Speaker 3: how it finds their audiences and stuff like that. So
Speaker 3: they've all basically said just don't stop, just keep going,
Speaker 3: keep going, keep going because black and I find like
Speaker 3: it doesn't really matter how good your voices or whatever whatever.
Speaker 3: If you've got good songs and you just are resilient
Speaker 3: and you just persevere and don't stop, don't stop, don't stop,
Speaker 3: then you can just do anything. You can do anything.
Speaker 3: So that's what I'm going to do.
Speaker 1: I would say the best advice that I've ever heard was,
Speaker 1: you know, work really hard when you are working and
Speaker 1: get content out. That's good content. Don't be like a
Speaker 1: slave to just needing to feel like you're always available
Speaker 1: online and always turning things out Like it's about key content,
Speaker 1: being really strong and knowing how you want to use that.
Speaker 1: You know, I've seen so many people, so many failed influences.
Speaker 1: You know, they think consistency is key. I've just got
Speaker 1: to put out stuff that you know, sometimes that isn't
Speaker 1: the way forward. Yeah, I feel like I'm being your
Speaker 1: mentor because I want you to succeed, and so no, I'm.
Speaker 2: Just please mentor me, guard me. I need it.
Speaker 1: So who do you think is going to win out
Speaker 1: of the top three? I want to know.
Speaker 3: To be honest, I really hope that Roston wins because
Speaker 3: I think, you know, he's representing communities that need representation.
Speaker 3: And that's what I tried to say last night, and
Speaker 3: people thought it was about me being in secure and
Speaker 3: that I didn't deserve to be hit. No, it's about representation.
Speaker 3: It's about indigenous representations, about gay representation, and people need
Speaker 3: that and they need someone to look up to, especially
Speaker 3: someone that's religious and stands for all of these values
Speaker 3: and still is blazing their own path out. What Roaston
Speaker 3: to win because people need that and they need someone
Speaker 3: to really make that mark.
Speaker 1: What's your relationship going to be like moving forward with
Speaker 1: the rest of them? Do you think that there's anyone
Speaker 1: in the show that you will collaborate with or do
Speaker 1: you think that they will just be friends?
Speaker 4: It's hard to tell.
Speaker 3: I think I still talk to everyone, even like Top
Speaker 3: twenty four, I still talk to everyone in the Top
Speaker 3: twenty four. There's a lot of people, but I text
Speaker 3: very fast, so you know, it's fine. I think I'm
Speaker 3: close with Harry. I'm really close with Harry Hayden, so
Speaker 3: I think we'll definitely end up collabing or digging together
Speaker 3: or something. Same with Josh. I think I'll end up
Speaker 3: doing some plan of song with him.
Speaker 1: How's Harry going? By the way, come following him on
Speaker 1: Instagram and he's got a very different look. He mixed it,
Speaker 1: He's mixed it up. What's going on with him?
Speaker 3: I think he's just there's so much control that they
Speaker 3: have over everything that once that once those hands are
Speaker 3: kind of taken off your shoulders, it's like, oh, so,
Speaker 3: I feel like that's what he's feeling, is that I
Speaker 3: can finally do what I want, you know, and I
Speaker 3: can finally shave my head and put cheetahprint, leopard print,
Speaker 3: whatever on it and just feel like my true self
Speaker 3: without someone telling me how I should address every day.
Speaker 1: You know, well, I will follow your journey after Idle.
Speaker 1: I think that you're an amazing person. I think you're
Speaker 1: an excellent singer, and I can't wait to see what
Speaker 1: you do next.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: A great chat with Anya and a good warm up
Speaker 1: for things to come with my next guest, let's bring
Speaker 1: Amli into the podcast. I'm sure you'll get some really
Speaker 1: fun exclusives here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy part two
Speaker 1: of today's episode. Hi am Ali, how are you?
Speaker 2: I am good? How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm very well. You know, I was really lucky to
Speaker 1: see a preview of Australian Idol late last year actually,
Speaker 1: and all we got to see was the very first
Speaker 1: audition of yours, and then I knew straight away that
Speaker 1: this show is going to be amazing because of your boys.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. That's so that's so awesome that
Speaker 2: you got to see that.
Speaker 1: So we were in a cinema and there was like
Speaker 1: lots of celebrities there, Sonya Krueger, everyone, we all got
Speaker 1: to watch this preview and everyone was really nervous, but
Speaker 1: we heard the Australian Idol backtrack play and then we
Speaker 1: got to see your performance, and straight afterwards, you know,
Speaker 1: there was a bit of a cocktail party and everyone
Speaker 1: was talking about it, and everyone was like, how amazing
Speaker 1: was that girl? My god, Ah, that's so awesome.
Speaker 2: I didn't even know that. That's so cool.
Speaker 1: People never tell you this stuff, and that's why for me,
Speaker 1: I always tell everyone anyone that's on a show like this,
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, there's been some sort of amazing celebration
Speaker 1: behind your back. You need to know about it.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's so nice. It makes you feel so good
Speaker 2: to know that.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks for coming on the podcast and unpacking your
Speaker 1: time on Australian Idol.
Speaker 2: Yes, no worries.
Speaker 1: Was it hard to convince your parents to go on
Speaker 1: a show like this, because I can imagine that whilst
Speaker 1: it sounds exciting, you know, your parents might have been
Speaker 1: a little bit nervous about it.
Speaker 2: Not at all. My mom was like she dragged you
Speaker 2: down there, like help, you know, making me an audition
Speaker 2: for all these kind of things. She's very My mom's
Speaker 2: very supportive and always wants me to go out and
Speaker 2: do my things. So yeah, she was very very get
Speaker 2: your audition in and get your audition in. So yes,
Speaker 2: she's awesome.
Speaker 1: What has their relationship been like, has your mum been
Speaker 1: surprised with the way that it's all gone down and
Speaker 1: she'd been happy with it? Like, how has she felt
Speaker 1: watching you on the show? Oh?
Speaker 2: Mom, My mom's been I think she's just been lowing
Speaker 2: watching me perform every single time, and of course she's upset,
Speaker 2: like obviously that I'm that I've been like eliminated. But
Speaker 2: it's also exciting because I think there's going to be
Speaker 2: some really cool things happening in the future, and we're
Speaker 2: just taking this as a launch pad to hopefully a
Speaker 2: really cool career.
Speaker 1: Just remember those things, because that often happens when you're
Speaker 1: in the heat of it, someone says to you, Oh, well,
Speaker 1: what about David Guada, you know, ghetto or however you
Speaker 1: say his name. But hang on to those things. Make
Speaker 1: them happen because people need to be held to account.
Speaker 2: I totally agree. I just I'm really excited to just
Speaker 2: start getting things going.
Speaker 1: Really, what was it like for you last night, because
Speaker 1: you know, I had to kind of hide behind my
Speaker 1: television because you were a favorite for me and I
Speaker 1: thought that you really easily could have won this whole thing.
Speaker 1: You've managed to keep it together pretty well. But once
Speaker 1: you were eliminated, what was going through your mind?
Speaker 2: Well, honestly, I was just I knew I was gonna
Speaker 2: miss performing again. But I was really happy that my
Speaker 2: last performance I got to sing Warrior, and I was
Speaker 2: so happy because I think it was one of my favorites.
Speaker 2: I got to do a big ballad finally, and I
Speaker 2: was just thinking about how far I'd coming out amazing
Speaker 2: it wants to even be in the top six? Was
Speaker 2: it was a bittersweet moment? Really?
Speaker 1: Do you think it's hard though? When you are the
Speaker 1: favorite right from the start, Like everyone was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this girl's got this in the bag. Like a lot
Speaker 1: of people were like, oh, I don't even need to
Speaker 1: watch the show because they feel like this girl's gonna win.
Speaker 1: And was that sort of hard to come out from underneath?
Speaker 2: Of Well, I think that it's awesome to know people
Speaker 2: have faith in me and people believed in me. That's
Speaker 2: sound really exciting, But yeah, I don't know. I think
Speaker 2: it was definitely cool just knowing people liked what I
Speaker 2: was doing, especially since you know, I feel like I'm
Speaker 2: the most normal person ever. I literally just go to
Speaker 2: school and everything, and then suddenly I was a favorite idol,
Speaker 2: which is so amazing to think about.
Speaker 1: What are your friends saying with this whole experience.
Speaker 2: Oh, they're so proud and they're so supportive, and my
Speaker 2: school been incredible, and yeah, I've just been so having
Speaker 2: a school like that because they're going to performing arts school,
Speaker 2: so having a school that is interested in the arts
Speaker 2: as well was awesome. So my school, they're.
Speaker 1: Just all being ana and they've asked you to sing
Speaker 1: the national anthem every Funday from now on.
Speaker 2: I've done it once at school, but hopefully I get
Speaker 2: it a few more times.
Speaker 1: Well, so much was said about your age. You know,
Speaker 1: what do you think about the age factor? Do you
Speaker 1: think it was a huge issue or do you think
Speaker 1: that this competition, you know, works for people who are
Speaker 1: a little bit younger.
Speaker 2: I think that the age being young is an advantage
Speaker 2: at almost because you have so much time to learn
Speaker 2: and develop. And now I've experienced this at a young age.
Speaker 2: Now I know what to expect and I get an
Speaker 2: early kick start into the music industry. So I think
Speaker 2: it's definitely a benefit for me to be honest.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that you and phoebe seeing with better
Speaker 1: voices than most of the older contestants, Like the two
Speaker 1: of you. I don't know what's going on or what
Speaker 1: they've been feeding the kids these days, but you girls
Speaker 1: have amazing voices.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Yeah, FIE's
Speaker 2: got an incredibleness as well.
Speaker 1: Oh you both do. I mean, I think there's a
Speaker 1: collab there, you know, if you're going to collab with someone,
Speaker 1: I think that she's the best person to be going.
Speaker 1: Oh well, who knows, she might win and she might
Speaker 1: ditch you all.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, possibly, who knows. Love to see what happens.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess as well. Being younger, this is just,
Speaker 1: you know, an early chapter for you. Do you think
Speaker 1: there are a lot of other ways, you know, for
Speaker 1: you to get music out today than maybe looking back
Speaker 1: at when Idle was first on television, Like, do you
Speaker 1: think there's more opportunity to get your music out there
Speaker 1: these days? With social media?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, I've gained a cool, like a pretty good platform,
Speaker 2: and I think it'll be exciting when I start recording
Speaker 2: music to have people that hopefully are waiting to hear
Speaker 2: some songs. And I'm just so excited to get a
Speaker 2: recording studio and get creative. I'm really excited for that. That's
Speaker 2: what I'm most excited for coming out of this experience.
Speaker 1: You're able to have written down the judge's phone numbers
Speaker 1: and you're going to try and keep in contact with
Speaker 1: them or is there are there judges that you want
Speaker 1: to stay in contact with?
Speaker 2: Oh, definitely. I think all the judges are incredible. I'd
Speaker 2: love to stay in contact with them all. Kyle has
Speaker 2: been so supportive, and Megan said that, you know, she'd
Speaker 2: love to get me in the studio to make some songs.
Speaker 2: And Parry said to me backstage, you got to have
Speaker 2: a chat, and he said, Lack if you ever, if
Speaker 2: I'm ever back in Australia, let me know and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. So cool to know the judges. I've got
Speaker 2: my back.
Speaker 1: I've got so many questions to answer. Harry Conneck June,
Speaker 1: I'd be like asking about Sandra Bullock and he's friendship
Speaker 1: with Deborah Messing. And if I was on the show,
Speaker 1: I don't think i'd ask him any music questions.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they'd just all be totally unrelated.
Speaker 1: Did you know who Harry Connick Junior was when you
Speaker 1: were auditioning for the show.
Speaker 2: I had an idea, but I didn't realize how big
Speaker 2: he was, to be honest, But as I got to
Speaker 2: know him, he's actually like a musical genius.
Speaker 1: If you need some downtime as well, today, there's a
Speaker 1: movie that he's in with Sandra Bullock called Hope Floats.
Speaker 1: Go and rent that with mum and watch that. Hop
Speaker 1: into bed and get some some room service and watch
Speaker 1: that movie.
Speaker 2: I have to do that one.
Speaker 1: Who do you think is going to win?
Speaker 2: That's such a hard question. I seriously think every single
Speaker 2: one of them have the full capability to win. I
Speaker 2: seriously don't think I can say name. I think that
Speaker 2: every single one of them is so different that if
Speaker 2: they did win, they'd make amazing music and they they
Speaker 2: succeed in the industry. I seriously don't know if I
Speaker 2: can give you a name. Do you have a name?
Speaker 1: Yes? No one cares what I've said. I mean, you
Speaker 1: can say you don't want to say that, which is fine.
Speaker 2: Possibly Josh. But I think Phoebe and Royston have just
Speaker 2: as big of it. Like Phoebe has so much love
Speaker 2: around her and she's incredible, and same with Royston, has
Speaker 2: a huge community. He's so amazing. But yeah, I don't
Speaker 2: I really, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be Josh. That's my theory
Speaker 1: because the groundswell for him just all of a sudden
Speaker 1: has become ridiculous, like it's out of control. And so
Speaker 1: my theory is that Royston and yourself have been so
Speaker 1: celebrated through the competition, and this is what happens in
Speaker 1: reality TV is that people get contestant fatigue and then
Speaker 1: they kind of go, oh, you know, I'm now ebisessed
Speaker 1: with this person. So I feel like that he's getting
Speaker 1: the strongest narrative to win.
Speaker 2: He's also the sweetest person ever. Like, if you think
Speaker 2: he seems nice on TV, he's even nicer in real life.
Speaker 2: So he's so deserving and he's pretty cute.
Speaker 1: Anyway, Well, I've got to let you go. But what's
Speaker 1: the best way that I can follow you and people
Speaker 1: listening to the podcast can follow your story?
Speaker 2: Well, my Instagram is Amali dot Diamond. Diamond has no
Speaker 2: a by the way, and my TikTok is a Maley
Speaker 2: Diamond one and hopefully I can start releasing music and
Speaker 2: I'll post on my social media's and you guys can
Speaker 2: hopefully follow it.
Speaker 1: Well, You've got a huge fan in me and I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see what happens next for you.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Thank You're awesome.
Speaker 1: A great chat with Amali and great to hear that
Speaker 1: she's been so positive about her future post Idol. Let's
Speaker 1: bring Ben into the podcast. Ben is always a fairly
Speaker 1: interesting boy, so I'm expecting some interesting perspectives on his
Speaker 1: time inside the Australian Idol bubble. Hey Ben, how are you?
Speaker 4: I'm very well.
Speaker 1: How are you doing very well? I get to talk
Speaker 1: to you one of the more interesting contestants for Australian
Speaker 1: Idol this year.
Speaker 4: Oh sure, yeah, Well thanks.
Speaker 1: For coming on the podcast and unpacking Australian Idol. How
Speaker 1: has the experience been for you.
Speaker 5: I think the experience has been really amazing. I've enjoyed
Speaker 5: every step of it, behind the scenes and on camera
Speaker 5: and then sort of outside of the show. I think
Speaker 5: for me, I came onto the show, you know, as
Speaker 5: an individual, as something just to sort of sort of
Speaker 5: follow like a dream.
Speaker 4: But ye know, it becomes bigger than that.
Speaker 5: You've become like the part of the community, of the
Speaker 5: group of people who are supporting you, and I think
Speaker 5: that is really humbling.
Speaker 1: You were kind of a little bit different to everyone
Speaker 1: on the show. You know, at times you seemed quite
Speaker 1: aloof you know, is that that's really who you are?
Speaker 1: And while you were watching the show back, did you
Speaker 1: try and change things up or were you like, this
Speaker 1: is just who I am.
Speaker 5: I think that's just who I am. I may appear
Speaker 5: at look, you know, I'm thinking a lot. I'm very introspective.
Speaker 5: I'm thinking about each performance, and I work really hard
Speaker 5: and each performance every week everything is, you know, intentional,
Speaker 5: So I think that's just me. I think that, you know,
Speaker 5: a naturally very quiet person. But I also like to
Speaker 5: conserve my energy for the stage because I like to
Speaker 5: give everything on stage as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you really came alive when you were doing your performances. Interesting.
Speaker 1: You know, yesterday I was listening to all of the
Speaker 1: performances that have been on the show so far in
Speaker 1: my car. I'd sort of downloaded them and had on
Speaker 1: my own MP three that I'd created, and I was
Speaker 1: listening to your voice compared to everyone else's and you know,
Speaker 1: you seemed more like an accomplished radio artist.
Speaker 4: That's the goal, you know, yeah, of course on the radio.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: You know, what sort of a growth do you think
Speaker 1: that you had? I mean, do you look at where
Speaker 1: you started and where you've gotten to and do you
Speaker 1: think that you've changed a lot?
Speaker 5: I think I tried to be, you know, authentically myself,
Speaker 5: but I think there has been a confidence boost and
Speaker 5: probably a boost of self belief when I if I
Speaker 5: think back to the auditions, I wasn't one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: I was one hundred percent sure this is what I
Speaker 4: want to do.
Speaker 5: You know, I was one hundred percent sure if I had,
Speaker 5: you know, sort of the it factor to be on
Speaker 5: Australian Idol. It wasn't until I went into the audition
Speaker 5: and did it and that whole experience I thought, no,
Speaker 5: I can do this is fine, you know. So I
Speaker 5: think for me it's been sort of a growth of
Speaker 5: confidence and to just be like comfortable with myself and
Speaker 5: myself on stage.
Speaker 4: And I mean it's been.
Speaker 5: Great working with the creative teams and to also have
Speaker 5: the great team wardrobe each week working with them to
Speaker 5: create the look, so that's something that you know, I
Speaker 5: didn't really have the resources before Idle, but I think
Speaker 5: is something that's really important.
Speaker 1: You know, what is it about yourself that you think
Speaker 1: resonated with your audience.
Speaker 5: I think that an audience really appreciated somebody who's just them,
Speaker 5: but it's also doing and doing something that they're really
Speaker 5: passionate about as I am with singing, and think that
Speaker 5: they also support the underdog as well. I think that's
Speaker 5: a big facet of Australian culture. I think that all
Speaker 5: of those things combined that they just enjoyed it and
Speaker 5: it was something maybe I hadn't seen before on TV,
Speaker 5: something a bit different, maybe something that they thought was refreshing,
Speaker 5: and they just liked to see me rocking out every week.
Speaker 1: I think, did you feel a lot of pressure to
Speaker 1: fit into the Australian idol pop star mold that they
Speaker 1: were trying to create for you?
Speaker 4: No, not at all.
Speaker 5: I didn't ever feel pressure to feel put into a
Speaker 5: mold of being a pop star. I think from the
Speaker 5: get go they're like, you know, Bends is going to
Speaker 5: be Benn and we just have to support that because
Speaker 5: you know, I'm just going to be me. I don't
Speaker 5: think you could really put me in a mole.
Speaker 1: They could try, but I don't think that that's even
Speaker 1: possible for you.
Speaker 5: If you put me in a mole and you baked me,
Speaker 5: it would be an interesting batch, you know, So I think,
Speaker 5: don't bake me.
Speaker 1: So what's been the most I don't know, like, what's
Speaker 1: the most common question, because I mean, you're such a
Speaker 1: recognizable person. I'm assuming walking down the street, you're getting
Speaker 1: a lot of interaction from the general public. What has
Speaker 1: the question most commonly been thrown to you?
Speaker 5: A lot of people just go Benji. You know, everybody
Speaker 5: says my full name, which is you know, interesting. It's
Speaker 5: sort of like you know, in that sketch Charlie Murphy,
Speaker 5: like old David Pearl's sketch. It's like that with me.
Speaker 5: And but I think people ask me like, oh, how
Speaker 5: do you sing like that?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 5: And it's not something like I can really put into
Speaker 5: like logical words, you know, for me, And it's it's
Speaker 5: not something that's it's something that I work really hard at,
Speaker 5: but I don't know, it's something that a lot of
Speaker 5: the time can be like taught or I think it's
Speaker 5: a lot of that rock and roll stuff is very
Speaker 5: visceral as very felt, you know, and it's more so
Speaker 5: like about an attitude and having that on stage and
Speaker 5: also working hard.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 5: So it's very hard to answer that question of how
Speaker 5: do you sing like that? I think everybody has the
Speaker 5: voice and everybody has their own unique voice. So personally
Speaker 5: I would try and imitate people that I would hear,
Speaker 5: like on records, on CDs and things like that, and
Speaker 5: then it's sort of morphed into that.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I think you just got to find your own voice
Speaker 5: and your own style.
Speaker 1: What was the journey with discovering your voice?
Speaker 5: Well, I my first little musical experiences were like piano
Speaker 5: lessons when I was about maybe four or five, and
Speaker 5: that went to about sort of the maybe the end
Speaker 5: of primary school.
Speaker 4: I did sing Robert Ducky you know that song.
Speaker 1: You can sing a little bit of it now if
Speaker 1: you like your lit you make lots of.
Speaker 5: Fun as saying that, and I came first out of
Speaker 5: everyone in the piano school. But in terms of in
Speaker 5: terms of the voice I had today, yeah, there's a
Speaker 5: lot of bonds goot, and trying to imitate his voice
Speaker 5: because I always thought that his voice is crazy.
Speaker 4: And like, how does a man sing like that?
Speaker 5: But in terms of how it came about, yeah, I
Speaker 5: was at Big Music at Crow's Nest. I was more
Speaker 5: sort of interested in playing guitar than singing. I'd sung
Speaker 5: a few times like this in front of friends, you know,
Speaker 5: when you have sort of like minded interest and you'll
Speaker 5: you know, listen to the same music. I didn't realize
Speaker 5: that that I could sing until I was put in
Speaker 5: the situation like with Big Music at one of their
Speaker 5: summer school things. I think I sing it like thunderstrucktle
Speaker 5: something like this, and I sung it and like it
Speaker 5: sounded sounded really good, and said, oh, did you know
Speaker 5: you could sing? I said, well, not really, you know,
Speaker 5: but it sort of goes from there and sung ever
Speaker 5: since then?
Speaker 1: Were your parents singers? Like is in do you come
Speaker 1: from a musical family?
Speaker 5: No, my dad plays like a little bit of piano,
Speaker 5: but he plays like like sort of the first sort
Speaker 5: of musical things are like like a boogie woogie piano
Speaker 5: or you know, Jerry Lee lewis something that you throw
Speaker 5: on at a dinner party, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: So those are my first of musical experiences hearing piano music.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what has this been like? I mean last night,
Speaker 1: you've you've been on Idol, You're so close to getting
Speaker 1: there to the very end, but you have been eliminated.
Speaker 1: What's it been like since last night?
Speaker 4: Well, last night was just go, go, go, go go.
Speaker 5: You know, like it doesn't end when you get eliminated,
Speaker 5: especially in the top twelve. You keep going and for
Speaker 5: me now sort of planning what's happening next. So I
Speaker 5: want to keep the momentum of the show and everything,
Speaker 5: and a lot of people have gotten behind me, so
Speaker 5: I want to keep that. And people want to hear
Speaker 5: new music. So I'll be working on new music and
Speaker 5: be trying to play and get back to Queensland in Brisbane,
Speaker 5: the Gold Coast. If anybody's listening, I would love to
Speaker 5: keep singing. I'm going to put a band together so
Speaker 5: we've got the full force.
Speaker 1: You know, who's been your biggest champion throughout all of
Speaker 1: this experience on the show. Has it been the judges,
Speaker 1: has it been the producers? Has been your family? You
Speaker 1: know who's really championed you throughout this experience?
Speaker 4: Girlfriend Nicole is really my rock.
Speaker 5: It's been hard being away from from Nicole for all
Speaker 5: this experience. But she has come down every week for
Speaker 5: the performances, so that's been really nice to me. I
Speaker 5: think that's kept me really grounded, you know, when things
Speaker 5: can get very hectic.
Speaker 4: So I really appreciate Nicole.
Speaker 1: Does she read a lot a lot about what people
Speaker 1: are saying online? Is she influenced by what the general
Speaker 1: public are saying? You know? What? Is she feeding back
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 5: What she's saying That a lot of people are supporting me.
Speaker 5: Of course, there's always people who don't want to That's fine.
Speaker 1: How do you deal with those people? How do you
Speaker 1: deal with the people that aren't supportive?
Speaker 4: Well, those people are an illusion like and they're just
Speaker 4: you know, accounts that are just generated on projected platforms.
Speaker 4: You know, so the opinion doesn't doesn't matter. Nobody has
Speaker 4: come up to me, you know, in the street and said,
Speaker 4: you know, you suck, you don't sing. You know, it
Speaker 4: doesn't phaze me.
Speaker 1: These people are going to say all this stuff regardless,
Speaker 1: And if they're not saying anything, then maybe you're not resonating.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got to have the good and the bad.
Speaker 1: I guess what do you think might make this series better? Like,
Speaker 1: you know, you've just been through the whole process. If
Speaker 1: they roll into a series two, what do you reckon?
Speaker 1: Could they could add to it to make it better?
Speaker 4: The great question.
Speaker 5: It's hard to It's hard to say because because I feel,
Speaker 5: you know, I vaguely remember things from sort of your
Speaker 5: old series of Idol, I was a little bit younger.
Speaker 5: It's I would I would say maybe for the for
Speaker 5: the Top fifty week, I felt that the episode was
Speaker 5: very rush. There were two episodes sort of over for
Speaker 5: three days of like of singing, and to us it
Speaker 5: was it was like crazy and crazy days. I think
Speaker 5: for the show like that could have been a bit longer.
Speaker 5: They could have been a few more episodes, But I'm
Speaker 5: not sure if they need to stick to a certain
Speaker 5: number of episodes per season.
Speaker 1: I think the original you know, with the original series,
Speaker 1: we did learn to sort of get to know these
Speaker 1: people a little bit better through those earliest parts of
Speaker 1: the competition. You know, we fought for them and we
Speaker 1: learned who they were. Think that if they do roll
Speaker 1: into another series, I'd love to see more behind the
Speaker 1: scenes on how you guys are all going in the
Speaker 1: early part of the process.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a great point, actually, because you know, the
Speaker 5: packages for the auditions. Yeah, some had longer, longer packages,
Speaker 5: but sometimes it was just like a thirty second sort
Speaker 5: of thing and you think, who is this person? So
Speaker 5: that's a good point, I think, because it always will
Speaker 5: come down to the public in the public deception of
Speaker 5: the of the contestant at the end of the day,
Speaker 5: like the winner is chosen by the public. So yeah,
Speaker 5: early on, if they can get everybody to have like
Speaker 5: a full thing and really get to know to know,
Speaker 5: then they would be great.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of people that really love you,
Speaker 1: Ben and they're going to want to follow your story.
Speaker 1: What's the best way for people to interact with you,
Speaker 1: you know, coming out of the competition.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the best way to keep up to date with
Speaker 5: me and interact with me is following on socials, Instagram
Speaker 5: and TikTok with benshi Hi music. Yeah, so I'll be
Speaker 5: posting regular updates about what's happening, and yeah, if you
Speaker 5: live in the quin in the Brisbane area, I'll be
Speaker 5: I'll be back there, so I'll be doing doing heaps
Speaker 5: of shows and trying to get some of the going there.
Speaker 1: I've been asking everyone who they think is going to
Speaker 1: win out of the top three, and one of the
Speaker 1: girls gave me their answer and so thank you for that.
Speaker 1: And the other girl refused because she couldn't. Who do
Speaker 1: you think is going to win? Not maybe who you
Speaker 1: want to win, but who do you think is going
Speaker 1: to take this competition out?
Speaker 5: I will also refuse because I think that all three
Speaker 5: of them I deserve to win. And you know, it's
Speaker 5: been such an honor like getting to know them. It's
Speaker 5: been getting to know all of the contestants that have
Speaker 5: come through, but especially the top twelve.
Speaker 4: It's like a family, you know. And they're amazing.
Speaker 5: People, Josh, Phoebe and Royceman, and they've all got unique
Speaker 5: voices in their in their own right. I think they
Speaker 5: I wish that they could all win, be honest, like,
Speaker 5: and all get one hundred thousand dollars and all get
Speaker 5: the you know, all of that they deserve, like all
Speaker 5: the success.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's a nice way to look at it. Can
Speaker 1: I just say thank you so much for your time
Speaker 1: and having this chat with me this morning. I've been
Speaker 1: really looking forward to talking to you because I think
Speaker 1: you brought something really interesting to the show, and I
Speaker 1: think you have a lot of interesting things to say.
Speaker 1: I'll be following you in on your Instagram and following
Speaker 1: your journey, but I wish you all the best of lot.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, Ben, I really appreciate it