Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week Neverlight. Hey guys, welcome
Speaker 1: back to TV Reload. I want to thank you so
Speaker 1: much for clicking and downloading on today's episode, especially because
Speaker 1: this episode is a special one. I am joined by
Speaker 1: none other than the winner of Australian Idol twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: It is Marshall Hamburger. This season was stacked with talent
Speaker 1: and it showed. The show grew in its ratings by
Speaker 1: fourteen percent compared to last year, which is huge in
Speaker 1: terms of freedomware television, especially because of the stiff competition
Speaker 1: being up against Marretive First Site on Channel nine and
Speaker 1: Australian Survivor on Channel ten. I was lucky enough to
Speaker 1: grab Marshall Hamburger for a quick debrief just days after
Speaker 1: his big win. Now, I'll be honest, I had a
Speaker 1: soft spot for Eilish and my partner was backing Jisella,
Speaker 1: but I've got to say Marshall Hamburger is a worthy
Speaker 1: winner and I'm already hanging out for his debut album.
Speaker 1: In our chat, Marshall opens up about the moment Gizella
Speaker 1: was a liminit what it felt like to actually win
Speaker 1: and how much his parents influenced his journey into music.
Speaker 1: We will also get into his love of all things eighties,
Speaker 1: was that authentic or something shaped by producers to build
Speaker 1: a narrative. Plus, we will dive behind the scenes, what
Speaker 1: the vibe was really like amongst the top twelve, did
Speaker 1: he get the Judges mobile numbers, How we can support
Speaker 1: his music now and what is coming up for him
Speaker 1: in the next few months. There is a lot to
Speaker 1: unpack with plenty of insider revelations, So sit back and
Speaker 1: relax as we dive into the wonderful world of Australian Idol,
Speaker 1: which you can catch up on on seven plus, and
Speaker 1: I suggest you do because that Grand Final was epic.
Speaker 2: Hi, mate, how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm very good. I'm very excited to be talking to you.
Speaker 1: Like honestly, I felt like there was a concert in
Speaker 1: my house last night and I don't think that I've
Speaker 1: had my television up that loud in a very long time,
Speaker 1: and a large part of that is thanks to you.
Speaker 2: Thank you man.
Speaker 1: Are you've a little bit overwhelmed? I mean from talking
Speaker 1: to everyone this week? Have you lost your mind?
Speaker 2: I honestly can't believe it, really like it. It's crazy
Speaker 2: that is all happening. You know.
Speaker 1: I want to know what you remember from that Grand
Speaker 1: Finale night, because I think live television does this very
Speaker 1: strange thing to your brain where you're kind of drinking
Speaker 1: in all the colors and you can hear all the sounds,
Speaker 1: but then when you sit back and you think about
Speaker 1: what the hell just happened, you struggle to remember anything.
Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly, yeah, that was I mean, I was kind
Speaker 2: of thinking, what the hell just happened? On stage? I
Speaker 2: was just thinking. I was like, do they actually say
Speaker 2: my name? Am I just dreaming?
Speaker 1: The winner.
Speaker 3: Of Australian Idol twenty twenty five is mysel hand.
Speaker 1: When this season started, I had this chat with Ricky
Speaker 1: Lee cooled her and I didn't see or speak to
Speaker 1: Amy Shark, but I did see her do an interview
Speaker 1: and both of these women they could not get your
Speaker 1: name out of their mouth. Like this was early days
Speaker 1: in the promotion of this season of Idol. This was
Speaker 1: not even before the live shows. You know, does it help?
Speaker 1: Do you think having a host and a judge be
Speaker 1: on your side throughout the competition?
Speaker 2: It is? It is amazing that those two women were
Speaker 2: so kind I had it a chat to them after
Speaker 2: the show Anderson Ricky dressing room with them. They's a man,
Speaker 2: It's so cool. You know, you're you're a real artist
Speaker 2: and I'm I'm excited to see what you do in
Speaker 2: the future. And that was just so cool to hear
Speaker 2: it directly from them, and you know, to just sit
Speaker 2: down and have a chat with them after the show.
Speaker 2: It was just a complete honor having a beer with
Speaker 2: Amy Shark.
Speaker 1: You know, the funny thing about watching Australian idol is
Speaker 1: if you don't know these people, if you haven't met
Speaker 1: Kyle Marsha, Amy Scott and Ricky, you don't know how
Speaker 1: genuine these people truly are. Like the way that you
Speaker 1: see them on television, you could probably assume they're making
Speaker 1: that they're putting on an act. I want to know
Speaker 1: did you manage to ask them for their mobile numbers?
Speaker 1: Like do you have celebrity phone numbers coming out of
Speaker 1: your ears right now?
Speaker 2: I don't have celebrity phone numbers. I do I do.
Speaker 2: I do have the phone numbers of the musical. I
Speaker 2: do the PHNT number of the musical director of the man.
Speaker 2: But I will have to I have to answer Rick
Speaker 2: Gillian Scott for their numbers for the future.
Speaker 1: I'm sure. I'm sure they'll help you out with that.
Speaker 1: They'll keep you on speed dip.
Speaker 2: I'm sure.
Speaker 1: There was a huge gasp when there was the top
Speaker 1: three going down to two. And that's really a stressful
Speaker 1: environment to be in because you have been living with
Speaker 1: these other two girls day in and day out, not
Speaker 1: only for the last few months, but especially in the
Speaker 1: last week that.
Speaker 3: I houltimately mean, so we have to say goodbye to
Speaker 3: one of the biggest stars of the competition and one
Speaker 3: of the greatest voices we have had on this show, Jisella.
Speaker 1: What was the reaction like in that moment when Gizella
Speaker 1: was eliminated?
Speaker 2: It was it was honestly just shock. You know, I didn't,
Speaker 2: I didn't, I don't know. It. It's weird. It's a
Speaker 2: weird feeling because on one hand, you're celebrating because it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: you're through to the next round. But on the other hand,
Speaker 2: you're like, well, that's just someone, that's someone that was
Speaker 2: one of my one of my best friends, and that
Speaker 2: they they just you know, they just got it's got eliminated.
Speaker 2: It's it's a weird feeling. It's a bit of Yin
Speaker 2: and yang.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I had three text messages turn up on my phone
Speaker 1: as soon as it happened, saying shock. That's what it is,
Speaker 1: the capital letters shock. Now these three people are completely unrelated,
Speaker 1: so it seemed to be a massive shock for the
Speaker 1: Australian audience to be able to see Gisella getting eliminated?
Speaker 1: Was it a shock to the three of you? And
Speaker 1: I'm curious to know, did going into this finale, did
Speaker 1: you have any expectation of what the order would be
Speaker 1: in how you know the eliminations would happen.
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, it was really hard to tell who
Speaker 2: would make it to the final two because we're all
Speaker 2: such different artists, So it was really it was it
Speaker 2: wasn't like which one of us does does this genre better?
Speaker 2: It's really which which kind of style did Australia like
Speaker 2: This year? Was really hard to tell. I know this,
Speaker 2: this whole season was really unpredictable. No, I sort of.
Speaker 2: I had thoughts in my mind about who we get
Speaker 2: through and those thoughts were absolutely crushed and thrown to
Speaker 2: the side. So I you know that it's really hard
Speaker 2: to tell this season.
Speaker 1: I actually think then I've got a bit of a theory,
Speaker 1: but I actually think that we all thought you were
Speaker 1: going to be there. I'm going to be really honest, like,
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone who saw you on the first day,
Speaker 1: that watch those live performances this season thought there would
Speaker 1: be anyone.
Speaker 2: Else like, yeah, oh, well that that's pretty cool to hear.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean I always hoped, I always hoped
Speaker 2: that I would I don't honestly just hope i'd get
Speaker 2: to the top twelve. Honestly, So it's I mean to
Speaker 2: get to be at the end of it, and you know,
Speaker 2: hold the title is honestly just it's absolutely honor and
Speaker 2: I'm just so thankful and shocked.
Speaker 1: Would you say that this is going to be a
Speaker 1: bit of a flex for you? You know that you
Speaker 1: are the winner of Australian Idol. Do you think that's
Speaker 1: going to help you in the dating world? Like, are
Speaker 1: you going to use that to get into clubs? Are
Speaker 1: you already thinking about how are you going to use
Speaker 1: this flex outside of just being a musician? Ah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, this is definitely definitely something
Speaker 2: that will be on my resume forever. Yeah, honestly, honestly,
Speaker 2: it's just so cool. I just can't believe that I've
Speaker 2: been that I was lucky enough to be in that
Speaker 2: sort of hall of fame of Australian idol winners. I
Speaker 2: just I can't believe it.
Speaker 1: I think this couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
Speaker 1: Even just talking to you right now. I think when
Speaker 1: we saw your relationship with your parents, your mom's got
Speaker 1: one of those faces where you just feel like that
Speaker 1: you know her, and your dad looks like such a
Speaker 1: sweetheart as well. I kept turning around to my partner
Speaker 1: actually and saying, you know, I actually think I've met
Speaker 1: Marshall Hamburger's mother, Like, does she have one of those
Speaker 1: faces that people seem to think that they know.
Speaker 2: Yes, definitely, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: I don't think got that love for music from my parents.
Speaker 4: Growing up with such talented musicians in my household, it
Speaker 4: was so helpful when it came to actually wanting to
Speaker 4: pursue music, because I had access to these people who
Speaker 4: very skilled at their craft, but they're also my parents,
Speaker 4: and they actually also want to help.
Speaker 2: And we were for free and you're free.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it don't cost any money, which is really good.
Speaker 1: And so your parents were like musicians growing up, and
Speaker 1: I'm curious about the type of music that they must
Speaker 1: have been listening to, because I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: you were raised on eighties tracks we saw during the
Speaker 1: live shows. You seem to have a very good understanding
Speaker 1: of the pedigree of that genre.
Speaker 2: Yes, so, so back in the day, they did a
Speaker 2: lot of music around around just around the globe. Actually,
Speaker 2: they did a there were a covers band, and they
Speaker 2: took to it around the world at different hotels, doing residencies,
Speaker 2: meeting some really cool people, doing big concerts, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just all the above. They wrote some original music
Speaker 2: as well. And then I think when they were in India,
Speaker 2: I was conceived and I was born, and yeah.
Speaker 1: Did you think that they had any idea in their
Speaker 1: careers or raising you that you were the prodigal sign,
Speaker 1: like you were going to become this musician.
Speaker 2: No, my mom was actually talking to me about it
Speaker 2: a bit earlier before. She was like, she was like,
Speaker 2: oh no, when I was really little looking apparently, I
Speaker 2: was like coming coming coming her like a flute line
Speaker 2: of a classical track that I just heard, and and
Speaker 2: Mom was like, oh, yeah, oh, babies do this. Because
Speaker 2: I was at first She's like, oh yeah, oh, babies
Speaker 2: must do this. And I was running around the house
Speaker 2: like grabbing like showman hats and doing little dances with
Speaker 2: ul hoops and yeah, pointing to the TV and being like,
Speaker 2: I want to be there. I want to be on there.
Speaker 5: Black They to be as the testol Clossie plaster test
Speaker 5: colt on little clothes. So I'm John Bag too. I
Speaker 5: don't understand. There's no such a thing as preferred as
Speaker 5: the Day's girl by it went when on before, It
Speaker 5: doesn't matter day sad.
Speaker 1: You know what I really loved about you throughout this
Speaker 1: competition is the way that you continued to flip these
Speaker 1: eighties tracks, like the Darryl Braithway song. I can't tell
Speaker 1: you how many times I've actually listened to that version
Speaker 1: of the song. All of these songs that were flipped
Speaker 1: from their eighties they kind of transported me back to
Speaker 1: my childhood because I was actually born in nineteen eighty,
Speaker 1: years before you would have even been born. Had you
Speaker 1: gone into this competition knowing that you were going to
Speaker 1: to lean into the eighties theme, or was that kind
Speaker 1: of constructed in the edit by like the producers of
Speaker 1: the Australian Idol Factory.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I mean I always sort of thought that,
Speaker 2: you know, to have to want to you know, when
Speaker 2: I came to the competition, that the main thing I
Speaker 2: wanted to do was do cool music. But I knew
Speaker 2: that if I wanted to do cool music that people knew,
Speaker 2: I'd have to go back a decade or two. So
Speaker 2: I'd have to go back to the eighties to sort
Speaker 2: of find the balance of like, really cool music that's
Speaker 2: really that I find really interesting to my ear and
Speaker 2: something stuff that I'm really proud to sing and that,
Speaker 2: but also that balance of you know, stuff that people
Speaker 2: actually know.
Speaker 1: Is your playlist actually filled with eighties tracks like Richard Mars?
Speaker 1: Like are you listening to Richard Marks? Over listening to
Speaker 1: musicians like Drake and Benson Boone?
Speaker 2: Yeah, how are you? I'm listening? My favorite Richard Marks
Speaker 2: track of all time is Keep Coming Back and the
Speaker 2: Summer Nights. Those are my two favorite Richard Mark songs.
Speaker 2: And you know, I've listened to tons and tons of
Speaker 2: Toto and yeah, just all Michael McDonald's Deevie Wonder all
Speaker 2: of the above.
Speaker 1: I love the mention of Endless Summer nights. I have
Speaker 1: such a strong connection to that song. I live in
Speaker 1: an apartment in Melbourne and I had this guy that
Speaker 1: lived downstairs for I don't know, like eight to ten years,
Speaker 1: and he'd bought a guitar. I don't think he was
Speaker 1: a musician. I don't think he was very good with
Speaker 1: his guitar, but he would just play the same riff
Speaker 1: you know from that song again and again, and it's
Speaker 1: kind of one of my favorite eighties tracks. It never
Speaker 1: really bothered me.
Speaker 2: Oh there you go. That's a great song.
Speaker 1: It's actually probably not the right time to talk about
Speaker 1: this because this is all very fresh, But have you
Speaker 1: thought about how you're going to step outside of the
Speaker 1: Australian Idol the reality TV side of things and craft
Speaker 1: career as a musician.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean I've been writing a lot of songs.
Speaker 2: I write a lot of songs before Idol, and I
Speaker 2: was writing a lot of songs during Idol as well.
Speaker 2: So I'm really sort of getting to work on diginal
Speaker 2: album to release and get that produced and ready to
Speaker 2: release of the public, and then get ready for a
Speaker 2: get a show together and get that ready to sort
Speaker 2: of take on tour.
Speaker 1: Well, does Channel seven or Australian Idol producers. Do they
Speaker 1: offer you management, Like, how does that work now that
Speaker 1: you've come out of the show.
Speaker 2: I think I'm with him. I think I'm talking about
Speaker 2: to talk to a management company. The management company that
Speaker 2: with Idle has entertainment and so sort of don't have
Speaker 2: a chat about the future and you know, our plans
Speaker 2: for what's going to happen in the next couple of
Speaker 2: weeks and over the next year. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: actually at the moment, there is a Winners album coming
Speaker 2: out which is just full of tracks of my all
Speaker 2: of the stuff that I've done for on Idol, So
Speaker 2: like all of the all the as the Days go by,
Speaker 2: Hire Love of you know, all the above beautiful things,
Speaker 2: all that sort of stuff coming out pretty soon, so
Speaker 2: you know, while wait, while you're waiting for my original music,
Speaker 2: you can have a listen to that as well.
Speaker 1: Do you actually know at this stage whether they're going
Speaker 1: to be just the short versions that you sung on
Speaker 1: the show or have you actually already been into the
Speaker 1: recording studio and had those songs recorded as longer versions
Speaker 1: like the extended version for the album.
Speaker 2: I think I think that just pretty much just as
Speaker 2: the as you heard on idol was like a little
Speaker 2: bit of a little bit of cleaning up to make
Speaker 2: them really polished. And yeah, so it be really cool.
Speaker 2: I'm actually excited to I'm excited to Rea hear it
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: I would just say this week has just been this
Speaker 1: week will be just crazy for you coming off the
Speaker 1: back of an Idol win. I want to know, like,
Speaker 1: what are you going to do to celebrate? Man?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: Do you go out and have a drink? Are you
Speaker 1: just going to get onto the gaming? Like for a
Speaker 1: person like yourself, what do you do to celebrate something
Speaker 1: as amazing as this?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to really relax for a bit, play
Speaker 2: play a couple of video games. I haven't not played
Speaker 2: a single video game for like two months.
Speaker 1: People probably won't believe that it's you, right, They'll be like,
Speaker 1: I can't believe that I'm gaming against Marshall Hamburger or.
Speaker 2: No, probably not.
Speaker 1: I'm probably going to sound like such a boomer when
Speaker 1: I say this, but I'm assuming you have a handle,
Speaker 1: like a name that you play with. Are you allowed
Speaker 1: to tell me who your alias is?
Speaker 2: My alias that I use a lot on PlayStation is
Speaker 2: called Rosanna Year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you know what, Marshall, I think I
Speaker 1: could probably talk to you forever. And honestly, I'm so
Speaker 1: excited for you. I've been on this journey with you
Speaker 1: right from the start. I think that Australia has one
Speaker 1: hundred percent picked the right person. And you know what, Marshall,
Speaker 1: you know when I finished this podcast, every time I
Speaker 1: ask people for a behind the scenes secret, I'm wondering,
Speaker 1: can you help me? What's a behind the scenes secret
Speaker 1: from your idle journey?
Speaker 2: Behind the scenes secret? Well, I know, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 2: there were lots of I tell you, there were lots
Speaker 2: of watch parties of the show happening, and I'll I'll
Speaker 2: make William's room and Jake Joe dead for lots of
Speaker 2: parties James's room as well.
Speaker 1: Is there a leader of the pack amongst the top twelve,
Speaker 1: like who's Queen Bee at the top that sort of
Speaker 1: sets the tone for what everyone's doing.
Speaker 2: I don't know, honestly, I don't know. It is hard
Speaker 2: to tell. I mean, Jack, but Jaimen is a funny bugger.
Speaker 2: He's always he's always got a guitar. He's like he's
Speaker 2: like he's like guys. I wrote a song yesterday he's like, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's like chilling around, like playing his guitar, and you know,
Speaker 2: there's honestly, and I list I was just sort of
Speaker 2: sort of like a sort of but she sort of
Speaker 2: hangs around in the background. I don't think what they
Speaker 2: said in her packackets the last night was a perfect description.
Speaker 2: She's definitely a dark horse now. She used to see
Speaker 2: her and she's like, oh yeah, I'm Ilish hi, and
Speaker 2: she goes on stage and she absolutely kills it.
Speaker 1: She absolutely killed it. And I have to say to you,
Speaker 1: I am a little obsessed with Eilish as well, so
Speaker 1: I will be following her idol journey post all of
Speaker 1: this idle madness. But Marshall, you are our twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five winner and I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have had
Speaker 1: the chance to chat with you today. So wishing you
Speaker 1: all the best with what is about to happen next.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, I thank you for having me