Category: News

Tonight was ABBA night on Australian Idol, a theme that was sure to bring some fun, and surprising performances. These restrictive theme nights are always so interesting. We see what the Idols can really do when they’re forced to step outside their comfort. So who soared and who slipped up? Read on!

Chrislyn Hamilton stayed fairly true to the original version of “Mamma Mia,” but I didn’t mind at all. It’s a really fun song, and she definitely had fun with this. It wasn’t her best vocal performance but it definitely had its moments. She’s a real entertainer though, and it’s easy to forgive the flaws because she’s just a joy to watch.

I thought it would take a miracle to make ABBA cool. Instead it took Sophie Paterson. Her stripped back mellow version of “Gimme Gimme Gimme” took it out of the disco and into the 21st century. It was incredibly smart because people are going to remember it. Sophie’s really hit her strides in recent weeks, so hopefully we’ll see her out of that dreaded bottom three again.

Thanh Bui showed us exactly what he should be doing in this competition with his rendition of “The Winner Takes it All.” I think maybe sitting at the piano forces him to be still, and that gets rid of the cheese factor we’re used to seeing from him. I hope we see a lot more of this Thanh, as opposed to boy band Thanh, because this Thanh rocks. And it was enough to make Marcia give a touchdown! Is it just me or do they mean more this year because Mark isn’t around to give them out willy nilly?

Roshani Priddis took “Money Money Money” to musical theatre, with her fantastic performance. When I heard the song choices for this week this was the only pairing that automatically made sense to me. I’m glad it lived up to my expectations. Roshani is proving to be Miss Consistency in this competition and I’m looking forward to what she brings every week.

Wes Carr excelled with his interpretation of “Fernando.” Wes is always good, but this time he was great. Maybe it’s because I saw him really step out of his comfort zone, but I appreciated this so much. It was true enough to the original not to alienate the older fans, but it was so much cooler. I also loved seeing him play the acoustic guitar again.

Mark Spano rocked out with “Waterloo,” or at least he tried to. Sort of. This is the thing with taking a risk. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. This to me didn’t really work. There were good moments there, but they were few and far between. I wonder whether he would have done better if he’d picked a less iconic song? I’m getting a little frustrated with Mark. He’s my favourite but he just doesn’t seem to be delivering which makes him awfully hard to support.

Madam Parker gave what should have been a fantastic performance of “Dancing Queen.” I really loved the arrangement, especially the start with the drums. But she was just so self conscious. It’s funny, because she really didn’t need to be. She said ABBA was so far out of her element, but it’s really not. If she’d really let go and enjoyed herself we would have done the same thing. Instead it was just OK.

I was a bit surprised that Teale Jakubenko picked “Thank You for the Music,” but I really enjoyed what he did with it. I loved the arrangement, and while his vocals weren’t as consistently strong all the way through it was really enjoyable. I also loved his positive attitude about the theme! Those good vibes really translated to a great performance, particularly when compared to some of those contestants who were a bit anti-ABBA.

Luke Dickens brought his gravelly rock voice to “Knowing Me Knowing You.” I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve really listened to the lyrics and the meaning behind the song. It’s always just sounded so happy, I’d never seen that darkness before! I did worry about how Luke would handle ABBA week, but he did it like a pro. He took all the cheese out of it and I loved it!

I’m actually surprised no one really slipped up! There were some amazing performances tonight, so it’s going to be tricky to pick who goes? I think Mark’s performance was the worst, but I think he’s got enough fans behind him that Madam might be the one who goes. What do you think?

Image source: Peter Forret @ Flickr