All Stories FeedStan crowned Australian Idol
Stan Walker has won Australian Idol 2009.
The 19 year old from Queensland defeated 17 year old Hayley Warner in the Grand Final at the Sydney Opera House.
“I just want to thank God man,” said a tearful Walker. “I want to thank my family for supporting me, they came from New Zealand.”
His family and friends performed an impromptu Maori haka in the audience upon hearing of his win.
Born in Melbourne but raised in New Zealand, Stan won over audiences with his mix of soul and R & B songs.
He wins a record / management contract with Sony BMG, a $200,000 development fund and a new car.
The win was an ambition fulfilled for the young singer who dreamt of competing after he watched Guy Sebastian win in 2003.
‘Rock chick’ Warner, 17, was the first female finalist for Idol since Natalie Gauci in 2007.
Idol struggled to match previous ratings this year, but TEN has affirmed its return in 2010.
Walker has released the single “Black Box” available now on download.
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I never watched a full episode of Australian Idol this year. But I caught a few snippits. I was positively impressed by Stan. A georgeous individual.
The proverb posted bry Janelle Takimoana …”thrive for the days destined to you” … Wow! What a remakably beautiful thought.
Stan is not a member of Hillsong, but just a vistor attending, he is a member of Tweed Valley Community Church. Both church’s are a part of ACCC (AOG).
AOG have many church’s through out New Zealand also, with a very strong Maori & islander following and do great work helping many broken people as we have seen.
I think people have freakin lost their minds!!!
People complaining about his heavy kiwi accent and his religious beliefs and how he should not be outspoken about it and keep his religious beliefs to himself. Well, why? Because you don’t like it , agree with with it or understand it? To that I say keep your pathetic beliefs to yourselves as well then. And for his Kiwi accent it is what it is, who cares.
If you don’t like Australian Idol, then Don’t watch it!. Stop complaining already it’s getting old.
And if you don’t like Stan or think he should not have won….Tough!
He did win and most of us who voted for him think he’s amazing and his performances week after week were also amazing. And yes I will be buying is album which comes out Dec 11 and his single Little Black Box is no1 on iTunes.
At the end of the day it’s personal preference I like his style of music which is Soul and RnB.
Go Stan!!!
Small correction: MasterChef Australia finale will be shown on ONE in NZ this Friday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, while Australian Idol finale will be shown on sister station TV2 from 8.30pm to 10.30pm.
Stan’s win was mentioned by several New Zealand media outlets today, including TVNZ, which will broadcast the final this Friday night at 8.30pm on its TV2 channel, the last hour of which will be up against the finale of MasterChef Australia on sister station ONE (MC has been shown in NZ at around 5pm Sundays to Fridays, but the finale will be shown in primetime).
Heads for radio, both of them!
fair dinkum. these contetstants are adults. if you think our bagging is bad. just wait until they both start too struggle. the real music critics will lay it on worse than we are. you cant baby them all the time. to the people that say. aus idol should keep going because american idol has been going brilliantly. there is a reason for that. they have a better talent pool and the singers on that show is worth watching.
I’m with the people posting messages that don’t slag others and their point of view. I have enjoyed Idol for its entire run, and admit that some seasons have been stronger than others. The competition is decided largely by the public. Although the bickering judges shape the top 24, there was an abundance of talent through the semi finals. The element of interactivity from the public is what makes the show and the performers who emerge from it. We will never know how the show would have emerged if Ashley or Sabrina had stayed in til the end – that is the format and how it develops each year. I don’t fathom people who watch and winge – don’t watch – plenty of other options. As another contributor mentioned seven years and a million viewers is still pretty good, and Channel 10 may be a number of things but suicidal they are not. Idol will return, and if the American Idol can still make it fresh and watchable after 8 seasons, then Idol’s Aussie producers will tweak the format to woo more people back. Hayley and Stan made great competitors for a final. Great mentors too this year – Suzi, Harry, Buble, Liza!
@johnb
Sadly I would have to agree.
It would seem every forum on the net has become the breeding ground for angry misinformed people.
Its starting to spoil a great site!
@john b. if you dont like peoples opinion. don’t look at the website.
@ryan. jealous of what. they arent even that good.
I only watched Idol sporadically this year, as the talent didn’t exactly grab me by the throat, but Stan was the best of an eminently forgettable bunch. Hayley was shocking, I cannot believe she was voted into the final two. What the? She should have been one of the first eliminated. She needs to get her pitch problems fixed, pronto. Agree that Stan needs serious diction coaching. His spoken diction is woeful, really bad. He’s not too bad when he sings, but he sounds like a moron when he speaks. And the neck tattoo is just awful.
I will be interested to see how Ten fit Idol into its schedule next year, given that they are the Commonwealth Games broadcaster. The Commonwealth Games is in October next year, so that will really stuff up Idol’s scheduling. How are they going to accommodate reality series SYTYCD, The Biggest Loser, MasterChef and Idol? All are three/four month series that broadcast on a Sunday evening? If they are determined to bring Idol back, they will have to truncate the competition or interrupt it mid flow, which would be a bad idea. Hmmm, despite all the denials, I don’t think anything is set in stone about Idol yet. Just because Andrew G said “see ya next year” doesn’t mean a thing. Shows can be cancelled with the swipe of a pen. Perhaps Idol will be “rested”, as it is the worst performing of Ten’s reality shows.
I actually watched the finale last night and thought it was professionally produced but was sadly missing the magic of John Foreman.
There were good bits and bad bits – Michael Buble is an absolute delight and how generous was he and the other “mentors” with their taped comments!
As for Idol being back in 2010 – the same was said about Rove being back and we all know what happened with that!
The initial ratings have just been posted over at Mediaspy and despite the TBYG special and the Idol finale – TEN came in a very distant third.
Seven won with tabloid current affairs, reality shows and American crime dramas.
Nine came a close second with tabloid current affairs and cricket.
TEN had over 3 hours of Australian made shows and came a very distant third.
I think TEN should rest Idol for a year and maybe bring it back in 2011.
If only people voting spent at least the same amount of money on their Idol’s music as they did on their many votes, then maybe we’d have more successful Idols around here. I can’t believe that so many people would spend so much to vote, and then hold back on $1.69 on iTunes for the single.
Before we all go jumping on the “Stan is religious” bandwagon – Hayley is too. So either way, it was a win for the churches.
Again, I have to say – that bit with the choreographed group of dancers in the mosh pit was the most excruciating and cringeworthy piece of television I have ever seen. Almost physically painful.
@John B Maybe just don’t scroll down as far as the comments?
The Tall Poppy Syndrome usually applies to people who have become successful and are deemed “too big for their boots”, and need to be cut down to size. Which doesn’t really seem to apply to the current Idol contestants.
There is nothing constructive about fawning over Idol, either. It was a good format in its day, but it has run out of steam and no longer rates very well. (I guess it is up to Ten to decide if the “key demos” argument can justify what is a pretty pricey program to produce)
@ john b: well said! all those people who ditch stan and hayley and say they wont go anywhere i just put down to jealousy, atleast they got off their asses and had a go!
Unfortunately this great site is starting to be over-run by typical whinging forum posters who feel the need to bag anything to make themselves feel smart. These comments are lame. Idol has been around for seven seasons and i am sick of reading the same ‘i’m cool coz i hate idol’ comments. The ones about how the winner will be unsuccessful are the worst. Obviously winning idol doesnt guarantee success. Its a tough industry and not everyone can make it. The two finalists were 17 and 19 years old. How much had they achieved at that age? My guess is not much. Typical predictable tall poppy syndrome.
I hate to get personal, but i’m just over it. I like reading constructive criticism. These pointlessly negative people really reduce my enjoyment of this website.
@newtaste Wasn’t guy a member of one of those super churchs too?
@alistar. As a Christian i couldn’t agree more. They are con-men. If you look at the shows. a number comes up every 5 or 6 mins asking for money. And they live in houses that would make the pope blush
People are so stupid saying idol should be axed when the programmer of ten said he couldnt give a crap about high ratings and instead wants to win ten’s demos and idol wins them nearly every week, after all its all about advertising and there will always be a market for gen y and gen x
Not just TEN. Late night evangalists are terrible. Peter Popoff on Nine was the worst. But careful not to throw Compass into the same basket just because it’s religious.
i have to say i really enjoyed the finale tonight, there was alot of different types of music and i liked all of them, mika was awesome and the top 12 chicks were kool and the top 12 guys were great aswell. Great night of entertainment. cheers 10.
Channel 10 is becoming a Christian station, its disgusting. They allow Christian con men to sell false hopes to those who can lease afford it at 3am. Religion has no place on tv
A lot of people are commenting even though they say they did not watch. Andrew said at the end “I’m happy to say we’ll be back next year” or words to that effect. So no ifs about it … it’s coming back.
@BritneySpearsFan: What? This site is great in that anyone can comment but please use whole words and some punctuation.
thinkin about it you knew Stan would win, he had most of the Kiwi people probably voting for him
not saying he isint good, but i think Nathan should have won
They had fireworks for this??
KIa Kaha Stan Tumeke
E tipu,e rea,mo nga ra o tou ao;ko to ringa ki nga rakau a te Pakeha hei ara mo to tinana,ko to ngakau ki nga taonga a o tupuna Maori hei tikitiki mo to mahuna;ko to wairua ki to atua,nana nei nga mea katoa.
(Grow up thrive for the days destined to you, your hand to the tools of the pakeha to provide physical sustenance, your heart to the treasures of your Maori ancestors as a diadem for your brow, your soul to your god , to whom all things belong.
this proverb written by Sir Apirana Ngata
Congradulations from my Whanau in Wellington such a beautiful Soul you process
Thanks David. A few seconds spent here saved me hours of waffle.
The last few weeks I taped and just skimmed thru the performances
but tonight. I just thought, I’m over it. Better stuff to watch on other channels
(and no taping of it either) – Time to rest this Ten
And what’s this about Gloria Jeans and Hillsong?
“I just want to thank God man” ….excuse me while i throw up..
BTW – neck tattoos are *never* a good idea. Never.
Shall we place bets on what numbers the finale got then?? Just over 1 mil is my pick. The song probably won’t go number one either, album will flop, and we’ll be saying the exact same stuff next year if Ten bring it back.
Ten are kidding themselves if they bring it back next year. I know they don’t have many ideas, but why crush to death the ones they do have?
@kuttyswood I have become quite convinced your posts are parody. Am I right?
Oh, and I think britneyspearsfan may be from a different timezone. One where they don’t have English.
Congratulations to Stan….it is always a good feeling to see someone so young yet so humble achieve something so deserving. I look forward to hearing many future albums. Stan will be another Guy Sabastian. Well done Stan and good luck.
Deb…
I haven’t watched any of this season (I haven’t watched much of any season, come to that)… just the winner announcement. I don’t know who Stan or Hayley are but as soon as he said “thank god” I knew the winner was Hillsong.
If I was Ten’s owner I’d be saying “get this sh*t off my channel”.
10 wont revamp this show. they think there is nothing wrong with the show. they are slow to react too alot of things
Stan Walker not just an aus idol winner he is the modern day Tom Jones. Stan can stamp his name on any song he has sung so far, one of the real talents of modern time.
i knew this about at 6.00 i was goin to go noooo now i know byt i just found out as i saw it so nooo spoiler for me and thanks david for the reminder of finals this week so we know not to come on around then thanks for your great work
Is Hayley signed already also or are they just fools so do their testing live.
I was tuning in to snippets of Idol here and there, and managed to switch over at just the right time to catch Andrew Gunsberg say “Australian Idol 2007″ instead of 2009.
Okay it’s over. Good luck to Stan. Let’s hope he gets a dialect coach because his accent is almost incomprehensible.
Channel 10 you now have about 12 months to fix this show. Don’t waste the time.
Go Stan!, cant believe Andrew G spoiled it, glad I didn’t hear it but just rewound recording and heard him say to Stan, you think its awesome now, you wait until the other side of the break:
@newtaste. If you want to stop funding Hillsong stop going to Gloria Jeans.
Don’t you mean Natalie Gauci in 2007?
It’s an easy mistake to make, seeing as she was so forgettable.
You can tell how excited Gunsberg was, he’s a Queenslander after all.
Come on Anna Bligh, give this guy a tickertape parade, finally we Queenslanders have swept Ten’s two bookends and broke the “Curse of Dan England” to boot!
Stan is a deserved winner – amazing voice. Good luck to both him and Hayley though – possibly two of IMO the only three contestants (the other being Nathan) who sang consistently well throughout the series.
when this show was relevant and people gave a s**t, didnt the final used to be held in the opera house rather than outside of it?
Also, somoene is giving Ricki Lee some seriously bad advice, twice in the three months she performed live on TV and sounded like crap (Tonight and on the Morning show a few months back, that will teach me to take a day off sick!!) oh, and she looked awful in the little black dress tonight as well.
Single’s already available on bandit.fm.
The Hillsong Church influence on Australian Idol continues! Stan is part of Hillsong and attended one of the morning services today at the Hillsong City Campus at Waterloo in Sydney.
Better than thing Casey who won in season 2…which was the highest rated…and where is she now?
Shame Andrew G spoiled the result before the announcement! He gave it away just before the Ad Break leading into the Announcement!
so some bloke named stan won hey. no one will know who won this year. by the end of the year i reckon