Australian Idol season 2
The second season of Australian Idol debuted on 13 July 2004. Over 50,000 people throughout Australia auditioned.
Overview
As well as the five larger cities, the judges also visited Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and Tamworth this year. Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega.The winner was Casey Donovan. Runner-up Anthony Callea, Courtney Murphy, Hayley Jensen and Chanel Cole. The final 2, as well as Ricki-Lee Coulter, were the only contestants of the Top 12 to score hits, with Callea ending up the highest seller with his first release of "The Prayer" being named the second highest selling song of the last decade by ARIA in January 2009. Chanel Cole and Daniel Belle teamed up under the label Spook to release an album in October 2005, and a bootleg album for Chanel was also released in November 2005. Ngaiire Joseph and Marty Worrall released a single each in late 2005, and Hayley Jensen released an album in September 2007. To this date Anthony Callea is the only Idol contestant to make the top 3 without being in the bottom 2 or 3 throughout the course of the show. For this second series of Idol, the Grand Finale remains the highest rated Idol show in the first five series.
Telstra, a major sponsor of the series, made an embarrassing error when they issued a series of half-page advertisements in major newspapers congratulating Donovan on her victory, with a reference to her website. However, the address was incorrect, leading to a website about gay porn star Casey Donovan, rather than the singer's. The company issued a prompt apology upon realising their mistake.
After the season, judge Ian Dickson left the series, though he would return for Seasons 5 to 7. The 2004 season was also notable for an Asian contestant named "Flynn", who sang the Freestylers song "Push Up" after being found from a terrible audition, in the same vein as William Hung.
Semi-finals
Group 1
- Anthony Callea – "Angels"
- Prinnie Stevens – " A Natural Woman"
- Courtney Murphy – "She Will Be Loved"
- Chanel Cole – "Glory Box"
- Laurence Sorbello – "Amazed"
- Ngaiire Joseph – "No More Drama"
- Emily George – "Ain't No Sunshine"
- Meri Bosenavulagi – "Wind Beneath My Wings"
- Ben Eaton – "Freedom! '90"
- Hayley Jensen – "Angel"
'''Wild Card Contenders: Anthony Callea, Ngaiire Joseph and Emily George'''
Group 2
- Yasmine Dia – "You're Free "
- Gabriel Cabrera – "Careless Whisper"
- Chloe Skipp – "Turn Me On"
- Angie Narayan – "Chain of Fools"
- Barry Southgate – "Up Where We Belong"
- Tara Del Borrello – "My Immortal"
- Adrian Hood – "Burn"
- Liza Schulberg – "You Put a Move on My Heart"
- Daniel Belle – "Rock DJ"
- Amali Ward – "Some Kind of Wonderful"
'''Wild Card Contenders: Tara Del Borrello, Adrian Hood and Liza Schulberg'''
Group 3
- Nicole Wheatley – "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
- Garth Ploog – "Something Beautiful"
- Christie Green – "Anytime You Need a Friend"
- Ricki-Lee Coulter – "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"
- Carlos Velazquez – "Yesterday"
- Emelia Rusciano – "Good Luck"
- Casey Donovan – "Here's Where I Stand"
- Marty Worrall – "Drops of Jupiter"
- Billie McCarthy – "Stormy Weather"
- Dan O'Connor – "Amazing"
'''Wild Card Contenders: Garth Ploog, Carlos Velazquez, Emelia Rusciano, Marty Worrall'''
Wildcards
- Adrian Hood – "The Way You Make Me Feel"
- Emily George – "Killing Me Softly"
- Garth Ploog – "Harder to Breathe"
- Emelia Rusciano – "If I Ain't Got You"
- Ngaiire Joseph – "Don't Let It End"
- Carlos Velazquez – "Señorita"
- Tara Del Borrello – "I Turn to You"
- Anthony Callea – "The Reason"
- Liza Schulberg – "Do I Do"
- Marty Worrall – "Somewhere Only We Know"
Weekly Song Themes
Top 12 – Australian Made
The Top 12 Contestants
Casey Donovan
Casey Donovan finished in first place for the second series of Australian Idol. She blew the judges and her fans away with powerful renditions of songs such as "Symphony of Life" and "The Special Ones". She came close to elimination twice when she landed in the bottom two during the Top 6 and the Top 4, thus making her the only winner of Australian Idol to date that has enden up in the bottom group on more than one occasion. All other winners were in the bottom group only once, or not at all. She scored four of Mark Holden's touchdowns during the Top 30, the Top 8, the Top 5 and the Top 3. Casey and season 4 winner Damien Leith hold the record for the most touchdowns at four apiece. After Australian Idol Casey was signed to Sony BMG and she released a number one single and released a platinum selling album. She is no longer with Sony BMG but released an EP independently in 2007 and plans to release an independent album in the near future.Anthony Callea
Anthony auditioned and was selected for the final 30 in the television series Australian Idol in 2004. Based on viewer votes, he did not make it through the first round of competition but was invited back as a "Judge's Choice Wildcard", where his performance earned him a place in the top 12.Over the weeks of the competition his popularity with the Australian public grew. During his run on the show, he gave several performances that earned him high praise from the judges, including Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" and Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion's duet "The Prayer." Judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson said Callea's performance of the latter was the finest he had seen during his two years with the show and rendered him speechless. Mark Holden invented a new concept of the 'Grand Royale' Touchdown for his fine performance. This, to date, remains the only 'Grand Royale' Touchdown given out by Mark Holden.
Courtney Murphy
Courtney Murphy was eliminated on 8 November 2004, making it to the top three.Murphy played the parts of "Roger" a "T'Bird" in the Grease Arena Spectacular which toured Australia from May until June 2005. He has released a CD in the group "Murphy's Lore" with his brothers.
Murphy appeared as a guest on ABC's "Spicks and Specks" in 2005 and briefly revisited his performance of Billy Field's "You Weren't In Love With Me", causing co-host Myf Warhurst to become visibly emotional. Murphy's performance of the song is credited in Billy Field's 2005 released Best Of compilation as the impetus for a significant increase in interest in the back catalog of Billy Field.
Murphy performed the Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair" before the test match held between Australia and India at the WACA Ground in Perth, Western Australia on 16 January 2008.
Recording and mixing of Murphy's debut album "Big" was completed in September 2009. Mastering by Sterling Sound, NYC to be completed October 2009. The full-length album is set for independent release in January 2010, and features production, performance and mixing contributions from LA-based power pop artist Bleu.
Courtney's brother, Chris Murphy, later competed in the fourth season of Australian Idol, where he was placed fourth.
Hayley Jensen
Hayley Jensen, was eliminated on 1 November 2004, placed fourth. Like Marty Worrall, she was placed in the bottom 3 five times including elimination.Chanel Cole
Chanel Cole was eliminated on 25 October 2004, placed fifth.Marty Worrall
Marty Worrall, was eliminated on 18 October 2004, placed sixth. He was placed in the bottom group 5 times, including elimination.Ricki-Lee Coulter
Ricki-Lee Coulter, was eliminated on 11 October 2004, placed seventh. She had been one of the favourites to win the series from the Top 12 until the Top 7 where she gave a poor performance and was eliminated. Like Daniel Belle, who was eliminated the week before her, Ricki-Lee had never appeared in the Bottom 3 or 2 until her elimination.Daniel Belle
Daniel Belle was the fifth contestant to be voted out of the competition, on 4 October 2004.Daniel was never in the bottom three until his elimination week.
Em Rusciano
Emelia "Em" Rusciano was placed ninth, being eliminated on 27 September 2004. She gave an outstanding performance of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" on the wild card show, resulting in her being the judges choice to join the Top 12.Em joined Mark Trevorrow for the Adelaide Cabaret festival in late 2004 for his highly acclaimed I-Bob show and received rave reviews for her performance. She then went on to work for SAFM filling in for the "Milly and Lehmo show" and doing a number of live performances around Adelaide. Emelia impressed Austereo bosses so much that she was offered a full-time breakfast hosting role in Western Australia. In 2006, she participated in the quiz show Australia's Brainiest Idol.
Em went on to host breakfast radio for the Austereo network in Perth for years. Her first co-host was Michael "Wippa" Wipfli from 2006 to 2008 after Wippa left to host drive for Nova FM in Melbourne Sam Mac moved to Perth to co-host the show, Em was fired in 2009. While in Perth Em also guest starred in "Hair the tribal rock musical" alongside Idol alumni Cosima De Vito and Rob Mills.
Em Rusciano is married to Scott Barrow and has two daughters Marchella and Odette, and one son, Elio. She lives in Melbourne.
Rusciano has appeared on All Star Family Feud, The Circle, The Project, Studio 10 and Hughesy, We Have a Problem.
In 2009, Rusciano left the 92.9 breakfast show in Perth after four years and returned to Melbourne. From August 2012 to May 2013, she co-hosted the radio show Mamamia Today with Dave Thornton on the Today Network.
In January 2016, Rusciano toured Australia with her stand-up comedy show, Em Rusciano Is Not a Diva.
In June 2016, Rusciano joined the Hit Network to host The Em Rusciano Show on Sunday nights.
Rusciano published her memoir Try Hard: Tales from the Life of a Needy Overachiever on 26 October 2016.
In January 2017, Rusciano was announced as one of two hosts for 2Day FM's new breakfast show.
In September 2018 Rusciano announced she was leaving the show, stating she decided to leave due to her pregnancy. Rusciano admitted her time at 2Day FM was a "mixed bag".
In April 2020 Em started a very popular podcast called Emsolation which she hosts with her best friend, screenwriter, Michael Lucas. The podcast won second place in the people's choice category of the 2021 Australian Podcast Awards.
In 2021, Rusciano appeared on season three of The Masked Singer Australia and finished runner-up as “Dolly”.