Australian Idol season 8
The eighth season of Australian Idol premiered on 30 January 2023. It is the show's first season since 2009. It aired on Seven Network, after the network bought the rights to the series from Network 10. The grand final was won by Royston Sagigi-Baira, also known as Royston Noell, whose winner's single, "Invincible", was released after the grand final on 26 March 2023.
Production
On 21 October 2020, Seven Network announced at their annual upfronts that they will be reviving the series, originally slated for 2022. It was later delayed until 2023.Ricki-Lee Coulter and Scott Tweedie are the hosts, with the judging panel consisting of former American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr., former Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands, Amy Shark and Meghan Trainor. Original judge Marcia Hines appeared as a guest judge.
The series is produced by Eureka Productions.
Auditions
Auditions were held in various cities around Australia. If an auditionee received a "yes" vote from at least three of the four judges, they received a "golden ticket", which put them into the top 50. In a few cases, a single judge visited a remote location, and auditionees were accepted or rejected for the top 50 by that judge alone.Auditions 1 (30 January)
Auditions 2 (31 January)
- *Angus and Bobby Holmes are brothers who both performed separately, however when it was found out they were brothers they auditioned together and both received golden tickets.
Auditions 3 (1 February)
Auditions 4 (5 February)
- *Haze Harrington auditioned twice, in two different cities.
Auditions 5 (6 February)
- *Jakob Poyner was originally rejected at first, until Meghan changed her mind.
- *Elizabeth Pardallis and Ethan Hill auditions were compiled.
Auditions 6 (7 February)
- *Yasmin and Yolanda Absolom audition was shown again.
Auditions 7 (12 February)
Top 50
Marcia Hines, who was a judge for all of the seven seasons of Australian Idol's original run, filled in for Meghan Trainor during the Top 50 rounds.Top 50 Part 2 (14 February)
32 contestants reached this round. Each contestant sang a song solo in front of a live audience. The judges then decided who would progress to the final 24.| Singer | Order | Song | Result |
| Naomi Gipey | 1 | "Ex's & Oh's" | Advanced |
| Phoebe Stewart | 2 | "Lose You to Love Me" | Advanced |
| Angelina Curtis | 3 | "Strong" | Advanced |
| Harry Hayden | 4 | "You Know I'm No Good" | Advanced |
| Jasey Fox | 5 | "Does Your Mother Know" | Advanced |
| Royston Sagigi-Baira | 6 | "Everything I Wanted" | Advanced |
| Anya Hynninen | 7 | "I Was Made for Lovin' You" | Advanced |
| Ben Sheehy | 8 | "Fortunate Son" | Advanced |
| Kaitlyn Thomas | 9 | "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" | Eliminated |
| Triston Joynt | 10 | "Love on the Brain" | Eliminated |
| Edwin Fejo | 11 | "All by Myself" | Eliminated |
| Amali Dimond | 12 | "Before You Go" | Advanced |
| Cooper Turnbull | 13 | "All I Want" | Advanced |
| Sharin Attamimi | 14 | "Rise Up" | Advanced |
| Montana Lara | 15 | "Elastic Heart" | Eliminated |
| Tully Wishart | 16 | "Blame It on Me" | Eliminated |
| Bobby Holmes | 17 | "I Want It That Way" | Advanced |
| Noah Cookson | 18 | "Forever Young" | Advanced |
| Sash Seabourne | 19 | "Finally" | Advanced |
| Piper Butcher | 20 | "Complicated" | Advanced |
| Kartik Kunasegaran | 21 | "So Sick" | Eliminated |
| Josh Hannan | 22 | "It'll Be Okay" | Advanced |
| Sara Houston | 23 | "Cloudy Day" | Advanced |
| James Vawser | 24 | "Breakeven" | Advanced |
| Peter Karagounis | 25 | "I Love You" | Advanced |
| Damien Agius | 26 | "Bad Moon Rising" | Advanced |
| Connor Bulger | 27 | "Boys from the Bush" | Eliminated |
| Noora H | 28 | "Stay" | Advanced |
| Kristie Roberts | 29 | "What About Us" | Advanced |
| Bec Voysey | 30 | "When the Party's Over" | Advanced |
| Maya Weis | 31 | "Ain't Nobody" | Advanced |
| Tahlia Eve Pizzicara | 32 | "Ain't Nobody" | Eliminated |
Top 24
The Top 24 was divided into three rounds, with eight singers performing in each round, and four singers from each round progressing to the Top 12. A judge could put a singer through to the Top 12 by awarding a "touchdown", with each judge allowed to award one "touchdown" across the three rounds. The other singers that progressed to the Top 12 were announced by the judges at the end of each round.Top 24 Part 1 (19 February)
| Singer | Order | Song | Result |
| Amali Dimond | 1 | "Unstoppable" | Advanced |
| Royston Sagigi-Baira | 2 | "Versace on the Floor" | Advanced |
| Noah Cookson | 3 | "Blinding Lights" | Eliminated |
| Anya Hynninen | 4 | "The Best" | Advanced |
| Ben Sheehy | 5 | "Immigrant Song" | Advanced |
| Piper Butcher | 6 | "Like a Prayer" | Eliminated |
| James Vawser | 7 | "20 Good Reasons" | Eliminated |
| Bec Voysey | 8 | "A Sky Full of Stars" | Eliminated |
Top 24 Part 2 (20 February)
| Singer | Order | Song | Result |
| Sash Seabourne | 1 | "Sex on Fire" | Advanced |
| Maya Weiss | 2 | "Addicted to You" | Advanced |
| Naomi Gipey | 3 | "Bleeding Love" | Elimimated |
| Cooper Turnbull | 4 | "Hallelujah" | Eliminated |
| Phoebe Stewart | 5 | "You Got the Love" | Advanced |
| Harry Hayden | 6 | "Take Me to Church" | Advanced |
| Damien Agius | 7 | "Amazed" | Eliminated |
| Kristie Baillie | 8 | "Respect" | Eliminated |
Top 24 Part 3 (21 February)
| Singer | Order | Song | Result |
| Sharin Attamimi | 1 | "I Will Survive" | Eliminated |
| Josh Hannan | 2 | "Glimpse of Us" | Advanced |
| Jasey Fox | 3 | "Grace Kelly" | Advanced |
| Noora H | 4 | "Hopelessly Devoted to You" | Advanced |
| Bobby Holmes | 5 | "Locked Out of Heaven" | Eliminated |
| Angelina Curtis | 6 | "The Only Exception" | Advanced |
| Peter Karagounis | 7 | "Diamonds" | Eliminated |
| Sara Houston | 8 | "I'm Like a Bird" | Eliminated |
Weekly song themes
| Date | Week | Theme |
| 26–27 February | Top 12 | Global Number One Hits |
| 5–6 March | Top 10 | Judges' Song Contest |
| 12–13 March | Top 8 | Heroes & Tributes |
| 19–20 March | Top 6 | Viewers’ Choice |
Top 12 finalists
Noora H
Live performances
During each round of the live performances, each contestant sings a song with a given theme. After all contestants have sung, the judges choose one contestant to directly advance to the next stage, then the public is given approximately 24 hours to vote for their favourite singers. During the results night, after voting has closed, the four contestants with the fewest votes sing again, then the two contestants with the lowest votes are eliminated.Top 8 (12–13 March)
- Kyle was absent on performance night.
Top 6 (19–20 March)
Each contestant performed a song on live performance night. The judges opted not to put any singer directly into the Grand Finale, meaning that all results would be decided by the public vote. On results night, after voting had closed, the contestants each sang again. After each pair of contestants had sung, the results were announced for those two singers: one eliminated, and one was put through to the Grand Finale, three in total.Grand finale performances
Unlike earlier rounds, there will be no "performance night" for the Final 3. Instead, voting for the winner of Australian Idol opened immediately after the Final 6 results night on 20 March, and closes just before the grand finale. The winner of the Australian Idol was announced as Royston Sagigi-Baira.Grand finale (26 March)
| Order | Performer | Title |
| 1 | Top 3 ft. Top 12 | "Celestial" |
| 2 | Phoebe Stewart | "Believe" |
| 3 | Josh Hannan | "Hold Back the River" |
| 4 | Royston Sagigi-Baira | "I Can't Make You Love Me" |
| 5 | Harry Connick Jr. | "Come by Me" |
| 6 | Phoebe Stewart | "Your Song" |
| 7 | Royston Sagigi-Baira | "When You Believe" |
| 8 | Jess Mauboy | "Right Here, Right Now" |
| 9 | Royston Sagigi-Baira | "Invincible" |
| Singer | Result |
| Royston Sagigi-Baira | Winner |
| Phoebe Stewart | Runner-up |
| Josh Hannan | Eliminated |
Elimination chart
| Did Not Perform | Safe | Bottom 4 | Judges’ Vote | Eliminated |