Second series (2004)
The second series of Australian Idol debuted on July 13, 2004. The level of success of the contestants in the first series has lured over 50 000 people throughout Australia to audition.

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. 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, and linking 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. [1]

Donovan's Idol win was soon overshadowed by runner up Anthony Callea's post-Idol successes after the conclusion of the series. Her album performed poorly on the Australian charts and as of July 2005, she has failed to make any further progress with her career, especially when compared to previous winner Guy Sebastian.


After this season, judge Dicko bowed out of the series, later to appear in the Seven Network reality TV shows My Restaurant Rules and most recently, Dancing with the Stars.

Finalists including dates of elimination
Season 2 (2004)
Casey Donovan Winner
Anthony Callea 21 November
Courtney Murphy 8 November
Hayley Jensen 1 November
Chanel Cole 25 October
Marty Worrall 18 October
Ricki-Lee Coulter 11 October
Daniel Belle 4 October
Emelia Rusciano 27 September
Amali Ward 20 September
Dan O'Connor 13 September
Angeline Narayan 6 September

Australian Idol 2

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Casey, the Touchdown girl, is mystifying. Casey always sings with an openness of heart. Her performances are powerful and affecting. She actually drew live tears from judge Mark with the "Here's Where I Stand" performance. There is a dark quality about Casey. She always dresses in Black, has mouse and spider (plastic) as pet, and sings songs with underlying brutality. Mark loves Casey; he gave her 4 touchdowns and pleaded to Australia to make Casey the Australian Idol. Casey's win was surprising. She was in the bottom 3 a number of times, and in most people's eyes, she was not as popular as Anthony, or even Courtney. That's all the more reasons for her fans to celebrate the hard-fought victory because Casey is a deserving winner!

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Runner up: Anthony Callea
Anthony is a little guy with a giant voice.
The judges found his earlier performances to be too well-studied, and IDed him as "plastic fantastic". Anthony broke out of that shell and eventually became a powerhouse performer. His finest work, "The Prayer", is without a doubt, the single best idol performance Australia has ever witnessed. His popularity soared after that performance, and became a co-favorite along with Ricki-Lee. After Ricki-Lee's surprise exit, Anthony was on a clear path to the Idol crown. His loss at the finale was a huge surprise, perhaps due to his uncharacterically shaky performance on the final week.

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3rd Place: Courtney Murphy
Courtney is a big guy with a raspy voice. He likes to dig up old songs and present them in his style. The judges saw great potential in him. Dicko thought there's a signature in Courtney's voice that people can instantly ID. Being a big guy, Courtney is not afraid to dance, and he's not all that bad. Courtney takes comments to his heart. He once had tears in his eyes when Mark called his performance "ordinary, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary". Courtney is a very consistant performer. All of his performances are at a high level, but none that really stands out.

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4th Place: Hayley Jensen
Hayley is a simple singer. She doesn't go for the big notes, just do what she does best, simple melody sang simply. Hayley was originally rejected at her local audition, but she went to another city for another chance. The second time, Mark and Marcia said yes while Dicko is still a no. Hayley, along with Marty, were the two people this season who spent more time in the bottom 3 than all the others combined. Hayley gained some popularity after she bravely faced Mark's constant disapproval.

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5th Place: Chanel Cole
Chanel is a different kind of singer. She has her unique style, which stays far away from mainstream music. Her interpretation can be captivating at times, but sometimes falls into the catergory of sloppy theatrics. In the early audition days, Chanel was a clear favorite. The judges gave her standing ovations almost everytime she performed. Chanel has a wicked sense of humor, most people never get her jokes. There is always a 5-second delay before the audience realize she is joking and then starts to laugh along.

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6th Place: Marty Worrall
Marty wants to become Australia's next Rock Idol. Unfortunately, his voice is too syrupy for Rock. Marty was Australia's Wild Card pick, beating out strong competitors such as Nagiire Joseph. The judges had great hope for Marty, thought he would adapt well into the many genres. They were disappointed when Marty came out with a bad song choice week after week. And Marty was disappoited when he got called into the bottom 3 week after week. After so many criticism, it was amazing to see Marty go as far as the Top 6. He was not nearly as popular as the other contestants, including those who finished before him.

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7th Place: Ricki-Lee Coulter
Ricki-Lee's elimination was by far THE most shocking moment in Australian Idol history. Ricki-Lee is a joyous singer. She's pretty; she's hot; she's got the voice; and she's got the moves. She has got everything an Idol needs. Australia loved Ricki-Lee, Dicko at one time pronounced "Australian Idol is all about Ricki-Lee." Ricki-Lee delivered consistantly great performances until the Beatles week, where she played around with the melody and forgot some lyrics. It was a disappointing performance, but most people thought her fans would forgive her for it. Perhaps the fanbase got overconfident, because the next time Ricki-Lee sang was in a group performance on Finale night.

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8th Place: Daniel Belle
Daniel, the classically trained, is capable of belting out high pitch notes. He tried to adapted his style to the pop genre during the semi-final stage, and fell flat on his face. Despite his anguish argument with the judges, the viewers saw potential in Daniel and voted him to the next round. Afraid of making the same mistake twice, Daniel chose to stick with his classical roots, and delivered songs mostly by Josh Groban. On his elimination week, Mark publicly expressed his disappointment at Daniel, calling him a lazy singer.

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9th Place: Emelia Rusciano
Emelia is a newbie singer. She never had any vocal lessons. The judges were extremely impressed at the pace she is improving through the competition; so they gave her the chance to go on to the finals. Emelia did not want her being new to singing to be an excuse; she wants to be judged on the same level as the other contestants. At first, Emelia felt guilty about the elimination of Nigairre and Angie. Then the judges gave her the confidence boost that Australians are voting for her because they want to see more of her performances.

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10th Place: Amali Ward
Amali, the 16 year old from Tasmania, is out to prove that Tasmania is more than just incests. Her voice is actually the weakest among the finalists, but her young spirit and willingness to put on sexy clothing carried her to the 10th spot.

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11th Place: Dan O'Connor
Dan is a good looking guy with a good enough voice. I sometimes find his voice hollow and without support. The judges all thought the girls loved him, and he would last at good 4-5 weeks in the final. But he turned out to be too generic to be picked up by the public; not too many people remembered him. His elimination on the second week came as a big shock to the judges.

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12th Place: Angie Narayan
Angie has one of the better voices in the competition. Her semi-final performance "Chain Chain Chain" was easily the performance of the night. Unfortunately she didn't leave a strong impression in her first Final performance. Angie is a big girl, but she is not embarassed to show her sexuality.