THE careers of two relatively unknown Victorian singers could be about to take off, via the modern-day equivalent of the talent quest: television shows Rock Star: Supernova and Australian Idol.
This week, Melburnians Toby Rand, 28, and Dean Geyer, 20, are in strong positions to win the competitions' coveted first prizes — major-label record contracts and tour support — barring a public meltdown.
Geyer is one of the favourites to take out this year's Idol and to be signed to Sony/BMG, having made it through to the final 12, which was whittled down from about 250,000 hopefuls who auditioned earlier this year.
The first of the final 12 performances will be screened on Channel Ten tomorrow night, with the competitor polling the fewest audience votes to be eliminated on Monday night's show.
"This is career life-and-death for Toby ( Rock Star) in America and all of these people in Idol," said Idol judge Mark Holden. "Although I would predict that ( Idol contestant) Lisa (Mitchell) and Dean will have recording careers irrespective of where they finish up."
Rand will also be a winner regardless of the result; he was handed the keys to a Honda four-wheel-drive this week after his original song Throw It Away was chosen as the episode's encore. A tattoo emblazoned across his stomach of the made-up word "EVS" used to mean "whatever" among his Melbourne mates. It has even entered the vocabulary of his television fans.
The winner of the first series of Rock Star, Canada's JD Fortune, is currently touring the world as the lead singer of INXS, promoting the new album, Switch.
Rand has now made it through to the final four contestants in Rock Star: Supernova, and Australian viewers are being urged to get behind him in next week's final by voting for him on FOXTEL, through an SMS (1999 FOX8) or on the show's site.
But the band will have the final say. Supernova drummer and show judge Tommy Lee has said he is looking for the most "charismatic and musically talented lead singer". And considering Rand's down-to-earth nature, his country's rock pedigree and his ability to write a good melody, he is favoured to get the nod ahead of Iceland's Magni Asgeirsson.
An impressed Gilby Clarke, Supernova's guitarist, told Rand: "Every time you perform, you put the fun in rock and roll."
If Rand goes all the way, it will cap off a remarkable journey from slogging around Melbourne's pubs in obscure local band Juke Kartel to living it up in the show's $20 million Hollywood Hills mansion. Rock Star's popularity peaked during the episode, which was the most-watched "general entertainment" program in Australian subscription television history.
The tweaking of the Idol format has also found public favour, with ratings up on last year. Hopefuls were encouraged to perform with instruments at the auditions to increase the level of musicianship, and the eligibility age was increased from 28 to 30.
Holden believes there is more talent and diversity among this year's final 12, which he partly attributes to widening the net to regional towns.
