JESSICA A STAR BEFORE
6th November 2006, 9:30 WST

For television viewers, it is a fairytale story — an unknown talent who auditioned in the dust at Alice Springs before making the final four of Channel 10’s Australian Idol.


But Jessica Mauboy, 17, wasn’t exactly unknown. She recorded a song with Sony after winning the Telstra Road to Tamworth talent contest in 2004, with a prize that included a management deal.

Grundy Television, the company that makes Australian Idol for Channel 10, decided Mauboy was eligible for this year’s series because her Sony recording and separate management deal had lapsed.

Both Sony BMG and Telstra are involved in the current Australian Idol series — Telstra is the official sponsor and Sony BMG releases recordings by the winning singers.

A Grundy spokesman said the corporate links meant nothing, because Mauboy’s contracts were not current.

Idol executive producer Greg Beness said Mauboy’s experiences in Tamworth had no bearing on her involvement in Australian Idol.

“They were not eligible to be in the competition with (current) recording contracts or management deals,” he said. “If Jess had been picked up by Sony at an earlier stage to do a one-off single or a demo that contract doesn’t exist any more.”

Mauboy won the Telstra Road to Tamworth when she was 14. Her prize was to record a cover version of Girls Just Want To Have Fun with Sony, but her links with the company eventually stalled.

Mauboy is the only girl left in this year’s Idol series. She is up against WA’s Chris Murphy, Damien Leith and Dean Geyer