Idol crisis meeting called

By Phillip Koch
November 19, 2006

AUSTRALIAN Idol finalist Jessica Mauboy has spoken of a crisis meeting held to resolve "weird" tensions among her fellow contestants, who have been holed up together in a luxury house in Sydney's north.

"It was the pressure, which some of us could handle and some couldn't, and that let us down," said Mauboy, 17, ahead of next Sunday's Idol final at the Sydney Opera House.

"We needed to let it out. We needed somebody to talk to. It was weird. (Until then) we had all been really chatty and stuck together, talking about everything, and it just stopped."

The atmosphere turned unusual following big-haired singer-songwriter Bobby Flynn's exit from the competition last month. Mauboy said the finalists, juggling new friendships with a competitive atmosphere, found it difficult to communicate.

"It started after we were all spread out to our own corners of the house doing (phone) interviews," she said.

"We weren't used to it, and it really got to us. We could talk to our friends, but what we needed was to sit down and talk it through (together), which some of us did. Tensions subsided after a few days. It was good, it worked," said Mauboy, from Darwin.

Mauboy's rival in the Australian Idol final, Irish-born singer-songwriter Damien Leith, 30, saw events differently.

"There's no tension," he said.

"There hasn't been at all really, at any point. Certainly for me. I generally just keep to myself, do my own thing. Jess does as well.

"It's been a very good vibe in the house, for 12 people from different backgrounds and with different personalities."

The comments come as 2004 Idol runner-up Anthony Callea revealed he was hospitalised for stress during the series.

He said Idol producers kept his illness "hush-hush", he had a drip put in his arm and a doctor warned him he wouldn't be able to perform.

Mauboy, a former country singer who has evolved into a soul-pop chanteuse, said she suffered bouts of self-doubt on her journey to the final.

Leith will be supported at the final at the Opera House nextweek by his wife, Eileen, and family members who have travelled from Kildare in Ireland.

He revealed his lucky charms include a shamrock and a coin given to him by "American Secret Service agents".

Jessica Mauboy, at $1.72, is favourite to win Australian Idol, according to Centrebet.

Leith is paying $2 for the win.

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