
IT'S still a month out from the Sydney Opera House finale, but record companies are already queueing up for the chance to sign the remaining Australian Idol finalists.
While ratings for the Channel Ten program have fallen slightly flat this year, the diverse array of talent is right on song to pull in lucrative dollars for the nation's biggest labels.
Both series favourite Matt Corby, along with Natalie Gauci and Marty Simpson have all been propositioned by managers and agencies eager to snare themselves a number one Idol artist, a la 2006 winner Damien Leith.
While Idol affiliate Sony BMG is given the first option on the deals, all the other record companies are then able to swoop on their hit picks 30 days after the series winner as been announced in the finale.
With his pitch-perfect tones and bearing dreamy eyes to match, teenage heart-throb Matt Corby is likely to emerge a winner even if he doesn't grab the Australian Idol crown - and manager Ralph Carr and executive producer Ross Fraser both agree.
Carr - who manages the music careers of both Vanessa Amorosi and Kate Ceberano - approached Corby during the ARIA Awards ceremony held on Sunday night.
"He was really nice and supportive, and just said if I ever needed any advice to call him,'' Corby told Confidential during lunch yesterday.
Last female standing, Gauci, revealed that she had been approached by both Mushroom Records and Sony BMG, while Idol judge Kyle Sandilands - who has just helped to secure his girlfriend Tamara Jaber a US record deal - has told Central Coast dude Simpson that several US labels have expressed interest in his chilled-out style.
Riseley, who was still suffering from the effects of a flu he contracted a few weeks ago, is the only Idol yet to be pursued - however the popular crooner and dark horse is hardly fazed.
"I guess that means I'll just have to win it then,'' Riseley said.