Straight shooter
Fiona Gillies
August 06, 2006 12:00am
Article from: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

IF you're no fan of Australian Idol judge Mark Holden, with his outspoken manner, mangled English and theatrical "touchdowns", you may be alarmed to learn he plans to stick around for a while yet.
"I'll stay till they kick me off the boat," laughs Holden, 52.

Even if Idol lasts until a 10th series? "If they'll have me. I'll definitely be Jurassic Mark at that point."

Holden's words are at odds with remarks attributed to him earlier this year, that the fourth series of Idol, starting tonight, would be the last.

"That was a misquote," he insists. "What I said was I treat every year as if it could be the last. That's the reality of our business. Nothing is forever and you do have to treat every year as if it's the last."

Certainly Australian Idol's executive producer Greg Beness has no plans to end things, even though the 2005 series was criticised for having weaker talent than earlier years and the ratings have gradually declined with each new season.

"I'm already scouting for new venues for 2007," says Beness.

"My work hasn't stopped. If anyone thinks the talent pool has dried up, watch this series.

Because it ain't they're on fire. I'll put my neck on the line and say we've got some of the most talented people we've ever had. It's a very diverse group."

Holden believes holding auditions in more remote places, such as Broken Hill, Alice Springs, Mt Isa, Byron Bay and Albury-Wodonga, drew a new kind of contestant, as did the fact people were allowed to play instruments.

"It's a funny thing to say, but because we allowed people to bring instruments, we got a different kind of person turning up. I don't know if they would have turned up otherwise."

Beness describes the mix: "We've got divas, we've got country girls, we've got singer-songwriters, we've got siblings. I can't believe how lucky we've been."

Apart from looking further afield and introducing instruments to auditions, Idol has also been tinkered with in other ways to give it a lift. The age limit has been raised from 27 to 30, people who don't make the final 50 will be told individually rather than in groups and, most significantly, the semi-finals have been compressed into a single week, with women competing against women, and men against men.

Beness says he's "pumped" about the changes, but did not want to mess around with the concept too much.

"My gut feeling is that the show has worked really well with the integrity it's got and I don't want to change the wheel too much, because it's working," he says.

There have been rumours that Holden and fellow judge Marcia Hines have had more rows than usual this year and Holden admits he has been digging at Hines to be more critical on camera because "the show is not about Pollyanna affirmations".

"Marcia's mum taught her that if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all. And that's just in Marcia's nature, it's deeply ingrained. But she's getting more confident, more able to be critical, more and more the diva."

Holden says Hines and loudmouth judge Sandilands have got along very well this year, while he and Sandilands had a few early blow-ups.

"Sometimes he goes the man, not the ball and sometimes acts like a bully," Holden says. "And one time I went him because you've got to stand up to a bully.

Since then, we've got on well. "In fact, Holden says the trio have made a kind of pact this year to forget egos and focus on the talent in front of them.

"We came to the realisation that, apart from the show business and the game-playing, our real job is to make sure we make these kids go through the roof because we've got some special ones."

Holden is confident Idol's formula of putting young unknowns into the national spotlight will see the show continue to hold its own against competition from shows like Seven's Dancing With The Stars and It Takes Two or Nine's Dancing On Ice.

"There are a lot of reality and music shows around, but does anyone really care if Kostya Tszyu can dance?" he asks.

"It's entertaining but, in life and career terms, it's a momentary thing. With our show, it's really, really important for these young people. It's career life and death in many ways."

Australian Idol, Sunday, 7.30pm, Ten

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20025958-5003422,00.html