I think another early finish? My fetch has 9:24 as ending time. It’s looks to be finishing 5mins early again tonight. Although they are pushing back the announcement of the winner as much as possible including a 15sec ad break.
Winner announced at 9:18
Show concluded at 9:20pm
Nothing more blatant than putting a 15-second break in this tense moment.
And there it is, Kesha is the winner this year. The fourth female Australian Idol in 11 years of the competition.
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WARNING: Spoiler alert below.
Kesha breaks the run of five consecutive male Australian Idol winners dating back to the 2008 season (the penultimate season on Ten). She is also the first female winner on the Seven iteration.
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Another Australian Idol who will disappear into obscurity and another runner-up who will outshine them. 
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Kesha wins Australian Idol
Singing skier reaches Idol peak
Tonight, Australia chose 21-year-old Kesha Oayda from Jindabyne as its Australian Idol after a spectacular night of performances and nail-biting live television on Seven and 7plus.
With over one million votes cast across the Top 3, Kesha was stunned when hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie announced the life-changing result.
Kesha paid tribute to her support system, including her hometown of Jindabyne and her dad, Nolen, who performed on the Idol stage with her during Heroes and Tributes week.
“The Idol experience has been nothing short of life-changing,” she said. “This is unforgettable.”
From the very first audition, judges Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands, and Amy Shark acknowledged Kesha’s incredible voice and stage presence.
Alongside the esteemed title of Australian Idol 2026, Kesha will receive $100,000 in prize money, an exclusive recording package with Hive Sound Studios, attend a songwriting camp with Sony Music Publishing, marketing and social media support from The Annex and VIP tickets to the ARIA Awards and TV WEEK Logie Awards.
Kesha, who won Jindy Idol as a young girl, is the first female winner of Australian Idol since 2007.
Kesha confessed: “I need 50 billion people to pinch me to wake up from whatever dream this is. The Idol experience has been nothing short of life-changing. I feel like I have grown so much since my audition.”
From thousands of hopefuls, Harlan, Kesha and Kalani remained united at the final hurdle after forging a remarkable connection along their Australian Idol journey.
The Grand Finale started on a high note as Kesha, alongside 18-year-old Harlan and 23-year-old Kalani, supported by the returning members of the Top 12, performed an inspiring rendition of I Love You Always Forever by Donna Lewis.
All three returned to the stage to perform solo, then hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott announced that Kalani received the fewest votes and would leave the competition.
After departing the show, a grateful Kalani paid tribute to his fellow Grand Finalists.
“It’s unbelievable to see these two incredible artists at the top. I’ve learnt so much from these guys. My life has changed so much since I’ve been on this show,” he shared.
Amy said: “You’re the reason I love this show. A tradie from Central Coast is just out there with that magic voice, it really is magic.”
Marcia said: “You sing a song as if you wrote it or it was written for you. It’s a true gift.”
In an emotional reflection of how far they’ve come, Harlan and Kesha took to the stage once more, delivering powerful reprises of their breakout audition performances.
Ballad king Harlan claimed runner‑up honours after delivering a spellbinding performance of The Winner Takes It All by ABBA.
Grateful, Harlan said: “Life has turned completely upside down from Idol, it’s amazing to have the support of Australia. I still have a lot in me and I’m so excited for what’s to come.”
Kesha’s stunning performance of her original audition song Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars had the whole stadium on their feet.
Kyle said: “You are a brilliant performer, you never ever let us down, from day one, you have never let the audience down.”
Amy added: “You are so real, you’re the kind of girl I love my nieces looking up to.”
Kesha’s album, The Idol Collection, brings together 11 of her standout performances from the show, plus bonus track All Night Long, performed by the Top 12. Pre-order here.
Australian Idol ’s own Amy Shark also hit the stage to perform her new single The Biggest Dick.
Listen to Australian Idol performances HERE
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What the heck was that 15 second Pandora ad before the winner announcement? I reckon the ACMA may have something to say later.
Anyway, it was a great finale, and congratulations to Kesha.
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First reaction from the FB page of Monaro Post, the newspaper from Kesha’s home region.
Ricki-Lee revealed near the end of the broadcast that Kesha would perform in her homecoming concert on May 2.
Five of last year’s top 12 were in tonight’s audience.
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I actually didn’t mind the top 2. So I wasn’t fussed who won between them two.
We all know that all reality shows like to stretch out the “winners announcement”, but that 15 second ad when they were just about to announce the winner ruined it for me. Is it a sign to come? Sadly, yes.
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They also included a few 7 promos as part of the broadcast. Are they included in the cap of 12 minutes per hour?
That is not correct. Casey Donovan, Kate DeAraugo and Natalie Gauci were the previous female winners. So this makes her the fourth.
Whilst Harlan had a big voice, in the end I think the difference was that Kesha came across as really genuine and seemed to become really liked as the competition went on. For me Harlan was too robotic in everything that he did. He hit notes but the emotion often felt too put on and rehearsed. Maybe for that reason he would be good in musical theatre.
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Of these three, Casey was the most commercially successful of them, though she hasn’t released some new music in ages (IIRC she was engaging in opera singing recently, though).
Kate won in the only all-female Grand Final in 2005, when Emily Williams was the runner-up; both then former half of the Young Divas. I recall the former appearing on The Morning Show recently to talk about what she’s been up to.
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Casey Donovan released a new single on 27 March 2026 called One More Dance.
She has appeared in a number of theatre productions including Sister Act, 9 to 5, We Will Rock You and Chicago.
She is also touring the country with her own show called This is me! This was posted in January:
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Casey is absolutely everywhere these days. I’ve seen her in so many musicals and shows over the years in Melbourne. She has also become a staple on things like Carols by Candlelight and of course the ABC NYE concert too.
Whilst Kate has largely stepped back from music, she did a small national tour late last year celebrating 20 years since her Idol win. I went to the show in Melbourne. It was great fun, she sang a lot of songs she did on Idol, her singles, Young Diva’s tracks and songs that meant a lot to her.
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Australian Idol sings louder for Seven
Biggest ever season on Seven. Grand Finale reaches 1.9 million, biggest ever episode on 7plus
After two months, more than 250 contestants and thousands of performances, the 2026 season of the Seven Network’s hit series Australian Idol ended on a high note last night, reaching 1.9 million people across Seven and 7plus.
The second night of the Grand Finale – which saw the crowning of Kesha Oayda as the 2026 winner and the first female Idol since Natalie Gauci in 2007 – had a national total TV audience of 1.09 milllion and was the #1 entertainment program last night in all people, as well as winning its timeslot in all age groups. The audience was up 1% on last year, including a 125% jump on 7plus.
Last night’s episode was the biggest ever for Australian Idol on Seven and the most watched episode since 2009. This year Australian Idol recorded its biggest ever season on Seven.
The first night of the Grand Finale on Monday – in which Kesha, Harlan Goode and Kalani Artis sang their hearts out for Australian Idol glory – reached 1.67 million and scored a national total TV audience of 962,000.
The spectacular Grand Finale included guest stars Vanessa Amorosi, Morgan Evans and Idol alumni Anthony Callea and capped a remarkable season for Australian Idol.
Across the full 2026 season, Australian Idol reached 10.1 million people. This year’s season average total TV audience was 1.08 million, up 1% on 2025.
On 7plus, Australian Idol’s audience this year soared 71% to 281,000.
Seven’s Director of Content, Unscripted, Majella Hay, said: “Now in its fourth year on Seven, Australian Idol continues to go from strength to strength, engaging millions of people every week on Seven and – increasingly – on 7plus and proving that big scale, live entertainment never goes out of fashion.
“This year’s season was fantastic, with some of the best performances we’ve ever seen. Congratulations to our very deserving winner, Kesha, and to her fellow grand finalists, Harlan and Kalani. And a big thank you to everyone at Seven and Eureka Productions, to our great judges Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark, and to our co-hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweddie.”
Seven National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, said: “Once again, Australian Idol has proven why it’s one of the most popular shows on TV. This year’s season was the best ever on Seven, providing great family viewing and drawing big, involved audiences week in, week out. Thank you to everyone who worked on Australian Idol this year and to our great sponsors and advertisers.”
Australian Idol is produced for Seven by Eureka Productions. It will return to Seven and 7plus in 2027.
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This season had 27 episodes, one more than last year. Still, it was a decent result against the might of MAFS.
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There were 27 episodes. I assume this was a typo.
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