I have never watched an ep of the Idol reboot, but I’d vote for someone called Marshall Hamburger based on the name alone.
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Marshall was in KIIS Studios in Sydney this morning chatting with Kyle and Jackie O.
Marshall said he was encouraged to apply for Idol by his parents and girlfriend. He said he had already written an album and would record and release it later. He said he would stay in his current job as concierge at Peppers Noosa Resort for a little while because it brought perks and discounts.
UPDATE: the chat with Marshall can be heard as part of today’s podcast.
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More on this, the Sunday performance line up was also apparently the same as last year.
Winner performed 1 & 6th, 2nd place performed 2 & 5th and the 3rd place performed 3 & 4th.
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Slightly surprised at the result, did think Gisella was the best all series but Marshall is still very good. It would be nice to see a female win at some stage though, I thought Amy was pretty unlucky last year too.
I have to hand it though to Australian Idol, after a rough first series back in 2023 the past two years have been a really good watch. To hold its own against MAFS is a pretty good sign too.
You have to wonder how much higher it could go if they put it at another time of the year but the fact it does well against MAFS is why they probably wouldn’t move it.
All in all a really entertaining season and shows like this (and X-Factor before it) are very important to the entertainment and music scene.
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That is interesting. It does seem a bit unfair to both open and close the show when you think about it. I don’t know why they can’t just keep them in the same order between the rounds.
Australian Idol hits a high note for Seven
Grand Finale reaches 1.85 million, 2025 season jumps 14%
The Seven Network’s singing sensation, Australian Idol, delivered a big, loud finish to its 2025 season last night, with the second night of the Grand Finale reaching 1.85 million people across Seven and 7plus.
The thrilling finale, which saw Marshall Hamburger take the 2025 crown, drew an average national total TV audience of 1.07 million, up 13% on the 2024 Grand Finale and the biggest audience ever for an episode of Australian Idol on Seven.
Part one of the Grand Finale on Sunday night had an average audience of 1.07 million and reached 2.22 million, as Gisella Colletti, Iilysh Retallick and Marshall Hamburger took to the stage in the hope of following in the footsteps of Guy Sebastian, Casey Donovan, Damien Leith, Dylan Wright and more to become Australia’s newest Idol.
Across its full 2025 season, Australian Idol reached 11.14 million people.
This year’s season average total TV audience was 925,000, up 14% on 2024. On 7plus, its audience soared 42% to 83,300. Every episode this year delivered year-on-year audience growth.
Seven’s Director of Content, Unscripted, Majella Hay, said: “We are thrilled with how viewers embraced Australian Idol this year, making it the biggest ever season we’ve had on Seven. It’s appointment viewing and a much-loved show for the whole family.
“Australian Idol wouldn’t be possible without the support of our wonderful sponsors and the talent, hard work and passion of everyone at Seven and Eureka Productions.
“A special thank you to our fantastic judges Marcia Hines, Kylie Sandilands and Amy Shark, our great hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie, and the amazing, talented contestants from all around the country. And a big congratulations to Marshall, our latest Australian Idol star,” he said.
Seven National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, said: “This season of Australian Idol has been a tremendous success for our sponsors and advertisers. For the second year running, we’ve delivered audience growth across every screen of Seven, all within a premium, event TV, family-friendly environment.”
Australian Idol is produced for Seven by Eureka Productions. It will return to Seven and 7plus in 2026.
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Marshall and Gisella today posted messages of thanks on social media.
Marshall:
I can’t thank everyone enough for the love they’ve been giving on this journey!!!
Thank you to all of my friends and family who sent in surprise videos for me!!
I’m so grateful to have received so many videos!! Sadly, Australian Idol couldn’t play them all on air, so my team put this video together to show me bits of all the other messages I received!!
Thank you everyone!!! And thank you to everyone who has been supporting me and voting for me!!
Gisella:
Marshall will perform live at Kyle and Jackie O’s outside broadcast at St Kilda West Beach in Melbourne on Friday morning, as part of the show’s first appearance in Melbourne which also includes the $5 million dig competition.
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Ricki-Lee revealed on Nova drive show on Wednesday that she suffered food poisoning just before the grand final decider on Tuesday evening.
Marshall performed in a Noosa restaurant yesterday following his Idol win.
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Everyone forgets who won them both by June?
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For a show that routinely had half the audience of the timeslot winner, there sure is a lot of puff this year about how well Idol is doing…
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MAFS is a freak show but in the rankings, Australian Idol is still one of the highest rating shows of the year. Australian Survivor is too in comparison to other shows.
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