REAL REALITY - AUSTRALIAN IDOL - MARCIA HINES

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week. They might welcome back TV Reload listeners, thank you for clicking and downloading. On today's episode with Marsha Hines, we will be talking about her fabulous return to Australian Idol last night. You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that. Australian Idol is a singing based reality series which began its first season in twenty twenty three and ended its

How could you not?

And why competition based reality shows have thrown out their tired stereotype of judges. Anyway, let's bring Marsha into the podcast, So sit back and relax as we dive that little bit deeper into the world of Australian television.

Hill, I'm good. How are you? I'm good?

Thank you are just saying I have a doctor called Ben Norris. You're kidding, yeah, Benjamin Norris.

Well that's my name. I'm Benjamin Norris.

I'm aware I saw your name of I'm not. I didn't think I was going to see my doctor today.

Yeah, prognosis is good, Marsha. Australian Idol is brilliant this year.

So fingers crossed.

Yeah, well, I watched.

The first episode and thought, wow, Idol is back, like it actually feels like it's back to glory.

Day's Australian Idol. And I think, and I think it's you. I think it's because you're back.

Well, thank you very much. It's very kind of you, Ben, you can stay. I think it feels good to be back.

It feels you know, I keep saying everybody and I will continue.

I could act really cool.

About it, right, but why, I'm stoked. I'm stoked to be back. It feels right, you know, it feels good. And Amy and Kyl are doing a great job too, you know, we've got a great team.

So fingers crossed It.

Just goes to show you though, that the chemistry and the judges lineup needs to be so succinct and so because what happened last year was we got some phenomenal big A list names you know, a part of the show, and how exciting to bring Idle back with some of those people. However, what we learned from watching that series last year was that we need Australian.

Strange to a judge Astrands.

It makes sense, right.

I really hope Ben that we might have some because back in the day we used to have quite a few head las Manelli, we had Liane on Richie, we.

Had Sydney Lauper guests and Jamaine Jackson. Be great.

If people are in town and they want to come and sit as a guest judge, it's a good thing, not a bad thing.

We don't want them the whole season. We want Marsha.

Well, thank you, Ben.

What did the journey back to Idle look like for you?

Because did they say to you last year, Look, if the show comes back in twenty twenty four, we want you.

Like, well, how did that all happen?

Nothing like that.

So they got in touch with my management as you would last year and said would I be interested in coming back for a few shows, And of course I said yes, because I mean that's the show I love in a door, right And it helped me immensely in my career too, because it introduced me to people that didn't know who I was, you know, And so it was a good career move on my part to go and do it last year. And then we got a phone call saying that the response was outstanding and.

Would I come back to do it in twenty twenty four?

And I said, let me think, yeah, absolutely, I'm so pleased.

Yeah.

I was one of those people, you know watching it last year when you had your episodes. There's I don't know, there's a humility, there's an honesty that you managed to have when it comes to talking to contestants.

What is the secret? Do you meditate before you get in there?

Because you're so put together and it's so well spoken, and it just feels magical to what you talk to these young people.

You know, then we all lead by example. Okay, That's that's in life in general. And I had great people who helped me out as a kid, you know, because I came here at sixteen and I had people like John Waters and Reggie liver More and really famous people who I don't know. I didn't even know that they were guiding me, but I watched them and I learned from them and to me, if you're going to criticize somebody, give them something that they can take.

And use in their life, you know what I mean.

Constructive criticism is so much better than destructive, you know, because I don't know that they hear even the constructive because they're standing to be like a deer.

In the headlights. But you know, you try and get through what you can and see that.

You know, it's very interesting to watch idle because you actually you'll speak to the kids and you'll see this light come on when they get what you're saying, you know, and so you know, I'm just being myself and that's the easiest thing to because being yourself you don't have to remember, you know what I mean, because that's just who you are.

Yeah, I mean, more people need to know that. You know, in the first episode, you have a bit of a clash. I wouldn't say a clash, but you have. You know, it gets built up that way on the ads leading up to you having this conversation with Arena, who's sang holding up for a hero. I wonder whether or not people after watching that are going to be polarized by her performance and by her manner on the show.

Well that's what I was trying to avoid on her part.

I know what I'm seeing, but the general public is just starting to see her.

And there's something to be.

Said about humility and no matter what you do, even if you know you're the best in the world, stay humble.

And when we.

Did idle back in the day, I remember the kids said to me, what's the difference between somebody with confidence and conceit? And I said, someone with confidence you want to get to know someone conceded your size step on there it is in a nutshell, you know. And so I was just trying to sort of help this girl through this journey because it's big, you know, it's not a little journey.

Ben, this is big, you know.

You pluck from obscurity and placed on the screens of you know, all of Australia that are watching you. So it's important that most importantly stay constructive to who you are, not even that's not the right word, stay solid with the person that you are, don't act because if you're acting, the day you forget you're acting, people are going to see who you are.

Of course a contest. It's more assertive though in twenty twenty four than when you started in two thousand and three.

Assertive is not the right word. I wouldn't say assertive, I'd say hip. They hip to it, you know, because they see it. They see it all, you know, they see it all, and they watch other people online and they see how it's done and so and they had all they had the luxury of watching idle back in the day, you know, and so they have an idea of.

What they need to do.

But as long as they stay true to themselves, and as long as you know they're happy doing this because it's big, I won't.

I won't. It's important that I stress. So this is a big thing, it's not little.

Did you think you know when you stepped onto this show in two thousand and three that it would become the success that it was? I mean, what was the initial gut for you?

Well know of this? I was advised by a dear friend.

I have a great think tank, and I've had the same manager for my whole career.

My friend who just passed away.

His name was Brian Walsh and Brian Walsh brand Foxtelle and I remember he spoke to my manager and mindset this is really great show coming to Australia and if Masha gets a chance to do it, she should do it because it'll introduce her to a brand new audience. And know and behold, that's exactly what it did. We were in Perth filming the last versions of Idol back in the day with Dicko and Mock, and Dicko said, I think I'm going to go to the pub, you know,

Was just interesting for us.

Oh, we had no idea the team as the team is now. We have an amazing team and a lot of the people who did Idle back in the day they're back on set. That says something that's a testament to the show that it wasn't is. And so look, even when I put out an album, I hope for the best. You never know, right, and then it becomes successful you never know.

So all we.

Thought was this is an interesting platform. Let's see how we go. And we did real good.

Yeah we did brilliantly. Yeah we did.

Have you missed Mark Holden and Dick Ho Like, no, I.

Joke because I'm quite close to Mark and he has a birthday similar around my time, and so we always speak. I always speak to him in Christmas or New Year with his family. So I'm pretty cool. I'm not spoken to Dicko. I don't know where Dicko is. Mark and I came up together because back in the day, my manager used to manage Mack, so I know mak thel commation holding.

Dude, you know, I'm surprised, Like, yeah, it was interesting to say, the dynamics between the three of you back then and then the dynamics of.

What it is now.

But do you think that do you think the stereotypes of judges on shows have changed? Because back in the day, it was kind of like, you know, you'd have your kind of your silly, you're sweet and your nasty judge where the dynamic between the three of you now isn't like.

That, No, it's not.

So you know, Kyle comes into the mix because he knows the commercial side of the industry, and then there's Amy and she represents the youth and the songwriters, and.

Then I represent the performer and the singer.

So I think it's a really good mix the three of us, And I think three judges is better than four as well.

I don't think you need all of that, and actually everyone's serving a purpose.

You know.

Kyle occasionally gets on your nerves throughout this series.

We see that a couple of times, and I love that you kind of look to the camera and say, he's kind of getting on my nerves.

But what I find really interesting about.

Your dynamic with him is that you can actually see that there's a lot of there's a report there between the tour.

I adore him, you know, and the guy's got a heart bigger than Texas, but he doesn't want anybody to know, and I can see it, and he hates me for it.

But it's great, you know. No, he's a good guy.

I mean, back in the day I met his mom and dad and he was doing something and he did something wrong and his mother said, we did not bring you up like that.

Kyle.

I loved it, because nobody can embarrass you like your parents can they. Yeah, and they just threw him back and said, look, behave yourself. But Kyle is Kyle, and if he was any different, he wouldn't be as famous as he is.

I love it.

I think he's one of the most misrepresented people in so many ways, and he does that on purpose.

But like I've.

I've spent plenty of time with him, and you know, he's a very kind, very generous person.

But he Yeah.

I remember I was doing breakfast radio after three years in the studio that he started out doing radio, and he said to me, Ben, you know, if you're still there in three years and you haven't been picked up to be on a national show, you might as well be the janitor at that place.

You know, get out of it, you know.

But it was that kind of honesty and truthfulness that you need.

You know, Well, he's been through it, Ben, as you know.

You know he's been through it, you know, the ups and downs of the industry, and anybody who hasn't been through the ups and downs of the industry has no idea about this industry that we're in because it is up and down, you know. And look, he's doing very very well. He's about to become well. I don't know what's part of the Melbourne Radio and that's going to be interesting too.

But I think, I actually thinking and Jackie are going to do a great job.

I really I think that people want authenticity these days. I think people don't want to be sort of sugarcoated. They want the truth and I think addicted to the truth in a way, even though sometimes it can hurt us.

Yeah, it would become addicted to this you or maybe not addicted. Maybe we've become more open.

Yeah, true, that's a better way, Marshall. I'm always putting things in the best way. I'd love to have the way you are able to explain yourself.

It's thank you man.

Yeah.

When you say you're welcome to people, I just think, why don't we say more of that? Why don't we acknowledge people in a really beautiful way more often in our language?

Every day?

You know, man maketh the man.

Yeah, you know, judges often say that that was the best song or that was the best version that we've ever seen. Of this song on the show. You know, I wanted to ask you, honestly, who had the most memorable audition that you've witnessed being a part of Australian idol over the many years.

Gy Sebastian.

Wow, Because I mean, I remember, you know, I'm a singer, you know, and I know what my vocabulary as a singer is, and I know what I'm capable of doing.

And this boy stood before us as I.

Went, oh, Jesus is probably one of the best thingers ever heard in my life. And then you know, and his cleverness of the song he sang, climberby Mountain. Remember that song he sang that? And then I remember getting on a plane and Ray Hadley was getting on a plane and this great, big football.

Of a guy said, oh my goodness, it really touched me.

So I figured if it touched Ray, it must have touched the whole country. Here's hoping that's what we'll do, you know, this year, because you know, we've really uncovered some I didn't know if we would find the kind of talent.

We got back in the day. We got just as good, if.

Not better, I think so, I think this is a really strong season you know, before you go, Marsha, I wanted to ask you something I ask everyone who joins this podcast. It's the same question. What is something from behind the scenes of your return to Australian ID or something that we as an audience won't say, but maybe kind of a story that you'd like to share with us.

So we have the desk, you know, and below the desk there's a lolli station under there, lollies and chips and cookies and it's fat and red Bull. Yeah that's the red story. Yeah, that's I learned to drink Red Bull during the first episodes of Australian Adult because you can't really go to sleep when somebody's singing, right, So they turned me on too red Bull and I've never changed since then.

Yeah, it's agreed, you need like a drip of it just to keep it going.

But yeah, what I'd like is a sponsorship, all right, sugar free red Bull, Thank you very much, anybody who's listening.

I feel like we've organized that.

Look, if anyone people listening to this podcast, we need the Red Bull sponsorship on the go, thank you very much, or the Red Bull.

Girls to turn up there because they have those little pasts.

Well, actually, just before we go, because I wanted to ask you about this.

In the first episode, we have.

Lewis who sings the right said Fred song too sexy, and it is such a fun moment of television. But I wanted to know it's some of those more silly auditions.

Are they a little bit staged for us?

Like?

No, is that just who Lewis was when he came in?

And we don't know who's coming Okay, we have no idea who's coming in.

Okay, we might get.

You get a bit of a page and their name and you know where they're from.

We don't know what they're going to sing, or you might see the song. But hey, no, no, all that is real and.

I love it, you know, like I love it because that's television, you know, and angst all the serious.

Singers, it has to be a little bit of silliness, right, Yeah.

I just couldn't stop. I wasn't laughing at him either. It was actually a really fun piece of television, you know. You know, he did a good job of singing that even though it was bonkers. So good luck to.

Him, Yes, that's what I say. Good luck to him.

Good Luck to him.

Marsha, you are a living legend. I have been in your audience my whole life. I grew up with my family playing your music, so I've been very excited to talk to you this morning.

And yeah, good luck with Idle.

Thank you so much, Ben, good luck.

Oh you do to man fantastic. Yeah, I'll chat