Music fans will need to wait a bit longer for the long-awaited return of Australian Idol, with the Seven Network deciding to delay production on the long-awaited series revival.
TV Blackbox can confirm Channel 7 has made the decision to pause development on the upcoming revival of Australian Idol due to ongoing uncertainty regarding filming in Australia with studio audiences.
While its currently unclear how long production will be delayed, the network remains fully committed to producing the series in the long term.
The Idol revival is a big investment for Channel 7, and the network wants the return of the series to Australian screens for the first time since 2009 to be a significant ‘event television’ moment.
While some international talent programs have continued without audiences. Seven believes a large arena-size crowd is an essential visual and audio component for the program’s success.
Additionally, current COVID travel restrictions make it impossible for the production to conduct a national audition tour which is considered a core component of the format’s success.
Previous seasons of the show travelled to numerous remote locations including Alice Springs, where it discovered grass-roots performers including a young Jessica Mauboy.
Channel 7 surprised the TV Industry by announcing the commissioning of a new season of Australian Idol as part of its advertiser upfronts event late last year.
The singing contest had previously been expected to arrive on our screens in early 2022. The network is yet to make any announcements regarding hosts or judges for the new series
Australian Idol previously aired on the 10 Network from 2003 to 2009. Hosted by Osher (Andrew) Günsberg and James Mathieson, the format was a huge ratings success and discovered an impressive line-up of talent including; Guy Sebastian, Ricki-Lee, Shannon Noll, Casey Donovan, Anthony Callea, Matt Corby and Rob Mills.
The decision to delay Australian Idol comes after the network recently made a last-minute decision to postpone production on a new season of Australia’s Got Talent with international judges Neil Patrick Harris and Alesha Dixon due to similar audience restriction issues in Sydney.
TV Blackbox understands the network remains confident the production delay for Australian Idol will not cause a gap in Seven’s 2022 content schedule.
The confirmation of the delay for Australian Idol comes at the same time as Seven has announced the commissioning of a spin-off series The Voice: Generations, which will see performers from different generations perform together in The Voice arena.
