Tonight, a tight night of voting on Australian Idol saw the nation choose its Top 6, leading to the shock elimination of Angelina Curtis and Noora H on Channel 7 and 7plus.
Safe from the public vote, 20-year-old Josh Hannan had reason to smile as he joined his fellow contestants for a group performance of Don’t Dream It’s Over by iconic Aussie band Crowded House before the verdict was delivered.
Hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie announced Amali Dimond, 16, had placed in the bottom four. The voting result drew criticism from the judges with Kyle Sandilands, who branded the decision as a massive mistake: “I don’t know if people got home late last night and forgot to turn it on. That kid did brilliantly last night, and she is fantastic.”
Phoebe Stewart,15, was next to take her place in the bottom four. When asked if he saw this result coming, Harry Connick Jr said: “I guess there are no surprises at this point, right? It is a competition; somebody is going to go home. To see those two over there based on their performances – wow, I did not see this coming.”
The surprises continued with 27-year-old Noora H and 15-year-old Angelina Curtis rounding out the bottom four contestants up for elimination.
Amali was first to take the stage and convince Australia she still belonged in the competition, performing Secret Love Song by Little Mix. Angelina followed with a moving performance of Talking to The Moon by Bruno Mars.
Noora H belted Sia’s Chandelier, prompting judge Amy Shark to jump up from her desk and shout: “are you happy Australia!?”
The final singer for the night, Phoebe, wowed the judges and audience with a powerful performance of The Weeknd’s Call Out My Name.
Standing on stage to hear their fate, Amali, Angelina, Phoebe and Noora fought back the tears before the hosts delivered the verdict, eliminating Noora and Angelia.
On leaving the competition, Angelina said: “This has been the highlight of my life and to be able to perform for such an incredible audience, everything about this is just incredible. I really have no regrets. I thank Idol so much for the amount of knowledge they have given me. I am so happy.”
Noora was also full of praise for her Idol experience: “I am so overwhelmed and like, I mean, I kind of saw this coming, but I can’t be upset. I am just sad that I will miss everybody. The crew, you guys, these amazing, talented guys over there. I have learnt so much from the judges. This has been the most incredible experience of my life. I just can’t be upset about that.”
