I just wrote a long reply and then my browser went crashy-poo. So, here is an approximation of what I said:
The Australian Idol show just had the grand final last weekend. You know the way it works - you get a host of everyday people to audition as singers and then the public (read "teenage girls") vote and then you end up with a singer that the public (i.e. teenage girls) think (feel) should be in the public gaze, and not necessarily because they are good at singing. Last year I think the teenage girl market took over the process but this year, with some helpful advice from the judges, the process really worked to find someone who can actually sing.
And the really interesting thing is that Casey Donovan, the winner, is not part of the usual commercial pop-crap-pap. She is more grunge/heavy metal than blonde bimbo. She is dark haired and doesn't sing the usual stuff. And what she does sing is from her heart and soul. But interestingly she is heavily built and not anorexic. She is totally opposite to what the commercial music-mongers have been palming off on us.
I'm sure that Casey winning the contest has totally surprised the music marketers. It has been so, so long since I have heard any singer who gives me the cold shivers, apart from the usual ones like Billie Holliday, Edith Piaf and Paul Robeson, etc of course
The ones worth checking out are Episode 18 the R&B night, Episode 19 the Big Band night, the Idol's Choice episodes, etc etc and the Up Close & Personal show where she sang "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica.
My hope for the future of Oz music has soared since Sunday night.