Sabrina Batshon
| Broadcast from | 9 August – 22 November 2009 |
|---|---|
| Judges |
Ian Dickson Marcia Hines Jay Dee Springbett Semi Finals Onwards Kyle Sandilands Auditions Only |
| Host(s) |
Andrew G Ricki-Lee Coulter |
| Broadcaster | Network Ten |
| Finals venue |
Fox Studios, Sydney Sydney Opera House (Grand Final) |
| Stan Walker | |
 |
|
| Origin |
 New Zealand |
| Song | "Black Box" |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul |
| Hayley Warner | |
| Australian Idol (season 7) | |
|
Finalists (with dates of elimination) |
|
|
Stan Walker
|
Winner |
| Hayley Warner | Runner-up |
| James Johnston | 15 November |
| Nathan Brake | 8 November |
| Toby Moulton | 1 November |
| Kate Cook | 25 October |
| Kim Cooper | 18 October |
| Scott Newnham | 11 October |
| Tim Johnston | 4 October |
| Sabrina Batshon | 27 September |
| Casey Barnes | 20 September |
| Ashleigh Toole | 13 September |
The seventh and final season of the Australian Idol series began on 9 August 2009, to determine who would succeed Season 6 winner, Wes Carr. Beginning amid controversy, judge Kyle Sandilands was replaced by Sony Music record executive, Jay Dee Springbett. It was the first season where all four final contestants were eighteen years old or younger. Stan Walker was declared the winner on 22 November 2009.
Ian Dickson, and Marcia Hines returned as judges; however, long-term judge Kyle Sandilands was sacked after causing controversy on his radio show prior to the premiere, although he was still present for the auditions as they had been pre-recorded some weeks earlier. On 23 August 2009, it was announced on the Idol show that the new judge taking over Kyle Sandilands' spot would be Jay Dee Springbett. Andrew G returned as host, with assistance from Ricki-Lee Coulter due to the departure of James Mathison. The first auditions saw guest judge Brian McFadden join the panel, and his fiancée Delta Goodrem acted as a guest judge for the Sydney auditions.
A further change was also decided for the Top 12 round eliminations. The Monday-night elimination show was axed in favour of a two-hour 'super Sunday' elimination/ performance show, in which a contestant was eliminated according to votes tallied the previous week, followed by performances.
The premiere episode which saw auditions in both Melbourne and Brisbane, achieved an audience of 1.3m. This was considerably lower than previous first episodes. In 2006, the premiere garnered 1.4m, the 2007 reached 1.65m and 2008 achieved 1.4m. The peak audience, however, of 1.77m was the biggest-seen in years. The show won the night in the 18–49 demographic.
The auditions were held at the following locations:
^ Auditioning contestants were required to be between the ages 16 and 30 on 30 June 2009 (born between 1 July 1979 and 1 July 1993).
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