Australian Idol-Greatest Moments (2003) |
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Australian Idol-Greatest Moments (2003) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Documentary |
Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Music Highlights-Video Jukebox Featurette-Final 12 Profiles Featurette-Andrew G And James' Favourite Clip Featurette-Special Idol Moments Featurette-Original Auditions TV Spots-Australian Idol Ads |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2003 | ||
| Running Time | 126:55 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (90:08) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | None Given |
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Studio
Distributor |
Fremantle Media BMG |
Starring |
James Mathison Andrew Günsberg Marcia Hines Ian Dickson Mark Holden Guy Sebastian Shannon Noll Cosima Devito Paulini Curuenavuli Rob Mills Levi Kereama Rebekah Lavauney Kelly Cavuoto |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $29.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | Yes | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Okay - true confessions time. My entire family were totally addicted to this show. Sundays were spent together watching the performances, and the Monday "voting" shows would elicit a flurry of phone calls back and forth to discuss the relative merit or scandal of the loss of each departee. I'll even confess to the odd phone vote or two (I'm so ashamed, but I'm sure the counselling will kick in eventually.)
It's hard to know precisely what makes a program like this so addictive. Perhaps it's the illusion that we have come to know these contestants somehow. Certainly there is some genuine talent on display, and occasional comic relief. Moreover, there is genuine human drama - we recognise how vulnerable these performers make themselves, and I think we make some vicarious connection to their triumphs and bomb-outs. If you're reading this, you probably also shared an interest in the show, at whatever level, so, what do we get served as the "Greatest Moments" ?
Well, there's nothing new to see, as you'd probably expect. The main feature program runs for 126:55 minutes - with all the controversy and tragedies and triumphs highlighted in all their glory. The show hosts, James Mathison and Andrew G (you'd probably call yourself "G" too, if your last name was Günsberg) are the narrators of the DVD, linking the scenes together. These two really developed well over the course of the series into relaxed and capable presenters.
The major focus of the feature is the finals series and the efforts and experiences of the final 12. Most of the judging input from Ian Dickson, Marcia Hines and Mark Holden is edited from this feature - with just a few small excerpts from them. There is somewhat more content of these three in the extras section.
Seen together in this way, the overall impression is of what a genuinely lovely bunch of people these 12 finalists are. The loving support they showed to little Lauren Buckley on her exit night was really quite a touching moment. As the departure of each finalist is covered, a mini-tribute to that performer is shown - a nice touch.
The format shows a précis of the audition process and then each finals episode. A few songs from each episode are presented in full, with the other songs sung that night shown in a "highlights" version. The songs that are performed in full are:
| PERFORMER | SONG | PERFORMER | SONG |
| Full Cast | Rise Up | Matt Chadwick | If |
| Peter Ryan | Your Song | Cle Morgan-Wooton | That's The Way Love Goes |
| Lauren Buckley | Moondance | Kelly Cavuoto | Mascara |
| Rebekah LaVauney | Heading In The Right Direction | Levi Kereama | Superstitious |
| Rob Mills | You Don't Treat Me No Good No More | Rob Mills | If I Could |
| Paulini Curuenavuli | Freeway of Love | Paulini Curuenavuli | Almost Like Being In Love |
| Cosima DeVito | Hot Stuff | Cosima DeVito | R-E-S-P-E-C-T |
| Cosima DeVito | You Don't Have To Say You Love Me | Shannon Noll | What About Me |
| Shannon Noll | New York, New York | Shannon Noll | Working Class Man |
| Shannon Noll | What About Me (Sydney Opera House) | Guy Sebastian | You're the Voice |
| Guy Sebastian | Climb Every Mountain | Guy Sebastian | Crazy Love |
| Guy Sebastian | When I Get You Alone | Guy Sebastian | Angels Brought Me Here |
All the expected dramas are there, including *that* dress and the maelstrom it raised and the hoopla and fuss over the final. If you loved the series, you may well enjoy a revisit, and it's an antidote to the utterly horrid World Idol that just aired (no, that's not jingoism speaking, Kurt deserved to win, but the production values were abysmal.)
Long term, it's doubtful that this is a DVD that will stand the test of time. Soon enough, another burning passion will attract our collective attention and this will probably rapidly become a little tag note in pop culture history, but it's overall a charming and reasonably harmless note. I shan't enter into any controversy of personal favourites, or the "Cosima Decision" or any of the other dramatically argued points from the show - there are still chat rooms raging with those debates. Instead, I will say - if you truly enjoyed the series you may enjoy a second look. It's basically a little bubble of entertainment - ephemeral but quite pretty.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced and is not too shabby a transfer at all.
The transfer is mostly quite acceptable in the luminance department. There is little low level noise present and shadow detail is quite good. The Outside Broadcast shots are all of lesser quality than the studio shots, and certainly the OB shots show considerably less ability to hold shadow detail, but since they are not overly prevalent this is acceptable.
Colour was handled quite well. The studio lighting was pushed right over the top with neon blues and blazing red gels on the audience. The DVD coped with these extremes, with only expectable halation as a consequence. Skin tones were generally good. Again, there is a disparity between the colour capabilities of the OB shots compared to the studio ones.
There was some aliasing present, and a small amount of moiré to be seen, but again, surprisingly little given the locations. Andrew G and James Mathison present the linking narration from a directing suite with banks of display screens behind them, which stay pretty much put without excessive moiré. The OB is again guilty when it comes to excessive motion blur, which fortunately does not plague the studio presentations. Overall, this is an extremely clean and well presented disc.
There are no subtitles on this disc.
This disc is an RSDL disc, with the layer change placed at 90:08. It is quite a "chunky" change, where the image hangs for half a second or so, but is not overly disruptive to the flow of the feature.
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There is one audio track on this disc - English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded sound.
The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. There were occasional buzzes which were somewhat disruptive. The audio sync presented no problems throughout the presentation.
Well, it's all about the music. Given its television origins, there were times when the musical quality suffered the indignity of a slightly hollow sound. The general lack of direction in the sound channelling meant that everything felt a little "mushed" up together - band, vocals and audience response. And yet, there was one curious moment when, during an audition scene, suddenly the judges' voices came only from the left speaker, which was rather disconcerting.
There was no real use of the surround channels, and the subwoofer was inactive.
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A good selection of extras are present.
The menu design is 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. The main menu features James and Andrew popping up and down suggesting what to select. One curious aspect of the menu is that the "back" button is represented just by four little dots configured in a square - err - yeah, that just immediately suggests "back" to me (sigh).
A selection of songs from each performer. On offer is:
| Almost Like Being in Love - Paulini | Angels Brought Me Here (Final) - Guy | Climb Every Mountain - Guy | Crazy in Love - Guy |
| Don't Leave Me This Way - Paulini | Every Little Step I Take - Levi | Freeway of Love - Paulini | Heading In The Right Direction - Rebekah |
| Hot Stuff - Cosima | If - Matt | If I Could - Rob | Lady Marmalade - Lauren et al |
| Mascara - Kelly | Moondance - Lauren | Movin' On (Final) - Marcia | New York, New York - Shannon |
| R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - Cosima | Superstition - Levi | That's The Way Love Goes - Cle | What About Me - Shannon |
| What About Me (Final) - Shannon | When Doves Cry - Guy | When I Get You Alone (Final) - Guy | When The War Is Over - Cosima |
| Working Class Man - Shannon | You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Cosima | You Don't Treat Me No Good - Rob | You Don't Own Me - Courtney |
| You're The Voice - Guy | Your Song - Peter |
Point and click for a mini profile on each finalist.
Do not go here. It's simply the meaningless product push of various merchandisers. They were annoying enough on telly - don't encourage them.
I shan't spoil the surprise. It sure wasn't my favourite, but it was memorable!
Clips of auditions, Marcia, Mark and Dicko in full flight, and various bits and pieces. You've seen it before, but it's sorta fun.
Shannon's and Guy's first auditions.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This DVD is only available in R4.
Yes, we know it's manufactured and manipulated and rah, rah, rah. But it's also surprisingly good natured, there's some authentic talent, and some glorious displays of the lack thereof. All in all, it's harmless fun on a not insulting transfer.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Singer SGD-001, using S-Video output |
| Display | Teac 76cm Widescreen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Teac 5.1 integrated system |
| Speakers | Teac 5.1 integrated system |