Harry Hayden‘s journey on 7’s Australian Idol came to a close on March 6 when they did not receive enough votes to continue on in the competition.
Even though the 18-year-old showed a lot of promise throughout their time in the series, nerves seemed to take hold, ultimately costing them a place in the Top 8 — something they put down to performing live.
“The nerves slowly got worse because being in front of a live crowd was a lot. It was something that I’ve never really experienced before,” they said.
Mediaweek spoke with Hayden about what crooner Harry Connick Jr said to them after the vote, what their experience was like and how the Idol music team supports the contestants.
Harry Hayden
Harry Connick Jr’s words of encouragement
Hayden may have let their “anxiety” control the outcome, however, Connick Jr pushed them to “keep going”.
“[Harry Connick Jr] was so great. He took me aside individually [after the elimination] and just talked to me about how the whole thing is subjective and to not take negative comments to heart and to keep going. It was just so lovely,” they said.
Connick Jr wasn’t the only judge to impress Hayden; however, who confirmed that they had felt very supported by all four of them.
While Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark were great on set, they particularly had a bond and love for Meghan Trainor “who is the hardest working woman I know.”
“Walking into the audition was surreal,” they admitted. “I’d never really met a celebrity before in my life and I just couldn’t believe that these people were in front of us. The whole time I just felt so lucky to be in their presence.”
Left to right: Kyle Sandilands, Meghan Trainor, Amy Shark and Harry Connick Jr.
The music team were equally as supportive
Even though it’s clear how the judges play a role in the Idol journey, it’s the music team who spend the most one-one time with the contestants.
“They work with us and really go with our vision,” the singer/songwriter said before revealing that the Top 12 contestants had to submit 50 songs to the producers that they wanted to sing. Following this, the music team would choose a couple of songs for the week and then the contestants got to choose which they wanted to perform.
“They’ll give us a demo and then we’ll listen to it and then we’ll say what we want to change and they change it instantly,” they said. “They can play any song that’s ever been released, they listen to it once and they’ll just be able to play it. They’re so talented!”
For fans of the competition, we’ve heard the judges speak about the “importance of song choice”, something Hayden found quite difficult.
“I found the song choice quite hard because I’m a songwriter and I prefer to sing my own songs,” they admitted, adding that it was “because they’re the ones that I connect to the most.”
“It’s the way that I process every single event in my life. I just love my doing my own stuff.”
Australian Idol continues on Sunday at 7.00pm and Mondays at 7.30pm on 7 and 7Plus.