Fiji born, Australian singer Paulini has called out the new cast of Australian Idol for its lack of diversity.
Paulini was a contestant on the first season of Australian Idol getting through to fourth place in 2003. The 2023 return of Australian Idol has an all-white judging panel, including one 55 year old white male piano player from New Orleans in Harry Connick Jr. There is also Amy Shark, who has released two albums since 2018 and Meghan Trainor
Paulini tells Noise11.com, “They are all amazing. The line-up is great. Everybody is great in their own rite. I just feel it needs to be a little more diverse. We need to see a few more people on that panel who represent the Australian people and right now it is not doing that. I was a little surprised. I think there are so many artists out there who have achieved so much. People of colour. There are so many people who have achieved these things. People like Kate Ceberano, Christine Anu.
Watch the Paulini interview at Noise11
“We need to see a lot more diversity and we need to really show who the people of Australia are,” Paulini says. “We need that to be represented on national TV. I feel like we have almost gone backwards. It is so weird. I couldn’t figure out why it didn’t happen and why there was no diversity on that panel and why we didn’t see people like the judges or host look like me or people like me. It’s a little sad. I was a little surprised not to see diversity on that panel”.
Paulini is set to star in the all-new Australian production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, starting 13 November in Melbourne and then heading to Sydney in February 2023.
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