[citation needed] The original judging panel featured Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Ian 'Dicko' Dickson.

A wild card round decided 2 more finalists (it turned out to be 3 after one contestant withdrew) - one judges' choice, two by public vote.

(The wild card episode in the 3rd season had a little twist, when the judges announced a third person, namely, Roxanne Lebrasse, who also had the 2nd highest number of votes, would be included in the finals, making it a Top 13.)

As in the semi-finals, each performance was critiqued by the judges, and then there was (approximately) 24 hours of voting by phone or SMS, before the results were announced on the Monday night.

Holden awarded his first ever "touchdown" to Cosima De Vito for her rendition of Cold Chisel's "When the War Is Over" in the Top 8 on Australian Made night in Season 1.

Emily Williams, and Matt Corby, runners-up of seasons 3 and 5 respectively both hold the record of receiving the most touchdowns without winning, at three apiece.

In 2004, Top 8 contestants choice night, he awarded his only ever 'Grand Royal' Touchdown when Anthony Callea sang his stunning rendition of "The Prayer" which is still regarded as one of the most memorable performances of all seven series.

When Network Ten paid $15 million for the first season of Australian Idol they anticipated it to be a critical and financial success like it had been in other countries such as the UK and the USA.

Australian Idol became the most popular TV show in the country with more ratings than major events such as the AFL Grand Final.

Other Idol contestants from Season 1 to release music were Levi Kereama, Rebekah LaVauney, Peter Ryan and Courtney Act.

Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega.

Top 30 contestants Ngaiire Joseph and Marty Worrall each released a single in late 2005, and Hayley Jensen an album in September 2007.

[70] After this season, judge Ian Dickson left the series, later to appear in the Seven Network reality TV shows My Restaurant Rules, Dancing with the Stars and most recently, Australian Celebrity Survivor.

The 2004 season was also notable for an Asian contestant named "Flynn", who sang the Freestylers song "Push Up" after being found from a terrible audition, in the same vein as William Hung.

Kate is currently working with all-girl group Young Divas, which is made up of past Idol contestants which include Paulini Curuenavuli, Jessica Mauboy and Emily Williams.

Other Idol contestants from Season 3 have released numerous independent material and have toured and performed with several bands and music groups.

This created a serious situation for Ten, which was airing three Australian Idol shows every week at the time, and forced them to give away free commercial airtime to program sponsors expecting higher ratings.

Commentators has theorised over the reasons why this has occurred, ranging from the viewing public being tired of the format due to Sandilands replacing the popular Dickson.

Leith is the fifth most successful Australian Idol contestant behind Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll, Mauboy and Anthony Callea.

Mauboy has achieved 11 platinum and 5 gold certifications and received 12 ARIA Award nominations, including one win during her career as a recording artist.

Third place getter Dean Geyer later released his debut album Rush and top ten single "If You Don't Mean It" and starred on the Australian long-time running soap Neighbours from 2008 to 2009.

[71] Ian "Dicko" Dickson rejoined the show as one of the judges, along with Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands from 2006.

Changes to the Australian Idol format for season 6 include judge Mark Holden[72] leaving the show and temporary absence of host Andrew Günsberg, and auditions held for the first time in the United Kingdom.

It was announced on 3 August 2009, via a press statement from Network Ten, that Sandilands had been sacked from Australian Idol due to this incident.

A Network Ten spokesman said of Sandilands' firing: "Idol has remained a family-focused show, even more so this year with the 6.30 pm Sunday timeslot.

Network Ten had held crisis talks with advertisers in the days prior to his firing amid concerns Sandilands would damage their brands.

Harry Connick Jr. alongside Amy Shark, Meghan Trainor and Kyle Sandilands were announced as the judging panel for the revived series.

After a performance, judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson told Paulini Curuenavuli that to wear the dress she had chosen she would need to "shed some pounds".

In October 2007, criticism was levelled at the fairness of the program's telephone voting system, where 50% of the remaining contestants were stated by the media to be members of the Hillsong Church.

The 50% of remaining contestants dispute was not put to rest- when Daniel and Ben both lied and said they did not have any affiliations with the Assemblies of God,[77][78] and raising concerns of vote-stacking by the church congregation.