Surprise stars announced as Australian Idol judges

The highly-anticipated Australian Idol reboot has finally announced its judging panel, with Kyle Sandilands the only original judge to return after the 14-year hiatus.

The Channel Seven show will welcome Australia's Amy Shark and American stars Harry Connick Jr, and Meghan Trainor.

Australian Idol kicked off the careers of Aussie stars such as Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, Matt Corby, Ricki-Lee, Anthony Callea, Stan Walker, Casey Donovan and Courtney Act.

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In a statement, Kyle said, "I’ve done all the shows over the years, pretty much all of them, but Australian Idol is the big one. We all know the stars that came out of Idol. We actually found someone to idolise in the music industry in Australia every year with Idol."

"I’m excited about the auditions," Amy added. "It’s going to be pretty special to find that diamond in the rough and then see how they progress through the show. Idol has changed the lives of so many artists in the past, so I’m excited to be part of that."

Meghan described the show as "iconic", saying she's excited to live Down Under for a few months, "I grew up watching it and I am honoured to be involved. I can’t wait to sit front row and meet new talent.

"I haven’t been to Australia since 2015, so I’m really excited to get to see the whole country and basically get to live there!"

Harry, who has also been a judge on American Idol, also shared, "I’m looking forward to hearing all the new talent! I love the camaraderie with the judges, the excitement of the crowd and the fun of it all. I love the idea of musical competition; it forces performers to focus on a bunch of things that contribute to their development as artists."

Hosting the show is 2004 Australian Idol star Ricki-Lee and former E! host Scott Tweedie, who wrote on Instagram, "I can’t wait to be apart of unearthing the next Aussie Idol with our judges."

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