1 week Ago By Yahoo Lifestyle
After two massive nights filled with powerhouse performances and extra special guests, Australian Idol has crowned its winner for 2025. Monday night’s episode saw Iilysh Retallick, Marshall Hamburger, and Gisella Colletti going head to head in the nail-biting grand finale . In the end, it was Marshall Hamburger who received the most votes and became the season 10 champion.
The 19-year-old received $100,000 in prize money, an exclusive recording package with Hive Sound Studios, and the esteemed title of Australian Idol 2025. RELATED: “Thank you, Australia, thank you so much. You're gonna see a lot of me in the future,” he said following the announcement.
Fans quickly took to social media to praise the teenage sensation, with one person writing: "I’m so happy congratulations Marshall." "What a legend," another added, while a third commented, "Yes Burger Boy!". Secret to live TV winner announcement Ahead of the grand finale, host Scott Tweedie opened up to Yahoo Lifestyle about what it’s really like announcing a winner on live TV.
The popular presenter, who has been hosting the singing competition alongside Ricki-Lee since 2023, revealed there’s an important rule in place to ensure everything goes to plan. “We have it written down, so there’s no way that communication can be wrong. So on the card we've got in our hands, it has the winner's name or who we're about to announce,” he detailed.
“And then, because sometimes we'll go, ‘Six of you are safe and two of you are in the bottom two’, and we've got to go through six names, we have this thing called the thumb rule. And on the card, your thumb has to be on who you're about to say. So you cannot say the wrong name, and that’s pretty foolproof.
” SHOP: Scott explained that they aren’t given the card from the producer until “literally seconds” before they come back from a commercial break, and the winner’s name is handwritten so “you cannot screw it up”. He added that it’s usually Ricki-Lee who gets to share the big news on the show, like the winner announcement, given her long history with Australian Idol . “I think with those big moments, it really does work with Ricki-Lee leaning into it,” he said.
“Because of her DNA with Idol , I think she is the best at doing those really big announcements, and I'm there to back her up the whole way. And if anything happens, I’m there to step in.” Want the latest lifestyle and entertainment news? Make sure you are following us on Facebook , Instagram and TikTok and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
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