At just 20, Williamstown singer William Le Brun might seem a bit young to be contesting Australian Idol.
After all, Le Brun wasn’t even alive for Idol’s early 2000’s heyday when it was the biggest show on TV and catapulted the likes of Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll and Anthony Callea into stardom.
Then again, the self described Gen Z crooner who mentions the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley as his heroes, seems to have a taste for nostalgia.
“It was huge. My parents were huge fans of it,” said Le Brun of what he remembers from the latter years of Idol’s first run which ended in 2009.
After a 14 year hiatus the show returned for an eighth season in 2023 and with season 10 about to begin, Le Brun has finally made the jump from viewer to contestant, with his audition to feature in the first episode this Sunday night.
“The experience was incredible,” he said of his audition.
“We had cameras in our faces and nerves were high. It was quite daunting. You’ve grown up looking at these people on television and now you’re performing for them.”
As for what judges Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark made of Le Brun’s audition and whether he made it any further, viewers will have to wait until Sunday to find out.
“It was quite an interesting one,” was all Le Brun would give away about his audition, adding that he had no regrets.
“Being on that (audition) stage alone was incredible,” he said.
“I always wanted to be on the big stage, ever since I was a little kid.
“I wanna share my joy for music with other people.”
The 2025 season of Australian Idol premiers at 7pm on Sunday, February 2 on Channel 7.
Cade Lucas