Benchmark for the next Australian Idol: Fantasia Barrino

Having sufferred through episodes 1 and 2 and finding epsiode 3 even more excrutiating, I was all set to engage in a bitch fest about some questionable decisions by the judges.

Hopefully the pain will end soon because the talent(?) just seems to be getting worse. Tonight, some of the hopefuls were so bad, I found myself looking away at times and at other times yelling at the screen. ( I don't think my cardiologist would like me getting so worked up. Who knew watching Idol could be hazardous to your health.) Though there was the odd spot of comic relief.

However, it's all very well to sit on my butt and criticise when I don't have to be the one making the hard decisions, I don't have put my self through the nail biting experience of an audition and when I can't sing a note to save my lfe.

Instead I thought I would take a look foward and ask just what we should expect from the next Australian Idol?

To be sure Guy Sebastian is something special. And his victory in Series 1 gave the show a status and credibility that few would have guessed.

Guy definitely raised the bar and his talent has hopefully also raised viewer expectations of what we want from our next Idol.

The fact that the national winner then competes in the World idol competition, is another good reason to make sure we vote for the very best talent.

To be sure, Guy has definitely been doing us proud on the international stage. When he sang on American Idol Series 3, he even got a standing ovation!

But if Guy has set a high standard, American Idol Series 3 winner Fantasia Barrino has taken it up a few notches more. In the US she is being hailed as possibly the best Idol ever and with good reason.

And while the Idol winner will (fortunately) not have to go up against Fantasia (as the next World Idol will presumably feature Series 2 winners), I don't think we should settle for anything less in our next Australian Idol than the awesome standard set by Fantasia.

I am sorry to say than to date no one has really stood out in the auditions, not in the way that Guy did.

It is not unresaonable to expect that out of 50,000 hopefuls the competition would be able to produce at least one truly exceptional talent who can stand out and shine on an international stage.

I know that such great talent exists, I've seen it for myself.

And so I keep watching in eager anticipation as the auditions continue...