Nineteen-year-old Sunshine Coast singer Marshall Hamburger has been voted as the winner of reality TV competition Australian Idol.
With 1.2 million votes cast in support of the top three, the Doonan resident was left visibly shocked when the result was announced.
“Australia, thank you so much. You are going to hear a lot from me in the future. I’m going to be out there,” he said.
A grand finale watch party was held at New York Minute in Noosa Heads for Marshall’s fans to cheer him on, with the crowd wearing red and white in support. It was MC’d by Sami McGrath and featured live entertainment from Georgia Stafford and Jazzy Q, Marshall trivia, a dance statues competition and more. See the gallery above.
Marshall secures $100,000 in prize money and an exclusive recording package with Hive Sound Studios.
“I honestly can’t believe it. I’ve changed so much, I’ve definitely stepped out of my shell,” he said.
Marshall performed John Farnham’s Playing to Win and a duet of You Make Me Feel Like Dancing with Leo Sayer on Sunday night before voting opened, before last night returning to his original audition song Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police.
Judges Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark acknowledged Marshall’s unique musicality and outstanding star quality.
“I would love to get a psychic medium to find out which dead music legend you’ve reincarnated. It’s just not possible that such a young, fresh boy is such a seasoned genius musician,” Sandilands said.
Shark added: “From the first second you came into that audition room and sat at that piano, you morphed into a superstar. Now you are an absolute weapon ready to take on the world.”
Marshall secured more votes than fellow grand finalists Iilysh and Gisella, both 17.
The Idol Collection, bringing together 11 of Marshall’s standout performances from the show, is available for pre-order.
