Damien Leith - The Winner's Journey
(2006)

Review by Anne Davis

It's a sad state of affairs when musical talent can be decided over the phone. If social rules stipulate that we can't break up with our boyfriend via text message, why should we be able to vote a no-name hack into the fame stratosphere?

Who am I kidding. I love Idol. I'm the first to admit that this year was top notch - and that's probably not saying alot considering the previous two winners of the competition are working at McDonald's.

And let's face it - who didn't think that Bobby Flynn wasn't going to win. He had a tick in the box of each criteria. He can sing, he can write music, he can play guitar and he's Australian.

But of course, since when do rules matter when TV ratings are involved. If I recall correctly - the final batch included a New Zealander, A South African and an Irishman. It sounds like the set up of a bad joke - and many people would argue that Australian Idol is one big joke.

But history will tell us that Irishman Damien Leith took out the coveted prize, and quite possibly, the most deserving winner since Guy Sebastian.

Sure, he's look about as comfortable on stage as Hitler in a Synagouge (the bonus DVD included on this release shows just how bad it gets - look out stretchy leather pants!) but he does have a sweet voice, and most improtantly, an Irish charm that seems to appeal furhter than simply the 12-17 year old girl demographic.

For the first time ever, BMG opted to allow the winner some time to create their debut album as opposed to churning out an album within a few days - hence The Winners Journey is simply a slew of covers taken from Leith's performances on the show.

There are some absolute shockers on here, but gladly they are kept to just the DVD (keep an eye out for the terrible rendition of Celebration  and the cheesy Danny Boy. But when he gets it right, the proof is in the pudding as to why he took the Oz Idol title home.

Night of my Life is one of the best Idol singles yet (I must admit, I felt that Kate DeRuge's single was highly underated), while Nessun Dorma was Leith's Climb Every Mountain.

If Tomorrow Never Comes is a bit rank, but will keep the mums happy - while the jazzed up version of Radiohead's Creep is pretty impressive.

It's not going down as the greatest album of all time, but will definately keep punters interested enough until he brings out an album of originals - which will be the big test.

RATING: 3 out of 5