Royston Sagigi-Baira was crowned the winner of Australian Idol last night, as fellow finalist Phoebe Stewart suffered an unfortunate fall.
Proving that the show was most definitely filmed live, fifteen-year-old Stewart suffered a physical fall as she and Sagigi-Baira walked out on stage to find out who the winner would be.
As the doors at the back of Seven’s Australian Idol opened to reveal the two finalists, Stewart slipped and fell down on the floor.
Sagigi-Baira rushed to help Stewart to her feet. The mortified teenager quickly dusted herself and got to her feet sayings “good role models don’t do that, guys. That’s not a good example. Continue”.
She later thanked the live audience for not laughing at her misfortune.
It was a more positive night for twenty-three-year-old Sagigi-Baira who won the viewer’s vote and bagged $100,000 of prize money and a record deal with Sony Music. He will also travel to the USA to work with industry leaders.
Whilst he didn’t fall, Sagigi-Baira suffered a live error of a different kind. The victorious singer climbed to the stage to sing his winner’s song Invincible, however when he started singing it was clear that the music had not yet started.
He tapped his ear to signify to the production team that he could not hear the running track. This was quickly corrected and, after a shaky start, Sagigi-Baira quickly blew the crowd away with his victorious performance.
The night had opened with three finalists, however, heart-throb Josh Hannan, age twenty, was booted after receiving the least number of votes.
A total of 596,000 metro viewers tuned in for the episode last night, putting it second in the entertainment category behind Nine’s MAFS.