KEY POINTS:
Congratulations on the win - how are you feeling?
I am not with it, that's how I'm feeling. The whole week leading up to the show was funny because I was slightly unwell but I was having a really good week simply because I could see the
end of the show. It's like you've run the longest race ever and you can actually see the finish line ahead.
Were you in it to win? Were you expecting to?
Not ever. I was in it because I thought it would be fun and I wanted to prove the point that I could sing. Regardless of what people thought of True Bliss there was some talent in it. I was a bit disappointed when Kerry went so early because I wanted her to have that same opportunity. At the start I never expected to be there at the end.
What was the hardest part of doing the show?
The hardest part for me was fitting in all the extra time into my week, when I'm already working several jobs. And having no control over my performances. I've been performing such a long time that I know the good bits I should focus on and the bad bits I should try to avoid showcasing. I choose songs and outfits that compliment the way I perform. In this situation, I had no choice over the songs I was doing and only some choice in what I was wearing. We had a stylist who chose what we wore.
Did you find it hard to be exposed to the judges' comments each week?
At the start of it I did. Before the show had started, I was sitting in a chair thinking 'why I am doing this? I am too old for this crap.' The truth is, I respect all of the judges. If they were critical about something, more often than not, I knew they were going to be because I completely agreed. I knew when I sang a bung note and I knew when I didn't do something very well.
The series had its fair share of detractors. How did you deal with that?
The thing is, everyone that signed on to the show knew they would get their fair share of flak. Which I think makes them brave for doing it anyway. There was one point where I was reading some of the websites and people were making up the most preposterous things. So I went on under my own name and tried to straighten things out. Afterwards, I realised it didn't even help because people are just going to make up crap.
Quite a bit of the criticism was directed at the poor production values of the show. It didn't seem to be up to Idol's standards. Did you feel the production company short-changed you guys in any way?
It's funny because I watched Idol I used to think it sounded terrible - everything sounded like karaoke. So when we came to the set of this show and we were doing it live, to me, it looked and sounded amazing. But then when you saw it on television it was so different. You can't really know what it was like unless you were at a live performance.
I think everyone worked really hard to make it the best that they could. We used the same studio as Dancing With the Stars, and to my knowledge the same crew. I don't really know why it came across so differently.
You've won $50,000 plus a car, how does that compare to your earnings from True Bliss?
Well True Bliss never earned any money. True Bliss fell apart because our money was all mismanaged. Whatever we did earn, we only saw about ten per cent of what we should have. I don't know where that money went, there's still a bunch of unanswered questions. So this is way more than I ever got in True Bliss.
What are you looking forward to now it's over?
My two bosses from the Mermaids and The Edge have been so decent in putting up with my bizarre schedule for the last nine weeks that I'm just really looking forward to going back to normality and putting some time and effort into my real jobs. The jobs I do year-round.
