Want To Meet Royston? Aus Idol Winner To Greet Sydney Fans This Friday

Australian Idol enthusiasts, rejoice: you can meet the 2023 winner, Royston Sagigi-Baira, this week.

This Friday, 31 March, at 8 am, the Invincible singer (his winning song penned by pop queens Tones & I and Graace) will take to the Sunrise stage with his winner’s single and hang out with the Channel 7 audience after his performance. 

Royston Sagigi-Baira was revealed as this year’s Australian Idol winner on Sunday night, beating the fierce competition from 15-year-old Phoebe Stewart and 20-year-old Josh Hannan. 

“I can’t believe this. This is crazy!” Royston said upon being announced as a grand finalist. “This is a testament [to the fact] that no matter where you come from, as long as you work hard, you can follow your dreams, and they can come true.”

Growing up in the small community of Mapoon at the tip of Far North Queensland, Royston was a favourite for the judges and viewers watching from home from the very beginning.

Starting his singing journey at school and church, Sagigi-Baira moved to Brisbane to attend the Aboriginal Centre For The Performing Arts (ACPA). 

He is in his second year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music) at the Queensland University of Technology. Communities across Cape York supported him with a strong voting performance across the series. 

Royston instantly made a mark with his audition song, taking on a well-known hit in Sam Smith’s I Know I’m Not The Only One. On the Grand Finale, the final cover he sang was When You Believe, the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet from the movie The Prince of Egypt, showing once and for all why he deserved the crown. 

Taking away $100,000 in prize money and a recording contract with Sony Music Australia, the singer hopes to emulate the success of past Idol alums, including Jessica Mauboy, who also performed her new single, Right Here Right Now, on Sunday night’s show. 

Australian Idol's original run ended in 2009 and had a strong record of radio and chart hits, but its predecessors like The Voice and Australia's Got Talent have had progressively worse results, with many winners being ignored by radio and failing to chart. 

Will Australian Idol deliver better luck for Royston? One would think he'll at least get a good showing on Kyle Sandilands' KIIS FM.