“You Are the Rock Star!” — Inside the Making of RockStar INXS with David Goffin

Do you remember the moment Tim revealed:
“J.D., you are right for our band, INXS… you are the rock star!”?

On this week’s episode of Listen Like Fans, Bee is thrilled to welcome David Goffin, co-creator and executive producer of RockStar INXS.

A long-time INXS fan, David takes us right back to the very beginning — including the phone call from legendary producer Mark Burnett about creating a music show “bigger than American Idol.” That idea would become RockStar INXS.

Go behind the scenes as David shares his vision for building a truly global show. From pitching record labels to secure an incredible soundtrack — including artists who had never allowed their music on TV like The Rolling Stones and Nirvana — to crafting something that felt bigger than anything audiences had seen before.

Hear how the worldwide search unfolded, with auditions across 17 cities — from London to Sydney to Toronto — and tens of millions of dollars spent in the quest to find the next frontman for INXS.

David also reflects on working with the band — humble, modest, and initially reluctant judges — alongside host Brooke Burke, who brought balance and control to the stage, and Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction, who added undeniable rock credibility.

Step inside the iconic Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles, where the show came to life — from its gothic atmosphere to the transformation of stables into rehearsal spaces and living quarters for production.

Discover the intensity of the casting process, as the final 50 contestants performed in front of the band and management — each member selecting their favourites before narrowing it down to the final 15.

And of course… There are some unforgettable stories along the way — including J.D. and Marty sneaking out of the mansion for a night at a bar, and one very unexpected (and naked!) guitar moment involving a cake…

We’re so excited to have David on Listen Like Fans to share his incredible insights and memories of this lightning-in-a-bottle moment — when everything came together to create the perfect show at exactly the right time.

So come and relive all the moments that led to that unforgettable line…
“J.D., you are the rock star.”

Rockstar Reunion tickets: Grab your seats! This is going to be epic!
https://rockstarreunionlive.com


They will be selling a LIVESTREAM ticket for fans in Oz….It will be on the above links soon

#INXS #rockstar #reunion #producer #backstory

👉 — We’ve also got a special competition running where one lucky listener will win something very special: the INXS Gigography 🤓 Check our posts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/competition-time-152913364?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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Website: https://www.inxsaccessallareas.com/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Okay, Grooves.

SPEAKER_08 0:06

Welcome to Listen Like Fans for the love of Inex. I'm B, and each week I'll be joined by a different co-host as we dive into the songs, the stories, and the moments that made us fall in love with this most iconic band on the planet. Let's go. Today on Listen Light Fans, we're stepping behind the scenes of one of the most iconic, unique, and bold chapters of InXS's history, the creation of Rockstar InXS. This wasn't just a TV show, it was a global experiment. A band searching for a new frontman in front of millions, blending raw talent, television storytelling, and the pressure of live performance. And at the heart of it all was today's guest, David Goffin. As a co-creator and executive producer alongside Mark Burnett, David helped shape the vision from the very first phone call, guiding everything from the format to the contestants to how the world would connect with InXS in a completely new way. He worked closely with the band, helped transform musicians into global performers, and helped a key role in launching the career of JD Fortune, the man who would ultimately step into Michael Hutchins' shoes. We'll dive into the untold stories, the risks, the decisions, the moments you didn't see on screen, and what it was really like to build a show that changed the way music and television collided. This is more than a recap. This is Listen Like Fans. Hi, David.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Hi, that was that's quite an intro. Wow. Thank you. We have we have days and days of things to talk about based on that.

SPEAKER_08 1:51

Just that one show alone, but you've um done plenty more that I'm sure we will talk about later. But thank you for coming on the show. This is um this is quite a highlight in my new episodes of um Listen Like Fans. Um I've been really talking to fans of NXS, but you started off as a fan anyway, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Sure. And nice to meet you, Bridget. And I'm a huge fan of InXS, was, is, always will be. And I knew them just through their music prior to doing the show and and enjoyed it like everybody else. And then meeting them and working with them. Such good people. And it just made uh a very difficult show, not because of them, but a difficult show to undertake, much more fun and gratifying to know that we are working to really help them become an even better band. It was fantastic. And I would do anything for these guys, they know that.

SPEAKER_08 2:43

So did you already have a lot of their music in your collection that you would they're gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I had kick in my collection. I don't have a big collection. It's really weird. I just listen a lot. But I had kick and like everybody else did, and of course, all the music I knew. God, it was so different back then because you had to buy things and I was moving around a lot with between my schools and my work. So I didn't have a huge collection, but of course I knew them. I was always a music guy.

SPEAKER_08 3:09

Yeah. So this must have been wonderful. Okay, well, let's go to the beginning. And I hear you got a phone call. Was that from Mark Burnett?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

I know that they approached Mark first. And Mark Burnett and I had gone back a ways. I had done shows for him prior to Survivor hitting in 2000. So I had a personal relationship with him and a professional relationship with him, and I had gone from working for Mark to American Idol. And so I was doing that show. I had done that show from the very first day up until Mark called me. But it was, as you know, a a huge show. And I remember distinctly it was the spring of 2004, and I'm at my desk and I get a cell phone call from Mark. And I don't want to do Mark's British Australian accent that everybody tries to imitate. But he calls and it's the typical Dave, but it's Mark, and of course I know too, caller ID. He goes, I've got this show. And prior to this, I turned him down for Survivor, I turned him down for his show called The Casino, the Restaurant, and then that that weird show with that real estate mogul. I forgot his name. He he went on to something, but I don't recall. And so I I turned him down like four times since doing a show for him. So I figured he'd never call me again. And he came, he says, I I've got this music show, and it's gonna be bigger than American Idol. I want you to make it. I can't tell you what it's about, what who it's with. It's about a band, and we're gonna find a lead singer for them, but I can't tell you who the band is because they're working on the on the on the deal right now, so I can't tell you. And then he pauses like five seconds. It's in an excess, but I but okay, it's in excess. I'm like, but it's gonna be bigger than American Idol. And I'm thinking in my head, I'm doing this calculus, like, bigger than American Idol. Like this, I got 30 million people watching this show tomorrow night. Then I thought, wait a second, the guy who runs Survivor can't keep a secret? I had a lot in my plate. We we had seven live shows to do the next two to three weeks, and I couldn't really think about it. But the idea really resonated with me because I had done 150 or so episodes of American Idol. American Idol, of course, was doing really well. It was a great show that changed TV history, not unlike Survivor. But it had its had its, I wouldn't say flaws, but it had its structural challenges that I never really liked. Number one is it really was looking for the perfect voice.

SPEAKER_05 5:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

It was looking for perfect pitch and perfect look and perfect appearance, and you know, it it didn't always get that, but it was always having that as a measuring stick. And and we weren't getting good music to go on the show at that time because record labels and artists did not like the fact that we were making fun of people who couldn't sing in the early episodes. And so I knew we were getting a lot of old music, which was fine, but I knew we were missing like some, and I was in the middle of that. I knew the labels were saying no because of that reason. And I just like the idea of an authentic possibility of in excess as a real band, real guys. I never met them before at that point. But this is a different prize and a different type of person you'd be looking for. You didn't have to be pitchy or not pitchy, you had to be able to hold a stage and be electric in an auditorium in front of thousands of people. And I thought, wow, that could be really cool, creative. I had no idea how we were gonna do it. But to make that part of the story short, in in a let's say two months, I negotiated a deal with him to take this on. And then it's like, what is this show? This is this is brand new. It's not gonna be idle, it has to be something different. And so we started a pretty long process of trying to figure out how do we make this show where it's not based on the public vote. It can't be based on the public vote because Inexcess just has to have a bigger say than everybody in the US and and more. It has to be global because Inexcess is as much a global ban as it is a US ban. And it had to have a set of sort of measuring sticks or why should somebody win beyond you're a great voice.

SPEAKER_05 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Or you're a pop star. And so that was a really big challenge. And and we came up with some really cool things, I think solved it, and I think it worked.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

We have to have voting because voting is such a huge part of this. This is before social media, but it was like this one way that people felt they were interacting with the show. And that was a huge part of American Idol. I mean, Simon Cowell was amazing, Ryan Secrets was great, the music was pretty good, but the public actually like if you came in last place, or you came in if you came in last place and vote, you're off the show. Now, sometimes we took an hour to get to that show, which is a little bit torturous. So it had to be different. And we eventually came up with the idea of okay, the bottom three, at least the public is saying these people we don't necessarily want, or we want other people more. Uh, how do we so in excess got to make a choice based on the bottom three? The other big thing is how do we bring in excess music into this without it being in excess music only? And it can't be. In Excess is great, but you I uh we were on two and a half hours a week, three nights a week, and it had to be more than that. And I wanted to bring in great music. So two things came out of that. Number one, if you're in the bottom three, you saying it you sang an in excess song, and that was the big measuring stick of why we should keep you on or or let you go. And that was a big innovation. So that was where we got the inexcess music in. And then going back to the first thing I said, I really wanted to bring better music on the show than American Idol. No disrespect to American Idol, but it was really important. And so the very first thing we did on this show is we sponsored a huge event, uh, luncheon, with every music publisher in America in Los Angeles and New York. And I had I think I had the managers of in excess at the time there. I had Mark Brunett there, I had my department there as we were forming, and we went over the vision of the show and looked everyone in them in the eye and said, this is not a show where we make fun of the singers for being pitchy or getting it wrong or having a little bit of a they're on the spectrum, they never know what they're doing, and and taking advantage of that is absolutely not the goal of that. We want good music and we want to respect it because you know you're you're you're in a you know in excess in your industry. Universal Music and Warner Brothers, you have their their publishing, we're gonna do this right. And I think looking them in the eye and Mark Burnett being there, looking them in the eye, and saying, This is not that show, American Idol. It is another show. Please take the risk with us and give us some good music. And they did. They they did.

SPEAKER_08 9:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

And it was a huge, huge thing.

SPEAKER_08 9:26

I think the respect there was both ways, wasn't it, really? The fact that the record company respected you to do a good show. Yeah, it was better for them in the elongroom, wasn't it? Because there was all these new no all these old songs being re-listened to a younger generation again every day of the week, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

That's right. And and I remember the first two big groups to get on board was the Rolling Stones gave us their music and they never gave anything to Idol.

SPEAKER_08 9:52

Oh wow, that's awesome. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

The woman who was there from Abco just uh really believed it and I appreciate uh I think it was Lisa Cole was her name. And then the Nirvana gave us their catalog, which I think was just pure luck because they they weren't known for licensing anything, and now we can have Teen Spirit and Lithium and Heart Shaped Box, just phenomenal stuff that really hadn't been heard live because of the tragic death of Kurt Cobain. I think they believed that with Mark they would make a high quality show, and they might have believed with me that I would respect the music, although they had no reason to, because as I was not respecting the music on American Idol. So there you go.

SPEAKER_08 10:31

This must have been heartwarming for you to have a project that had disrespect from the music industry at last after American Idol.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah, I don't want to I don't want to diss too much American Idol. American Idol did a lot for the music business.

SPEAKER_08 10:44

It's just different, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

My music supervisor, her name is Jill Myers, and she's since become a friend, and uh she did a phenomenal job pitching what I just said to you over and over and over again. Like she's respected, she does a lot of movie music soundtracks, and that she said, Look, this is not going to be what idle is. Please give us a chance, and it worked. And it was that is the most gratifying thing. And this this concert that we have in Hollywood, which I know we haven't pitched it yet, in uh in May, a reunion show on May 21st, a lot of people from the music industry are going to be there because they still love that show.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

After an exhaustive worldwide search, InXS invited the 15 best rockers to join them here in Los Angeles to begin a three-month audition process. One of these rockers will become the new lead singer for NXS.

SPEAKER_08 13:42

How hands-on were you with finding the contestants?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

I had people doing it for me, but it all came through me. Idol casting was much more random than what we were gonna do. We were hoping that people would show up to Chicago and we were hoping that people would show up to Dallas, and we're hoping that a Kelly Clarkson was in that line, but we weren't reaching out to the music community to do that, at least at that point in Idol. And so we had a very serious casting department. The DNA came from Survivor, where we went through globally the best up-and-coming rock stars who would never try out for American Idol for. And this was the other side of it. The music industry had kind of turned away from this side of musicians. The uh alternative rock had died in 1999, 2000, and it had been replaced by boy band, girl band, pop music mostly. And so for about five or six years, there was just nothing for a lot of these singers. I mean, there was locally, but to get to the national, so this is a real opportunity for them. So that was a great timing luck as well. But we went really heavy to at least 17 cities. I traveled to four of them to do casting. We did in London, Toronto, Sydney, uh, found MiG in Australia slash Manila. It was a very expensive effort at the level of a movie. And if you look at a movie budget, um, which they don't release, but the casting line item is very big. Um, and and we did that very, very much as we would on a survivor. And people were cast for the chance and the the skill set and the potential to be lead singer in XS, and others because we knew they would be interesting on TV, but may not make it all the way. And that was purely designed.

SPEAKER_08 15:16

And at what point did you meet in XS? Did you go over to Australia or did they come to you?

SPEAKER_01 15:21

The management came to America and I met them before. Um, that was Dave and Michael uh Murchison. And I went to Australia pretty early on. Uh I went to Australia at least I at least three times, I recall. The first one was with Mark. We did a lot of business meetings. Uh the second one was me directly meeting all the guys individually. So I went to Tim's place and I went to John's, Kirk, of course, and Gary. So they met me, which is important because this is a huge risk that they took. The upside is they get this huge level of resources from a TV show, tens of millions of dollars in budget to scour the world for the best lead singer for them. The downside is there's a risk that that person is not in that group and they're stuck with finding a winner. And my job is to make sure that didn't happen, and as well as making a great show. So I want to let them know that I cared. And I hope that they got that message, and I think they eventually did, because I truly did care that the winner was going to make their band better or at least as good as it was.

SPEAKER_08 16:21

Did you ever find out where the idea uh came from? Was it from band management or was it from one of the band members?

SPEAKER_01 16:28

My understanding is, and I will never speak for them, is it came from management. Okay. That management said, hey, this this trend in American television and if not global television is really taking off. Uh we can not just find somebody great talent-wise, but the marketing and promotion is unbeatable. And that's my understanding of it. And that happened before while I was still on American Idol, and that first initial meetings was with Mark and a guy named Conrad Riggs, Mark's number two.

SPEAKER_08 16:54

And all the bands seem to be really into it? Was there any ones that were quite reserved about it? Or were they really like, yeah, let's let's do this, let's get ourselves back onto the stage?

SPEAKER_01 17:03

I don't recall any negative. I think at that point the decision was made, and most of the the vibe at that point is how are we gonna do this? How are we gonna best do this? How are you gonna do this, David? And what is our role gonna be exactly? Because the creative hadn't been figured out, and I wanted to make sure that whatever we came up with, they liked. I knew they were not gonna be a Simon Cowell type, you suck, I don't want you. It had to be a lot more positive. But positive TV doesn't really work. People like the drama, and so that balance is really tricky, and that's what we were working on.

SPEAKER_08 17:35

Yeah, well, I think we had a bit of a character, but we'll get to him later. Um, going back to the band, they're a very humble bunch. So, did you have to give them some sort of practice? I can imagine them having um a little bit of tongue tie, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

I'm trying to choose my words, really carefully here because I know what you're getting at. They're more reserved. I mean, let's let's face it, Michael was the charisma of the band, and he was and he with them elevated all of their personalities. And it's without him, they were slightly different, a different vibe. Humble, I would say, absolutely modest, a little quieter, some more than others. We spent a lot of time with the band once they got to Los Angeles, and a lot of the creative was worked out. The basic creative that we're soon realized that Tim seemed like the best sort of spokesperson for the band among the five of them for some of the real heavy lifting, that's something I was scripted. You'll notice that he made the final call and you're right for our band. Like we just felt he had that. Yes. And but everybody played a part in the critiquing after a performance, as you know. And then in the reality episode, the drama episodes, what I call the first night on Sunday night, they all played a part in our workshops and judging them. But that was very much a music type of thing. They're they're being themselves. They didn't like to judge. And it's a really difficult thing for an artist to judge another artist, and I respect that a lot. But then the flip side is they really have to provide feedback and critique to find the best person for their band. And part of this is making sure each of the contestants grow and are challenged and get feedback that they can take to next performance, which they did.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

And so they did what they had to do. And one of the reasons why we hired Dave Navarro is that he had that bigger energy. He didn't he wasn't afraid to say certain things, which we needed for the show.

SPEAKER_08 19:31

Well, let's talk about Dave and Brooke. So um that was a good segue in there. So, how how was that decision made to bring in those two? Um obviously, it needs to be um rock star and it needs to have a bit of glamour.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Well, let's talk about the roles first. We knew we needed a female host to balance the very male other talent on the show. So that was a given. So it wasn't gonna be a Ryan Secret type person who was gonna be hosting this or a Jeff Probe's like on Survivor. So we knew it was gonna be a female. And then it had to have somebody with some rock cred and and frankly, who looked great. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I mean, Brooke Burke is fabulous, but she was also extremely good at what she does. She got even better when she started hosting Dancing with the Stars. I had known her or known of her on TV for a while, and she was one of those who had not hit network television yet. So I knew that she would be great. Um, I found out later that the group that did So You Think Gadance wanted to hire her to host that. I took Brooke first and they were kind of angry about that, angry, but it's like you got our girl. She was the perfect host to control a stage, not add more drama to it all because we had enough of that, but just get us from A to B to C and keep keep it moving. Dave, as I said, we were looking for someone in the music business who could sit within XS, but provide, as I said, a larger criticism or critique or fire than we thought in Excess would do because of their humbleness and modesty and relative quietness, relative. And so we talked to a lot of music people, and I I don't want to go into all of them. Big, big names. We came close to getting Roger Daltrey, actually, from the Who.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

That that's one I will say because I love Roger Daltrey. Yeah, and I think we wanted someone just a little bit more in the zeitgeist of music than the Who, nothing against the Who. But that that was the level we were looking at for that. And Dave was just had great, great audition. He was a huge fan of reality TV, had seen every reality show on the planet, knew exactly what his role was going to be, knew he wasn't gonna take over for the panel. It was he was it was he he had to be a first among equals with NXS. In Excess had to alike, they had to enjoy him. And I think they really respected his in I think his intelligence. And I think he critiqued singers in a way that maybe they couldn't do because of who they were and who and who they're and they're gonna be joining their band, but he got that element of the show out.

SPEAKER_08 21:55

Yeah, I I find him very credible. Yeah, he looked very comfortable in that role.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

If you're listening, I'm trying to find you to invite you to the show on May 21st.

SPEAKER_08 22:03

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Please, please return your emails.

SPEAKER_08 22:07

Oh. Little shout out there for Dave. And so let's let's talk about the actual mansion because that is spectacular. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Have you been there?

SPEAKER_08 22:19

No, I'd like to. So tell me, where is it? I'd like to go.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

I mean, I'm not giving anything away. A lot of things are shot there. Uh, it's it's in a neighborhood of Los Angeles called Silver Lake. It is on the highest sort of hill overlooking the lake. It was built in the 1920s by the wife of a Hollywood mogul, I forget her name. Like one of those silent film stars you see in the in a bad movie. And it was um actually was in disrepair in the 50s and 60s. It became a monastery, literally. And um, somebody bought it in the in the 90s, about 10 years before, and started redoing it. And she, still the current owner, who we rented it from, she spent great effort and energy turning into this modern gothic rock and roll look. All of that was already there. That look. We didn't, we barely had to do anything. We added a lot, but that look was there. And it was like, once I once we found that place, it was like, how much? We need this place. They all lived there. There's a a stable where the horses used to be kept in the 20s. We turned that, I guess you would call it a garage. We turned that into the music rehearsal space. It was tiny, but with all we had. And my production team, half of them were in the servants' quarters because we had cameras everywhere, and they would they would monitor that from there's a bank of monitors that look like something from the CIA, if you've ever seen a reality show. And so we had half the team was over there doing the drama, we were doing the music, the other half was at CBS, you know, getting ready for the the live shows. And it was a it was a magical place to work. We were so lucky to get that place. And you see it, I see it all the time now on music videos and movies like ah, the rock star management.

SPEAKER_08 24:02

I've just had a message from my uh one of my team, um, Danielle, and she said, Is it part of the bachelor that house now? It looked very similar. No, it's just a similar look.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

No. Um funny story. The lighting director and the lighting director of the bachelor are the same person. So you've got a little bit of a look that is the same. This is inside Hollywood stuff, so that's why it might look the same. But the the Bachelor Mansion is out west, west of Calabasas in the mountains, uh, and built in the 90s if I remember correctly. And this so this is about 70 years older.

SPEAKER_08 24:38

Yeah, okay. So did Inex get to meet the contestants before it actually aired or before it started? Did they get to be where it started? Yeah, or was it all no, they all kept apart. Let me think about that.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

I don't want to get this wrong. So we we spent months and months and months casting. Yes, they did. So here's when it happened. We go through a pretty serious process of casting, and we bring in, let's say, the final 50 to Los Angeles, and we're gonna cast 15 of them. Maybe it was 60, maybe it was 70, some were in there, and they all come to a a hotel in Santa Monica near our offices, and they are told they can't speak to anybody, they can't do much in the outside world. They went through sort of a battery of tests, psychological. I have their criminal records if they had any. They took some IQ tests, I have all this information. And then one by one, over the course of three days, each of them performed. I can't remember how many from XS were there, if it was everybody or three or four. Andrew was definitely there. I think the good amount of them were there, plus management. And we were, we put all of them through the paces. They they each sang at least one, probably two songs, uh, with a music behind them. I wish I had taped it. Probably would not be smart to tape it because it probably embarrassed a lot of people. And I remember that after that was all done, by the end of that, it became who do we want in the show? And it's first like in access, who in this group can front your band? And then who in this group maybe could, but you can't tell, but that's what the show is for. And then who else can we put in to sort of round it out to make a great television show? Because you want viewers. And it became that. I know Andrew wanted certain people, and let's say Kirk or Gary wanted certain people, and it became a really intense battle.

SPEAKER_08 26:30

I heard also that they were really looking for a lady singer.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

I wouldn't say that's consensus that they were looking for a lady singer. I would say that some members of the band thought that was a good way to go. Yeah. And I don't want to get, I don't want to speak for NXS. I never want to, but I I think there's a little bit of the vibe was, well, that would really be departure from Michael. And others felt, well, that's a good creative path for us. And others felt, well, we've got all these songs in a certain key. How we can't change that much, can we? Can we? And who knows?

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

So it was, it was not a consensus. From my perspective, what I saw, I did not think it was something they wanted a lady singer, but they were distinctly open to one and interested in seeing where that went.

SPEAKER_08 27:13

Yeah. And you had a fair few girls in the top four in the end as well, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Jordas and Susie, absolutely. And I think either one of them could have fronted the band from a talent standpoint.

SPEAKER_08 27:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a shame that they didn't take all all four of them and just alternated them.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

That would have been that came up. You did. And we're like, you know, I don't think that's good for the idea of the show. I mean, it should be one winner. It's almost like getting a trophy for participating. I just don't think that would be a good idea.

SPEAKER_08 27:43

It would be a different thing, though, wouldn't it? A new band with four singers. Yeah. It would be like not happened before, I don't think.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

The the temptations with a band behind, I don't know. No, it was that was an those were intense, intense casting moments. Because basically, once they shut the door to these 15 people made the show, one of them had to win. One of them was going to be their lead singer.

SPEAKER_06 28:06

Congratulations, Ann Hollow, all 15 of you. You're all talented, otherwise you wouldn't be here. That's the good news. The bad news is only one of you guys gets to be the singer of that band the next day. We'd love nothing more than to spend every day over the next three months a year. We cannot, because we'll be in the studio laying down the album that one of you will sing on. But we do have a really good nighty type of.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

This is gonna be a really tough audition for you guys, okay? But don't worry, because I know exactly how you feel. I've been in your shoes. When I joined the Chili Peppers years ago, it was a previously existing, evolved machine like that of Nick's test. And I had to walk into that thing, and it was tough. One of you is gonna have to step in and front this band and not only learn how to gel with them as people, but learn how to put on a great show. And for your time here, I'm gonna be the guy that you come to. If you have any questions or comments or concerns, I'm the guy to look for. Good luck to you.

SPEAKER_08 29:20

Is there any moments that you can share with us that happened in the house that probably didn't get onto the TV?

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Uh I have no problem sharing these things. It's been 20 years. One night, JD and Marty escaped. And went to a bar.

SPEAKER_08 29:36

Of course they didn't.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Escaped the mansion. And they went to a bar in Silver Lake. And it took like 45 minutes to an hour for my people to figure out and find them.

SPEAKER_08 29:46

Naughty boys. Because how old would they have been? They wouldn't have even been early 30s, late 20s. How many days were in they in the house?

SPEAKER_01 29:55

They were in the house for um 12 weeks.

SPEAKER_08 29:59

Oh yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

At least.

SPEAKER_08 30:01

You'd want to restart drink. Yeah. I don't blame them.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

What we did is we shot the first episode uh six weeks before in Hollywood. So they all came out. They shot the it's at the Mayan Theater, if you remember from the actually, we probably didn't even say it was at the Mayan. We did a video later that said it's from the Mayan. And then they all went home and they were told to be quiet. One person was eliminated from that. And then we started the show with 14 people, and that's where they started living for the rest of the show. Pretty cool. I think that the things that we did, the things that we were able to pull off are just amazing. I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_08 30:34

No, no, not at all. No, you would get would you get to tell me another story?

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Another story. Oh my gosh. I mean there's five scenes that are on the DVD that it's called Too Hot for Television. And you can you can refer to the ones that could make it on the air. And if you haven't bought the DVD, you know, please do. It actually, I'm looking at it, actually went gold, so I have a gold DVD on my wall over there, but it has really some good stuff. The the funniest thing that ever happened, there's so many good stories. I mean, one of the key things to a good reality show is to feed the contestants as much as you can, so that's never an issue, and let them drink as much as they want, which is a whole nother thing. So there's always great food and phenomenal food. And uh, I remember we had this beautiful cake frosting ice cream, and it was in the main dining room, and they all ate it. But you know, when when you have stuff like that, people come in and ate a little bit, and over the course of an hour or two, it gets finered. I remember JD sat on the cake naked.

unknown 31:30

Pardon?

SPEAKER_01 31:32

He sat on the mostly finished cake naked and was playing his guitar. And this is on video.

SPEAKER_08 31:39

It is on video. And is that on the DVD?

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Yes. And then he left and took a shower. And unknown to anyone else, Susie comes out and takes her fingers. Oh, frosting.

SPEAKER_08 31:50

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

True story.

SPEAKER_08 31:53

Who told her?

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Although she would have watched it on the DVD. She probably didn't find out. I feel really bad. Uh, but didn't and nobody knew this had even happened. It we had a camera, it happened to be rolling, and so it picked it off. But um during the during the course of the season, we had these incredible mansion parties with Hollywood celebrities and and VIPs coming in. I can do you guys even know about those things? Did that get out to the public?

SPEAKER_08 32:19

Not really. Um, but I have seen photos of the band um in in party mode outside and uh in the garden and around the pool area. But yeah, let tell us more.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Unbelievable. It was just a way for all of us to relax. It was a very intense show being on three nights a week, always filming, always trying to get music done, always trying to figure out the drama. I think we did three times. We just said, let's just throw a party and play music and invite stars. I mean, the Venus and Serena Williams were there. Um, the cast from Friends was there. Uh, it was Hank Azaria had a crush on Susie McNeil, well known, uh, was there. It was just a lot of fun. And you've seen the pictures, and we've ever videotaped anything, only still photographers. We would play music and it would be all acoustic and be so much fun. And I look at these pictures now and I'm like, nobody has their phones. No one's got their phones up, texting the social media. It was all in their head. I still remember the vibe, and that's all we needed.

SPEAKER_08 33:19

Good topic.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

It was such fun.

SPEAKER_08 33:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

I'll tell you the one thing I I wish I had recorded and I never ever did putting the house band together. The house band from this show was and is so good. So good. They had to learn up to 15 songs a week within three or four days. Often the songs were completely rearranged because that was part of the show. Like, what can you do with this song? And so early on, we knew we had to put this incredible band together. And I had, we had auditions over the course of two days in Hollywood. And the talent that showed up and the musicianship that showed up, and then how we decided it wasn't one band that showed up and they got the gig. What you finally saw, those five musicians, Paul, Sasha, Nate, Jimmy, and Raphael, they're from three different bands that we put together. That was part of the risk of coming into this, like, hey, you tell your mates, I'm sorry, I gotta take this gig. And that band is still together on the voice to this day.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Really? And you put them together.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

We put them together, and that two days of putting that together, like it's okay, who can do Bohemian Rhapsody? Here's the song. You've got an hour, break it down and do it. Oh my God, who can do Led Zeppelin rock and roll? Okay, break it down, let's see who can do it. Well, this guy can on drums, but that guy can't on guitar. We need that drummer. That was the vibe. It was like we threw them songs and see what they can do with them. And Paul, the musical director, is a genius. And he took every problem we gave him. Problem being, can you make the song work right now? Can you make it in a different key for a female singer? And he did them. Recording that was like the greatest music grad program in history. It would have been awesome.

SPEAKER_08 35:03

It sounds like you just got the right ingredients for this chemistry set. It just really is amazing. You got the right people involved, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01 35:12

It was the right show at the right time.

SPEAKER_08 35:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Because again, Idol had been on for three or four years, and I think the the real musos were frustrated. There was nothing for them, and they all came out for this show. The talent, the musicians, the camera people, the lighting, they just wanted to do a good job.

SPEAKER_08 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

They're and the rock and roll edge.

SPEAKER_08 35:30

Yeah. Yes. Silly things for me was like silk sheets, you know, it was just like so decadent. It was just fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Wonderful. It was a beautiful place.

SPEAKER_08 35:41

It was a beautiful place. Okay, well, then let's get to the show. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

We made a show.

SPEAKER_08 35:46

You you actually made a show with um the contestants and the rock stars and the partying and the escapees.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

The escapees, yes. Gosh.

SPEAKER_08 35:57

Yeah. So how many episodes were they? We went on every day of the week. So how how was the schedule run? Was it sort of record all through the day? And then you how did it work? I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Sure. I mean, this is really getting into the weeds of the I'm interested. Okay, okay. So we are on Sunday night. The first episode of the week was on a Sunday night at eight o'clock. It started on CBS, but CBS didn't want half-hour shows. They're mostly hour blocks. So that actually was on VH1 here, which is another Viacom brand, so not a big deal. And then we did a Tuesday performance show and a Wednesday results show. Who was going to get kicked out? So the schedule worked as follows. The Wednesday show was shot on Wednesday morning. Mark didn't want to do anything live. So every show had a little bit of edit. I would have preferred to go live, but I totally get it. We were uncertain of in excess, we were uncertain how this thing was going to go. It was a very complex show, and then we wanted that couple of hours of editing. So on Wednesday morning, we shot the Wednesday night show. And so by noon, let's say, we knew that Bobby was off the show. And now we have a blank sheet of paper, and now our week starts. Right. And so Wednesday night was usually just a relaxed night. Thursday was a day of drama. So at the mansion, we were shooting something that was going to provide drama, whether it was something about a photo shoot or something about songwriting or whatever. And usually there was a winner or loser coming out of that sometimes in a contest. And one of the things that I didn't talk about creatively, it was really important to me to make song selection a piece of drama. On American Idol, the songs were assigned. And I won't get into how that was done. Sometimes it was done to benefit producer favorites, and other times it was not, if you know what I mean. Yeah. I thought this thing needed to be transparent and people can see why people chose certain songs. So the next thing that happened sometime Thursday night was who was getting what song. If you remember in the reality show, they walked into this room sometime and sheet music was on, and it was Bohemian Rhapsody and Creep and And they had to choose, yeah. They had to choose and and horse trade. That was giving us such incredible dramatic moments of who was setting people up for failure, who was being kind, who really wanted something and would do something for season two. Somebody ran around the pool naked in order to get a song. Didn't happen season one. So things like that. And so once we knew who was singing what, Friday and Saturday were were rehearsals with music. And that was at the uh rehearsal session at the mansion. I I didn't know what the show was until Thursday and Friday. And then on Sunday, we shot the main show.

SPEAKER_08 38:47

Huge schedule.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Massive. So so there's three shows going on at any time. So Thursday, Friday, Saturday were our reality shooting days for the show that aired on Sunday, if you're catching me. Then on Sunday, as the show is airing, I am shooting the real show on a stage that's going to air Tuesday. Okay. And so that shot, it does a little bit of editing, and we air it on Tuesday. Meanwhile, we have no idea what the Wednesday show is because the Tuesday show is the vote.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

So I think I think we shot it on Sunday. Maybe it was Monday. Anyway, it was really, I think it was Monday for Tuesday. It was probably that. I might have had my Sundays off. Anyway, that was the rhythm. So we are we are seven days a week getting three shows done, and we really didn't know what the show was until a couple days before the show aired or the show was happening. Is that clear? Because this is production lock on the code.

SPEAKER_08 39:42

I'll tell you what, I can just imagine those spreadsheets, and it's getting me very excited. I do like a good spreadsheet.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

Wow, that's my kind of girl. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 39:52

I love a project.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

It was there is over 300 people working on this every one time.

SPEAKER_08 39:58

Wow. Wow. Oh, we haven't really talked about the audience as well. The audience, how did you actually get those in? Was that a ticketed thing? Or how did that work? The audience for the live show.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

So there's a company that finds audiences for us, and all we're looking to do is to fill the room with bodies. Luckily, this show became a pretty wanted experience. So now we can select who would be coming. We wanted the energy in there to be electric. We wanted fans to know what the music was, to cheer for the storylines, and to know when this happened or that happened, and that really meant something. And you can feel that vibe early on in the second or third week, sort of kind of have a little bit of a choice on who was going to be in that crowd. And it became a really wanted ticket, which is kind of nice. The room that was in, it's all standing with some seats in the back, was by fire code about 650, maybe 700 people. Okay. We regularly had close to 900 because the fire guys were really cool. And so it was it looked better. It was overflowing.

SPEAKER_08 41:04

I was looking at some of the shows in the week. And yeah, so everyone's just super excited and super into the songs. So would you have had the band playing songs before the contestants came out to whip them up? Was it an actual side?

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Oh, you mean to get the energy going?

SPEAKER_08 41:19

To get the energy going, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

I had a stand-up comedian. And he's gonna be really angry that I forgot his name. And his his job was to just get them. I can't believe it. Um, his job was to get them going. One of the things I did is I knew what the songs were by Friday night and who was singing what. And I s used to sneak the set list to a local DJ who was on uh KLOS here, and he would play this music, not saying why, but he would get people, oh, Pink Floyd is not why is why is Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here being played? Why is Creden's Clearwater Revival song being played? And so I like it. So he would play that all weekend. So I I knew people in the local LA kind of and they kind of figured that thing out. So uh we had that going on, and then we did release, we said, here's what's gonna be sung tonight, and get people kind of go, but they didn't know who was gonna be singing, and then then it happened.

SPEAKER_08 42:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

What we were playing on that stage, nobody was touring like that in 2005 and six.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

So it was it was super unique for everybody. I mean, Pink Floyd wasn't touring, Nirvana wasn't touring, the Beatles weren't touring. The only place to see that live, unless you went to some bar that had a cover band, um, was this show.

SPEAKER_08 42:29

And I know a few of the people that listen to our shows, the This Show, which is um Listen, Like Fans, and my other show that I did with Hayden Murdoch, which is um in excess, access all areas. Hayden actually went. He got a ticket and he flew all the way from Australia and went and got into the audience.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Well, I wish I'd known that.

SPEAKER_08 42:50

Yeah, no, well well, I mean, he didn't have a podcast then and he was just a mega fan, but yes, um, he'll be stoked to hear your stories about the all of this. He he had a wonderful time when he was there. Loved it. He was super impressed with all of it.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

The team was so good. Such a good team. Unbelievable. Uh, and hopefully he can come to LA for this merry concert. That'd be great.

SPEAKER_08 43:14

Well, um, we're talking now before the nomination results. Hopefully, NXS will be inducted this year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

I hope so. It's so long.

SPEAKER_08 43:26

I hope everyone's voting that um please.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Everybody vote for NXS more than once every day.

SPEAKER_08 43:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

There's no reason why they shouldn't be in it. And can you imagine how good they're gonna sound on the night of the of that show? It's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_08 43:38

Someone said to me a couple of days ago, do you think they'll play? I was like, I thought that would be a given. Of course they would play.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

They don't always do that, but they should.

SPEAKER_08 43:49

They should.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

The question is who's gonna sing?

SPEAKER_08 43:51

Lots of people.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

And I'm gonna I'm gonna stay out of that. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 43:55

Lots of people. It'd be nice to hear, you know, Terence Trent Darby or Lenny Cross. To get up on the mic and sing with them. Some like real rock stars, you know? A bit warser. Yeah. Um, so yes, going back to um the nominations, yeah. So we'll be coming over. Hayden will definitely be there, and I'm coming over with a a load of other in XS fans. Hopefully, it's going to be LA. And if it is, then uh maybe we can all hook up with the team.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

That'd be very memorable. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_08 44:26

Yeah, the fingers are crossed because there's a lot to uh to take in. If that happens, it's going to be a very exciting couple of months because it's not happening until I ain't about October, November. Get saving.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

When is the voting end?

SPEAKER_08 44:40

The main vote that everyone's got to get that in by the 25th of March. That's the um the committee. And then we have the fan vote, and that will go on until the end of March, and then we'll know sometime early April. But it shouldn't be that hard to accumulate the votes and get them that get the results nowadays because it's all automatic, isn't it? It's all digital. It's not that they're counting people's paper votes and mailing them in and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

I hope not. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_08 45:09

I don't know. There might be a few out there that want to do it old school. Let's talk about the drama. Let's put the drama as so when you first met J D, I don't think he was in the mix, I've heard. I might be wrong. This is what I heard. He wasn't brought in. In fact, I think it was JD that told me this because I interviewed him last November when he came to Australia. He said that it wasn't because of the way that he sang, it's because of his sort of personality, more than how he could sing.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

That's not different than a couple of people who are on the show. I don't think that's wrong, but I don't think that's necess necessarily a key factor for who was gonna win. There's no question that JD stood out early on in the auditions, in the casting, had every chance to win from day one. I'm not gonna say that's true with everybody who was allowed on that show in the first 15, I don't think. I think there's a handful that were like, hmm, maybe, but probably not. I think JD was more this could work from the very beginning. I certainly thought that the production crew felt that way. I will never speak as Edward in excess, but I I thought his bona fides were pretty good for the show.

SPEAKER_08 46:21

Well he had a bit of a story, didn't he, as well? Because wasn't he living out of his car with his dog and he he sent in a video and yeah, it was quite endearing, really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

He said he was homeless, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 46:32

Yeah, he said he was homeless. So who else stood out for you at that point at in the auditions?

SPEAKER_01 46:38

Marty stood out for his energy. Jordis was had the most unique voice I think I'd ever heard from a woman, frankly. Tara Sloan stood out early on from me. I thought she had a deep amount of talent and might have taken them in a different direction. Uh Susie, without question, did Mig seem like a natural. There's a couple people they didn't pick that I thought might have been interesting. I had proven to be probably wrong about that. Two people who tried out for the show later went on American Idol and almost won American Idol. And they didn't make it on our show. Chris Daughtry tried out for our show, didn't make it through. And I think he would have been an interesting contestant. And he went on to place second or fourth in American Idol in season five, which is the next season after Rockstar In Excess. I thought that was really interesting.

SPEAKER_08 47:23

Yeah, it brings me on to I know a guy who is actually a lead singer of an in excess tribute band over here in Australia, who's their number one tribute band. Amazing. I mean, even Hayden, who I worked with on my live show, is an absolute diehard for in excess sounding exactly how they are. Close your eyes and you want to be right there. And he says, This is as close as you can get it. And his name was Blair Dwyer. I don't think he was very old. Um, his mom um made him go for the audition, but he didn't get it.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

I'm not sure who he is in terms of I don't recall him.

SPEAKER_08 47:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

But I think the band was consciously not trying to get the next Michael Hutchins.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

I think they were truly trying to find something that can work but was different. You know, someone who rhymed but was not this is the exact same word. Um not not that to say they weren't open for a woman, and I think that would truly, they truly were. And I think JD, I think he was one of the early favorites.

unknown 48:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:20

Despite what he may or may not think. If you remember, he had some very serious drama early on. The the the second week he, I forgot exactly what happened, but he lost his mojo for a couple of weeks. Like that kind of made index, oh maybe this guy can't handle what is going to be stressful. But he came back. Yeah. No question.

SPEAKER_08 48:37

Yeah. And what was it like managing the personalities and pressures of their performances? Because I should imagine there was sometimes they just thought that they weren't good enough and they couldn't do it. Because these are real people, aren't they, at the end of the day?

SPEAKER_01 48:51

They're real people. I I had a I had a tough job, and I'm not trying to say woe was me, but I wanted to make a show that had and we needed some drama and we needed some no one could always be perfect. And yet I wanted to make a music show that had great performances and great songs. And so I had to hold my tongue sometimes from giving advice or giving a suggestion here or there that might work because I knew there's something going on here story-wise that is going to ultimately benefit the show and maybe even the person, and maybe reveal something in excess that's really important. So I had to go against my instincts of protecting the talent, which is typically my job, and and make sure the show, you know, was as exciting as possible. At the same time, there is some baseline work that almost every singer had to do because they weren't used to being on television. And they were used to being in a club, being in a small venue, and trying to get every single person moving. And so you go to the here of the state and over there, and they sing here and that, and this manicness that almost every one of them have, with a couple exceptions, I had to tone down because you can't be that way on television because my camera needs to find you. Okay, you're not doing this for all those people down there. You're doing it for camera one or camera six, because that's how you're going to get votes. And I spent a lot of time with people who needed this to help them understand you needed to anchor yourself and sometimes sing. Because that's a connection to camera one. And I would say it was camera one, even though it wasn't, is what you need to learn. Only for this show. You won't need it when you go on the road with an XS. Yeah. You won't need it if you have a career somewhere else, but you need it for this show. And it was one of those things they had to learn.

SPEAKER_08 50:33

Wow. Such a learning curve, all of this for them, wasn't it? You know, being in the house with all these. Yeah, really tough.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

It was really brutal on the contestants. So they were in a bubble, they didn't know what was going on. They were, they didn't know what the fans thought of them, except for this little bit about the bottom three in the vote. No one knew who was on top. It was really, really difficult on them. I mean, they all took a chance, not just in excess took a chance on the show, but every contestant took a chance on this show to who knows how we were going to handle them. And thankfully they took that chance.

SPEAKER_08 51:04

But also on the flip side of that, they bonded really well as well, didn't they?

SPEAKER_01 51:08

They did.

SPEAKER_08 51:08

They really supported one another a lot.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

They did.

SPEAKER_08 51:12

They're still friends today, a lot of them.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

Mostly, yes.

SPEAKER_08 51:16

Mostly. We'll come on to that later. Okay. How was the show received at the beginning when it first aired? How did the TV companies sort of embrace it? Let's start with CBS. So CBS were right into it. They knew that this was going to work. And then the the advertising for this, um, how how how did that all continue? I I know that the vibe was just getting more and more exciting because over in Australia, I just landed actually, which is part of a an inexcess song. I just landed from London to Sydney.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_08 51:55

That's a long flight. Yeah, it was a long flight. And I was like, Well, where are they? Where's in XS? And they went, Oh, they're in America. And well, what they're doing over there, they're looking for a lead singer. Well, why? Why would they do that? And I think a lot of Australians. Oh, was actually. Wow. Yeah. So I was like, well, why would they go to America? Why is this not um a global thing from Australia? This is the homeland. Why isn't it being done from there? Was that ever brought question?

SPEAKER_01 52:27

They never had the resources being on a Channel 10 in Australia, for instance. There's there's no chance they could have gotten the budget that we got, which allowed them to do a global search for a cast to be on globally, anchored in New York in in Los Angeles, to be on in 55 countries which we were on. They could have done that in Australia, and CBS wasn't going to allow them to do that in Australia if it was a US show. So it was, I guess, a business decision, but I think it ultimately benefited them by just using the power of television and and uh CBS, the number one network, to do it. I think that was the case.

SPEAKER_08 53:02

And the audience. You've got massive audience in America. It was at the right time, like you say, you know, people looking for something else after Idol, um, and it was a big show over there. I think Australia did cotton on pretty quickly. It's like, okay, well, why are they? We don't really know, but we we want to know.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

And then did they appreciate the show? Were they angry with in excess for moving on from Michael?

SPEAKER_08 53:28

A lot of people were, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

Yeah. Um, we didn't we didn't get that vibe, but I I figured that would be something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 53:35

Yeah, yeah. In Australia, I got that vibe a lot. Um, but then they started to in enjoy the show and they got behind JD. And when J D came over and toured, I know a lot of people went to see him. Um, seeing him the only in November, I was like reserved thinking, what is the audience gonna be like? It was packed out. There were so many people that wanted to go and see him.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

So he's a good entertainer.

SPEAKER_08 54:01

He's a great entertainer, yeah. It was really, really good. It did take a while. I'm I'm talking personally as well. Um, when I when I first saw him, I was like, oh well, it's not Michael, but it is obviously somebody different. The voice is it that he's got the baritone. Um but yeah, it was it was it was a great decision, and sexy young guy obviously got the charisma as well. And having met him now, he's got that light and dark which Michael had, which was really captivating.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

Yes, 100%. He had a lot of that. You know, the show was popular, it won its time slot. I think CBS expected it to do idle numbers, which were just really impossible and never did. But it it won its time slot, which is really the first goal of any show. But it was a very expensive show. And so we always felt like CBS was underwhelmed, even though we were winning and we had, I think we had averaged six million viewers a night, and we peaked at 10 or 11, which is really good. But um, it was just such an expensive show. It never got that vibe, like, oh my god, what a great hit, even though it was.

SPEAKER_08 55:12

And I just love that they got the DVD out and you've done all the main performances and you've got some live footage underneath it as well on the back end. But it would be good to see the whole performance. I mean, is this something that's the whole show, I should say, is it ever going to come to light? Or what is this? Oh, there they are. In a hard drive.

SPEAKER_01 55:37

You know, it I'm happy to give these to anybody because I can't sell them. It's just I can't sell them and I can't put it on TV because the music arts are so expensive. It's just it's a shame that we couldn't show this show in repeat or in syndication. Um, well, you you have it on YouTube and various snippets and all that, but you're right. You if you watch it on a nice clear screen, it looks beautiful and it holds up. It the authenticity of these characters and what they went through seems really real. The talent of the musicians is great. I wish I can sell the show, but I can't.

SPEAKER_08 56:14

But you are going to sort off, aren't you?

SPEAKER_01 56:17

We are well, we're we're gonna have a reunion concert in in Hollywood on May 21st at the Avalon. And so that's as close as you're gonna get because that's not being streamed or recorded. And the seven contestants, Mig, Susie, Marty, Jordas, Ty Taylor, uh, and from season two, Toby Rand. JD will not be there. That was his choice. So we're gonna give a little flavor.

SPEAKER_08 56:39

Toby Rand's part of it.

SPEAKER_01 56:40

Toby Rand will be there, yes.

SPEAKER_08 56:42

And Toby is in Ash and Moon, is with Gary Beers. So, oh wow, I didn't know that. That's awesome. So I'll tell you a great story.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

So Toby met Gary at at my Christmas party in 2007 or eight, and they just bonded and formed Ash and Moon. Toby came to sing. That was actually like 2012 or 13. Toby came to sing as entertainment, and Gary was there as a guest, as a friend, and I embarrassed Gary by giving him a bass and saying, please, please play.

SPEAKER_03 57:13

No.

SPEAKER_01 57:14

Forgetting that I'm lefty and he's righty. So I made him play an upside down bass, and he's such a musical genius. He pulled it off live. In that moment, he and Toby bonded.

SPEAKER_08 57:24

Uh-huh. Well, that's great. You brought them together.

SPEAKER_01 57:28

I did. That's a that's a a scoop for your podcast.

SPEAKER_08 57:32

I didn't realize that Toby's ported that. That's that's really made me happy. I just really wish I lived in America right now so I could come and see you. So will you be videoing it or will you be live streaming it or I can't live stream it because of the cost of music.

SPEAKER_01 57:46

I will record it just for posterity and maybe one day we'll show it. It's a one-night only live in Hollywood, May 21st. Get your tickets. Never gonna happen again. Unless we sell out and can take us on the road, and that would be great. But I I can't tell.

SPEAKER_08 58:02

That would be good. That would be good. So, what what will people expect if they go to this live performance is of you are you bringing back Dave and uh Brooke?

SPEAKER_01 58:11

Dave and Brooke are invited. I'm not sure who will be there. In excess may or may not attend. I can't speak for them. They're total great guys, but I know who will be there is these seven performers, and just just to be really, really clear: Marty Casey, who came in second, Ty Taylor, who's a phenomenal singer. All these people still have great careers. Me Gyasa, Susie McNeil, Jordisanga, Toby Rand, and Tara Sloan. And if that wasn't enough, they're gonna be backed by the original house band from the show. No way. Paul Merkovich, who is the keyboardist and the musical director, uh Jimmy McGorman, who is on the Google dolls, but actually is gonna drop out just for us to do this show. What? Nate uh and Sasha, our drummer and and bass guitarist who are still doing the voice, are gonna tell them we can't do for a couple of days. We're gonna do this show. And Rafael, the guitarist who always did those incredible solos, the backing band alone is worth going to see. Is amazing. Like they're gonna play, we're gonna have about 24 songs, and then I will have some surprises.

SPEAKER_08 59:20

Getting all these people back together again and then dropping shows to come and do these things for you. You must be some sort of incredible person that everyone just loves.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

Oh, stop.

SPEAKER_08 59:34

I think so. It just exhausts. I think so, yes. And and thank you so much for coming on the show. It's been absolutely wonderful as well.

SPEAKER_01 59:43

You're welcome. I appreciate very much you giving me the time. And I love in excess. As you said, five of the greatest guys who happen to be rock stars, and they deserve everything they've done, and hopefully things that they will get, which is a rock and roll hall of fame. I really hope so.

SPEAKER_08 59:58

We'll be having a few of the contestants on in the following weeks ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:03

Yes, really good people. They've in some way they've always they've stayed in the music industry, which is so freaking tough to do. And I hope they uh I hope you can get them together or separately, and they'll tell more stories that even I don't know. And then if you want, I'll come back on and say what they were right or wrong about.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:19

You're gonna critique them.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

You know what? Good people, really good people. I think good people were attracted to NXS. We were able to make a great show with talented people who really cared about the music, and they weren't jerks. I don't know what the term is in Australia. They were just people you want to hang out with, starting with in XS. And that's a real blessing. That's not the case in the music industry or the TV industry always. So we caught lightning in the bottle in this show, and we're gonna try to do that again in May.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:49

Brilliant. Well, thank you so much again, and uh till next time.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:54

I appreciate your time. Uh, thank you very much, and keep voting for NXS, folks.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:07

Well, thanks for listening, everybody. It's been absolutely fantastic. If you want to know more, then check out the links that are in our description and send a message. Listen like fans isn't just something we say, it's who we are. And it's only possible because of the incredible support behind the scenes. So today we want to give a heartfelt thank you to some very special people who continue to lift me up and stand beside this podcast. Thank you to John Jamin, Kathy Trim, Andrew Everett, Liz Flicker, J Finnlayson, Kylie Bowling, Gail Sparks, Tracy Douglas, The Duchy, Stephen Reich, Danielle, Rainer King, Dana, Kirby Hayes, Chris McKay, Dr. Jim, Kez, Loretta Dahan, Blair Dwyer, John Bridges, Darren Jefferson, Linda Sawyer, Trisha, Sherry Rayner, and Sheila. You know who you are, and thank you so much. Your support, encouragement, and belief in what we are doing here is fantastic. You're not just supporters, you're part of this story. We'll always show up as fans, just like you, and together we keep this music playing.