Wes Carr
Friday, 21 November 2008 8:38

Week Eleven

Yeah, just wanna say, thank you first of all to everyone who’s voted for me over the last 12 weeks – nah it’s even more than that – 14 weeks, from Top 24. It’s been an unbelievable ride. I couldn’t thank you enough.

It’s strange sitting in the studio now; everything’s been packed up and it’s like a completely different room. Just a week ago there was about 800 people there, now there’s nothing. Now it’s just one massive room that’s under construction. It really does feel like an end of an era, but at the same time, the start of the start of something completely new and exciting.

We’ve been rehearsing with the other ten guys this week and it’s great to see them all again. Feels like ages since September 14 when Top 12 kicked off, and that was my birthday. So being 26 has definitely started on a high!

I wanna thank all my family and friends who have flown up to see me over the weeks, as well as my girlfriend, Charlie, whose been unbelievablely supportive throughout the whole journey.

Luke and I joked at the start of the Top 12 that it would be funny if he and I would be standing at the Opera House together, and it was quite a running joke, but as the weeks went on, it became closer and we started to think maybe it really would happen. And it has. I’m proud of myself for walking into that audition room. I’ve absolutely no regrets, and I’ve definitely come further than I thought I would. I can’t encourage musicians enough next year to enter Australian Idol. Don’t think it’s uncool, and don’t be a snob about it, because it does start a career for you and it challenges you musically, personally and professionally.

For me, I felt like I’ve reached my main goal already. Even if I don’t win the crown, I’m honoured to be sharing it with a man of such integrity, Luke Dickens.

Can’t wait to get my music out there next year; hopefully I do you guys proud with my first release, and I’ll definitely be hurrying that along.

I can safely say that I’ve been completely honest throughout this competition. You guys have seen everything I can do and I hope that you enjoyed it.

I wanna thank all the producers, the crew, the judges, the stylist team, the make-up girls, the hair girls, the website team, the runners, Sam at the house, the security guys, production, all the radio and media people who we’ve spoken to who have been so lovely, everyone at Channel Ten and Fremantle Media, and everybody else who I left out.

Stay cool, stay true,

Love Wes.

Wes Carr
Friday, 14 November 2008 8:34

Week Ten

Hi guys,

Back for another week. Thanks for voting on Monday night. You saved me – yeah! It was my first experience, as you know, to get into the Bottom Two. But I knew my time was coming some day and all you can do in that situation is just embrace it.

Already missing Teale. He was a good mate, and we got along really well, and we’re definitely gonna catch up after the show. In the next few days we’ll be catching up anyway in the lead-up to the Grand Final. He really improved in the show as a musician, and I’m really happy for him. Good on ya mate.

Backtracking to Sunday. I had a big challenge to follow the Michael Jackson night because it was such a high for me, and probably my most memorable moment of the whole series. All I could do was do my best, and I hope I did you guys proud with my song choices.

The Winner’s Single is a great song that’s been chosen for me to sing; it’s called “You”. We’ve all had personalized singles this year, and it’s a song that I probably would write anyway, so it definitely relates to me as an artist. It’s given me a few ideas on my songwriting and where to take it in the future. I’ve got a lot of songs that do sound very similar to the single, so it won’t be hard to get a lot of my old songs and rework them in the same shape and form as the single. I’ve probably written about 500 songs – I wrote about 70 with my old band Tambalane, and when I was 15, I wrote about 300. I’ve written scores for short films and songs in other films – always writing.

The bottom level of the Idol House is still alive in the competition! When the Final 12 moved in, Mark, Luke and I shared the bottom level together. Must be something in the downstairs bathroom… Seriously, it’s an honour to share the Final Three with these guys, they’re great people. My old roomie Luke is a good man with good morals and he’s good for a laugh.

Here’s hoping for Sunday’s performance. Thanks for everyone who’s been voting – much appreciated.

Thanks once again to my beautiful girlfriend, Charlie, who’s always been supportive.

Wes

Ps Another quick note – be sure to be watching Channel 10 at 10.30pm on Monday night after Idol, cuz that’s when Charlie’s TV series 'Out of the Blue' debuts. Love ya heaps.

Wes
Friday, 7 November 2008 9:22

Week Nine

Hello everybody,

Well, well. Top Four. Can’t believe I made it this far. I thought Top 12 would be amazing, but making it this far is, y’know, pretty bloody good. It almost feels like we’re a band now with four boys. We’re having a great time.

We’ve just retuned from the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and met some beautiful little kids with smiles, even though they’re going through some tough times at the moment. It’s good to do things like going to hospitals because it’s a little bit more soulful. Instead of 'look at me, I’m on Australian Idol', it puts things into perspective.

Last Sunday was pretty cool for me. Meeting Jermaine was one of the most surreal moments of my life, and one that I’ll probably never forget. Performing what I’ve always done as a party trick or in the front room of my house, and him standing up and giving me a touchdown, was amazing. Brilliant.

Who knows where this competition is gonna go now and what’s gonna happen. All I know is I’ve had a great time and the most amazing experiences. In the lead up to the Opera House, I can’t help but reminisce on the people I’ve met and all the moments I’ve had so far. Whatever happens from here on in, I know I’m just proud of myself for walking into that first audition. It’s really given me the opportunity to do more things than just get up and sing in a pub.

I couldn’t have been in the competition without the ongoing support of my girlfriend, Charlie. She’s always, always there. She’s the most amazing person I know. Her TV show is starting soon on Channel 10, it’s called 'Out of the Blue', and I recommend everyone check it out. She’s the best actor I know – I may be a little biased… But it’s a great show; she plays the character of Tracy. Starts November 17th at 10.30pm.

I hope everyone keeps voting for me now. It’s getting close and I really wanna walk those steps. I hope I do ya proud on Sunday with my song choices.

Love ya,

Wes

Wes
Friday, 31 October 2008 9:05

Week Eight

Owwwww!!

Chris Brown was cool – down-to-earth kinda guy. Met him in the green room, he came up and was just saying, ‘No matter what happens now, you’re all winners and keep doing your thing’. It was great to meet somebody at his level. He was so humble; it was cool.

Stones night was fun. It was a bit of a filthy rock ‘n’ roll number for me, so I had a great time on-stage. Didn’t go for long enough – I wanted to be up there two hours instead on 90 seconds. Idol audiences are the best I’ve ever had – it’s always really, really fun to get up there on Sunday night.

Going out to Parramatta was cool – haven’t been out there in a while. I used to live in Liverpool, so we used to head out to Parramatta for shopping and stuff in my late teens. Good to revisit one of my old stomping grounds.

Top Five now, so it’s getting a little more intense. We’re doing our first group song this week, which I don’t know how I’m gonna feel about until the night. Haven’t done a group song since I was a little kid doing shopping centre appearances.

Big thank you to my girlfriend Charlie for always being there for me, very supportive through this Idol experience. Opera House is just around the corner and I can’t believe that I’ve made it this far. What a big year we’ve had, darling.

Thanks everyone else for voting. I hope I do you proud with Jacko night cuz it’s something different to what I would normally do, and I’ll probably never do it again. It’s one of those little inner childhood dreams of mine to perform Michael Jackson on national TV, as weird as it sounds, and I can’t wait to tick that box.

Brian McFadden’s coming over tonight, seems like a nice bloke.

Keep it real, and I hope I see you next week,

Wes

Wes
Thursday, 23 October 2008 17:23

Week Seven

Hey everyone,

The 2Day FM show we did on Friday was cool. It was just a crazy night with cool people that were very, very responsive to our performance. Strange to think it was going out to the nation as well.

Really enjoyed the Motown week. I’ve never played with a brass band backing me before, so that was kinda fun. I really enjoyed singing “If I Were A Carpenter”. It was good to sing a song I never thought I’d sing before.

Tamworth was interesting. I’d never been sick on a plane in my entire life. Then the first time I’m sick, Channel Ten’s TV cameras were there! But I soldiered on, and it didn’t affect my performance, everything’s cool. Being in Tamworth was a great experience. But I definitely learnt I should get a little more sleep before an early morning flight.

Sophie’s eviction: I’m kinda happy for her. I think she felt it was her time to go. She’s a great songwriter and a great person, I hope she goes on and does good things. After the show, she seemed relieved, so I’m happy for her.

It was great to visit the Ronald McDonald Charity House as well and meet so many brave little kids. Very inspiring to meet kids with a lot of hope for themselves. Especially Beau. Good luck Beau.

Thanks very much everyone for voting and keeping me here. It’s another week here and hopefully I give Stones night as much energy as I usually do. Thank you so much.

Wes

Wes
Thursday, 16 October 2008 16:13

Week Six

Hey guys,

It’s been a whirlwind week this week.

Went down to Melbourne on the weekend to Knox - it was great to travel there, as I’ve been to Melbourne a few times but I’ve never been there. Met some smiling faces – felt a bit like being Father Christmas. Then we went to the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, and Ricki-Lee slimed us, which was an interesting adventure. It was fun to be slimed in front of heaps of people at the arena there, but the challenge of the day was to get out of our sliming getup and be de-slimed in five minutes to accept the 'So Hot Right Now' award, which was almost an impossible feat. I always wanted to accept an award at one of those nights – it looks like a lotta fun and it was! Even though we won the 'So Hot Right Now' award, we didn’t look too hot – I walked out looking like a drowned rat!

The Sony Charity Ball was cool – it was interesting to meet all the people who work for Sony BMG; all the people that make it happen. I met Shannon Noll, and he had some great advice.

Working with Guy Sebastian was cool – great to meet someone who came from exactly the same spot in Adelaide as me. I’ve wanted to meet him for a while, as someone who’s come out of the competition and has had a healthy career in the industry, as I know it’s hard to get something like that up and running. He was wearing a nice red cardy and a red tie, which I’d like to borrow one day if he doesn’t mind.

Rock Week went off with a bang. It went as well as I planned in my head, once again. I meant to play harmonica in the last few bars, but in my spontaneous strange way, I thought it would be a good idea to throw it at Marcia, which was in the moment and you can’t argue at that. I should be happy with anything that comes spontaneously in the 90 seconds of the song.

I was surprised to see Thanh go on Monday, but I’m surprised now to see anyone go; I can never pick it. Thanh had his hard times through the show but it was good for him to experience being on Idol; I think he got a lot out of it. I know he’ll go on and do his R’n’B type style, and will find his own way and his own path. Good luck, mate.

Thanks very much everyone – you’re all good people – well done, fantastic. And I just want to take this opportunity to welcome Charlie’s parents Mike and Mimi to Sydney once again – have a great stay and great time.

Wes

Wes
Thursday, 9 October 2008 11:04

Week Five

Hey guys,

“Fernando” came off as well as it sounded in my head. It was the first time I couldn’t hear myself properly onstage, out of no fault of the sound guys. Because the crowd was so loud, I couldn’t hear when to start so I just guessed where to come in, and it was right. It was a bit of a fluke that it actually came off as well as it did!

I hate Monday nights – it’s like lambs to the slaughter. I just cannot pick it – I can never pick who would be in the Bottom Three, I’ve given up trying. I think Madam is very, very, very, very talented, and I thought she might have gone all the way through, even though she had a few curve balls thrown at her. Overall I thought her vibe would have taken her to the top. I think Dicko was right when he said she was one of the best soul voices he’s ever heard – she has such a distinctive and different voice. I’ve been mates with Madam ever since the Top 100, and I’m gonna miss her but I’m definitely going to be catching up with her soon. Hopefully we might write some songs together- you never know.

Great to meet INXS - awesome. Tim and Kirk are very, very switched on musos. It’s always nice to meet someone who is that experienced in the industry - 30 years doing what they do. One of my favourite live music DVD’s is them at Wembley Stadium. They had some great pointers for me for Rock Week. Rock’s a hard one because everyone thinks it’ll be so easy for me, so I’ve chosen a song that’s a bit different from the other rock songs I’ve already performed, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve this week…

So I’m looking forward to this Sunday. The weeks are flying by. Feels like yesterday I was in the Top 100.

I wanna thank everyone who goes to the trouble of making the banners each week. I love ‘Wesard Of Oz’ and ‘Dude, Wes My Car’, and all the other banners as well – the gold banners, the silver banners, the gold and silver banners, the green, blue, orange and purple banners – they’re all my favourites.

Not looking forward to this Monday cuz it just means we lose another mate. We’re all getting along so well. This is one of the best experiences of my lifetime so far, and I wanna thank my girlfriend, Charlie, for being so supportive and being there for me all the time. She’s being very patient through all of this.

I wanna thank my Dad and my mates Wade and Erica who came from Adelaide to see the show last week. It was great to see them all wearing hats, as I was not (and the judges didn’t even pick it up. It makes me wonder how observant they really are!)

Wes

Wes
Friday, 3 October 2008 10:04

Week Four

Hey,

I was very surprised with Tom’s eviction, thought he was definitely staying longer than he did, definitely. It kinda shocked all of us. His last performance was one of the highlights of the Idol experience for me; it was really great to see him to leave the show and react in such a really cool way. It was good for a young kid to smile at defeat like he did.

On a lighter note, heading to Bondi on Saturday was fun, it was great to go home and it was really cool to show the others around. After we did our thing, the older guys went to the RSL and watched the AFL Grand Final – to Thanh’s disgust – he’s a Geelong supporter!

I was nervous on Sunday night. I always get nervous – it’s the adrenaline rush that I’m addicted to. Sometimes I don’t even know what I’ve done onstage till I look back at it on the website the next morning – ha ha. 

Really looking forward to this week. I’ve arranged my song closer to how I would write a song. It’s a little bit different to the original, which is what I like – I’ve made the song my own.

I wanna thank my girlfriend for being so very supportive and understanding and looking so hot in her new dress the other night.

Wes

Wes Carr
Friday, 26 September 2008 15:13

Week Three

Hi guys,

First of all I’d like to say how much fun it was working with Cyndi Lauper, she was very inspirational and reaffirmed that what I’m doing is working, and to trust my gut instinct and to just be myself, which I’m doing for the first time in my life in this competition.

Working with Darren was different to Cyndi – it was very refreshing to meet someone like Darren. He’s sold 25 million albums, but he’s just so humble and down-to-earth. He also said just keep being me - it was good to connect with another songwriter.

The Sunday show went better than I expected – I kinda thought that maybe using my guitar might have got some bad raps for some reason, but that’s who I am. All I’m gonna be doing is keeping my musical integrity through the show.

Next Sunday’s song is a fun song – it’s simple and straight forward, and a way for me to pay tribute to a well respected rock band within the Australian music industry. I hope I pull it off!

It’s Madam’s birthday today, she’s 24 years old. She woke up this morning to cakes and happy birthday streamers. It was a cool morning, nice and fun, and good to see her so happy. We’ll have a nice dinner for her tonight.

We saw Bobby Flynn last night at the Basement; he’s got a cracking band, cool percussion, cool to see. It was good to touch base with his experience with Idol, and it was very kind of him to offer us free tickets to his show.

Thank you to everyone voting. Hopefully I will do you proud this week!

Wes

Wes Carr
Friday, 19 September 2008 14:38

Week Two

Hi,

How you going? This week’s been more of a relaxed week than the last few weeks leading up to Final 12 performance night. I felt my performance went really well. I took a risk playing piano, but in my humble opinion I thought it worked. It was great fun. The judges definitely made a valid point about me playing piano first up, but I like to challenge myself as a musician and as an artist. It’s all the experience of Idol!

The McDonalds Charity Ball was really fun too – we got to see Ricki-Lee perform and she sounded unbelievable, she sounded great. What a voice!

One of the best experiences we had this week was going to Westpoint Blacktown to perform. We were told there were 1,000 fans there screaming everyone’s names which was pretty surreal. Tom loved it – ha ha!

I wanna thank everyone who voted for me – I hope that I can do an even better performance this week for ‘80s night. I chose my ‘80s song because I admire the artists who sung it, and I admire what the song is about. I’m really looking forward to seeing Cyndi Lauper. When I was growing up I remember “True Colours” and “Time After Time” playing every morning on the radio, so those songs make me feel nostalgic. I’m excited to meet the person that was behind all that. Love the ‘80s.

Stay cool,

Wes

Wes Carr
Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:03

Week One

Hey everyone,

I share a room with Luke Dickens in the house, and we’ve been counting sheep, so to speak. He tells me his old shearer stories. We’re really getting along well in the house, it’s all really cool, and we’ve been jamming a bit together too. Sam - the house manager - is an amazing cook. We got home last night and we had pizzas waiting for us and spag bog in the fridge. We shot the Mazda commercial yesterday, that was pretty cool. We actually felt pretty stupid whistling into a camera for four hours, but it’s all good.

My performances on the show feel like a flash - bang, gone, done, see you later – but I’m pretty happy so far with how it’s gone. Really looking forward to Sunday cuz it’s my birthday. I’m going bowling after the show – I haven’t been bowling in ages, so I’m looking forward to it. And I’m looking forward to playing on the massive stage – I’ve been watching it get set up, it’s pretty big. I’m pretty happy with the song I’ve chosen.

It’s really weird being recognized. The other week after we first did our first live show, I just got in the car and drove home, then the next morning when I went for a coffee, everyone seemed to know what I’d done the night before. People were yelling from their cars, ‘Go Wes!’ It was really strange because usually after you finish a gig, people don’t give a shit! It’s hard when I get recognized pre-caffeine – I need a coffee to wake up, I’m so addicted to the stuff.

I was a bit bummed that Olly didn’t make it through – he’s quite a talented young man, very grown up for his age. I really did think Amanda or Banksy would have got through – I thought they were sure things. Everyone’s gotten closer now in Final 12 – it’s more of a chilled out atmosphere. I think a lot of people have more of a sense of achievement with the TV show. I’m just chuffed I’m here! It seems like ages ago I walked in that audition room. But I’m pretty happy with how it’s all happening at the moment – it’s all fun.

See ya,

Wes.

 

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