{"id":861123,"date":"2026-08-19T18:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861123\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T18:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:56:14","slug":"australian-idol-2027-shake-up-country-singer-morgan-evans-to-join-new-look-judging-panel-in-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861123\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Idol 2027 shake-up: Country singer Morgan Evans to join new-look judging panel in 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian country music star Morgan Evans will join the Australian Idol judging panel in 2027 after Kyle Sandilands announced his exit last month.<\/p>\n

Evans will take his place on the Idol panel as the show\u2019s third judge, sitting alongside Idol OG and pop legend Marcia Hines and Logie Award-winning artist Amy Shark.<\/p>\n

Together, the new-look judging panel will search far and wide across the country for the next Australian Idol.<\/p>\n

With a passion for nurturing new artists, Evans said he was excited about his return to Idol, having performed his hit single Letting You Go during the show\u2019s 2026 grand finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m stoked to be joining Amy, Marcia and the Idol crew next year! I reckon if you\u2019ve got music in you, that\u2019s something the world needs to hear, and I\u2019ve enjoyed helping new artists find that since I was teaching guitar in Newcastle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot in my travels, some of it the fun way, some of it the other way, and look forward to sharing what I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t wait to hear what Australia\u2019s got!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MorganCamera IconMorgan Evans. Credit: Craig Parry<\/p>\n

Seven\u2019s Director of Content, Unscripted, Majella Hay, said next year was a new era for Australian Idol.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorgan is the real deal. He\u2019s one of the few home-grown artists to crack Nashville, and with more than a billion global streams, he is an Aussie success story. He\u2019s the perfect addition to the lineup,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Evans, who splits his time between Australia and Nashville, has taken his music around the globe and is set to bring his extensive expertise as a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter and performer to the Idol stage.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Newcastle, he burst onto the scene with his self-titled debut album in 2014.<\/p>\n

His 2018 album, Things That We Drink To, catapulted Evans to international acclaim, achieving his first country radio hit with Kiss Somebody, alongside fan favourite Day Drunk.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianCamera IconAustralian Idol hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie. Credit: Seven Network\/TheWest<\/p>\n

No stranger to the big stage, he has headlined Aussie country music festival CMC Rocks in 2022, and has toured throughout North America and Europe.<\/p>\n

Since its international debut in 2001, the Idol franchise has been a powerhouse for discovering new talent, launching the careers of Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, Matt Corby, Anthony Callea, Stan Walker, Casey Donovan and Courtney Act.<\/p>\n

Globally, music icons including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Adam Lambert also began their incredible careers on the Idol stage.<\/p>\n

The 2026 season of Australian Idol was won by 21-year-old Kesha Oayda from Jindabyne, who walked away with $100,000 in prize money, an exclusive recording package with Hive Sound Studios, the opportunity to attend a songwriting camp with Sony Music Publishing, marketing and social media support from The Annex and VIP tickets to the ARIA Awards and Logie Awards.<\/p>\n

Australian Idol, hosted by Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie, returns to to Seven and 7plus in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian country music star Morgan Evans will join the Australian Idol judging panel in 2027 after Kyle Sandilands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-861123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}